Eric Takabayashi wrote:
> Declan Murphy wrote:
> 
>>Eric Takabayashi wrote:
>>
>>>Declan Murphy wrote:
>>>
>>>>As a general rule a company would only tender for a) what they were
>>>>actually capable of doing, b) what was worth doing. Put two and two
>>>>together and there are usually ample (different) opportunities for firms
>>>>of all sizes.
>>>
>>>Not the same opportunity or same level of opportunity. That's part of being exclusionary.
>>
>>Good grief.
> 
> You're a businessman and company president, but you do not believe in your company getting the
> same opportunities as others, or having the same success for the same work? Why should you have to
> put out more or work harder for the same level of success others can enjoy? Why should just some
> Japanese businesspeople and companies enjoy cozy ties with Japanese government even in these
> trying times?

Does this kind of incoherency come naturally or do you work at it? Your
ability to project and rattle away on inconsequential tangents astounds me.

>>Given the lack of time remaining (the whole expo set up was a complete
>>and utter ballsup until Toyota got on board), is personal view is this:
>>As far as the overall expo and the oz pavilion organisers are concerned,
>>they should specify that the only language permitted at all until March
>>next year is Japanese in the case of the expo and English in the case of
>>the pavilion. There is *no* time left for translation.
> 
> OK, it's a ballsup. Now that you are here, do you have any comments on the Japanese construction
> industry or the practice of dango in general?

In a word, nope.

>>>>The impracticalities for me are irrelevant.
>>>
>>>Is your financial situation which you joke about, also irrelevant?
>>
>>Absolutely.
> 
> Is this the proper attitude to have for business? <snip>

Of course it is the proper attitude to have. There is absolutely no
requirement for the Expo organizers to select firms with weaker balance
sheets, or bend the rules to make it "more practical" for weaker firms
to tender.

>>The specs have to be in Japanese, the vast number of people who the
>>winning tender will need to communicate with will almost all be
>>Japanese, and the bloody thing starts in less than 15 months. Apart from
>>Toyota's pavilion (lots of cool French dudes) there will be hardly a
>>gaigin anywhere until immediately before the event (kind of like the
>>number of non-Germans on site in Hanover prior to the last expo).
> 
> Some world expo.

Exactly the same situation that has occurred with every expo to date.

>>(And try doing business with Toyota in Japan without Japanese.....)
> 
> Is it different from Mazda which operates in English? Is Toyota too proud of their own success and
> reputation? But then since coming to Japan, I've heard the down side of their famed just in time
> system. For their own convenience with their money, indeed.

I'm pretty sure that neither Mazda nor Nissan nor any other major
Japanese company (you can include gaishikei such as IBM in that lot too)
can be said to "operate" in English. Toyota's business language is
Japanese. Toyota even communicates with it overseas' entities in
Japanese. Seems to work OK for them too.




-- 
I am not who I think I am
I am not who you think I am
I am who I think you think I am

...or some such shite.