Ryan Ginstrom wrote:

> My first translation gig was as a translator/interpreter at New United
> Motors Inc. (NUMI), a joint venture between Toyota and GM in Fremont, CA.

Excellent. I knew you must have relevant experience.

So were you translating for the Americans into Japanese, or into English for
the Japanese, as it was the Americans' home country? Did the Japanese working
in the US not have Japanese documents, or were they all expected to speak and
write English, as it was the Americans' home country in which the Japanese were
doing business and hoping to benefit?

Fukuyama is an industrial town, and I work with people who work for, manage, or
even own, companies who do international trade. In some cases, they are even
world leaders in their field. They have dealings with clients and suppliers in
South Korea, mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Malaysia, the Philippines,
Germany, and many other nations.

Guess which language they use in spoken and written communication?

Hint: not Japanese, and not the client or suppliers' primary native language.

Point? The people and companies I work with understand the importance of
English, even within Japan.

And considering the history of Japan and education of post war Japanese, it is
not unreasonable to expect large Japanese companies or the government to
communicate in English for the convenience or benefit of foreigners.

This does not mean that I support the prevalence or dominant position of
English in the world. It is best to use the native language in each market, and
it is I who tell Japanese that they should not place so much importance on
English and only English, particularly when dealing with people such as in
China and South Korea.

It falls on deaf ears.

> The Japanese engineers were almost fanatical about eliminating baratsuki
> (variation). If you couldn't guarantee that every single car that came off
> the line had the exact same performance, you lowered the spec until they all
> did. This caused constant friction with the American engineers, who just
> couldn't seem to understand such (to them) fanatical adherence to
> uniformity.
>
> I also personally got the impression that working at Toyota must be a kind
> of religion, these guys eat sleep and breathe Just-In-Time and six Sigma.
> Shaving a tenth of a yen off the cost of producing a bumper was a career
> maker.
>
> I also later had the chance to work with some German engineers. The
> impression I got from them was that while Japanese engineers are obsessed
> with eliminating baratsuki, German engineers are obsessed with perfection.
>
> So basically, the impression I came away with after working with American,
> Japanese, and German auto engineers is that if you buy a German car, you
> know you're getting a good car. You buy a Japanese car, you know you're not
> getting a lemon. You buy an American car, it's pretty much a crap shoot.

Yes, that's the impression you got, and it is quite common among Japanese, such
as the chiropractor and acupuncturist I know who claims American cars are
unreliable because the Jeep driven by one of his employees has problems. I
guess he has somehow never heard of Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Mazda, Suzuki, or
Daihatsu having problems, or even Honda, Toyota and Nissan having recalls.

Now is that what Consumer Reports and the JD Powers and Associates survey show?

http://www.crash-worthiness.com/

Automobile Manufacturer
Recalls and News

Ford
General Motors
Chrysler
Volkswagen
Toyota
Nissan
Kia
Chevrolet
Cadillac
Buick
Oldsmobile
Pontiac
GMC
Honda
Mercury
Volvo

I don't see BMW, Benz, Audi or Porshe in that particular list, but neither are
Dodge, Lincoln, Saturn, Jeep, Hyundai, or a host of other foreign cars

http://gooworld.jp/

which most Japanese would refuse outright to own simply because they are not
Japanese. Also, recalls and defects are limited to specific models or even
specific parts in specific situations. But people who generalize Japanese cars
as good, and foreign or American cars as bad, don't see that far.

http://www.jdpa.com/studies/winners.asp?StudyID=749&CatID=1

2003 Vehicle Dependability Study (VDS):