Japan is hosting the Tokyo Olympics this year. In addition to striving for gold medals, it also hopes to revitalize Japan’s digital technology, creating a second economic miracle just like the first Tokyo Olympics in 1964. However, Japanese sports competitions and technological competitions are limited. There are too many stories to tell about the craftsmanship of Japan.
Twenty years after the Tokyo Olympics in 1964, Japan’s economy and technology entered a period of prosperity, mainly thanks to the Japanese government’s systematic planning to guide companies into the semiconductor market. One year before the opening of the Tokyo Olympics, in 1963, Japan’s NEC obtained a technology license from Fairchild Semiconductor in Silicon Valley. Then, the Japanese government asked NEC to share the acquired technology with other domestic manufacturers. The Japanese government created advantages for the development of Japan’s technology industry. Five large consortiums of companies, NEC, Hitachi, Mitsubishi, Fuji, and Toshiba, joined the front line with a nationwide effort. , To create a stronger competitiveness than Silicon Valley.
The imposing 1964 Tokyo Olympics. (AP picture)
Japan’s original technological inventions are not comparable to American semiconductor companies. However, in order to restrain its opponents, Japan has developed an ingenious strategy. Aiming at the US’s “technology first” advantage, it has tailored “technological delay” tactics for Japan: no difference Silicon Valley is striving for the frontier of innovation and invention. Japanese technical talents are working hard to refine those technologies that the US semiconductor industry does not seem to be the latest and greatest. The elite team used the fastest time to grab the market, and then doubled the recovered funds into the next round of research and development, and caught the American company by surprise. On the whole, Japan’s success is based on the traditional craftsmanship—absolute concentration and quality management that is close to cleanliness. In the early 1980s, Japan captured 30% of the global storage memory DRAM market and reached 55% in the late 1980s.
DRAM is Intel’s original product. It was originally the top spot in the market. However, according to the company’s CEO Andrew Grove in his book “Only the Paranoid Survive”, he disclosed the horror situation at the time: It is said that in a Japanese company, the memory R&D department alone occupies a whole building, and at the same time, engineers on different floors study different generations of memory, and a certain floor specializes in 64K. DRAM, another floor specializes in 64K, and the next floor is dedicated to the development of 256K…” So Intel decided to withdraw from the DRAM market they invented in 1983.
Is there still room for Japanese craftsmanship today? An earlier report by Bloomberg said: “The 1964 Olympic Games were held in Tokyo. At that time, Japan displayed bullet trains at speeds of up to 210 kilometers per hour. This heralded the arrival of the Japanese technological era. In the following 15 years, Sony, Toshiba, and Space Invaders ( Game arcade) brings amazing products. Japan has become a technological hegemon. Many people are talking about “Japan will surpass the United States to become the largest economy.” I am afraid that today, everything is like a dream.”
Lausanne International Management Development Institute (IMD) “2020 World Digital Competitiveness Ranking”, among 64 countries, Japan fell from 23rd in 2019 to 27th, ranking below Singapore and Malaysia. Japan’s neighboring countries have increased significantly. South Korea has risen from 14th to 8th in 2018, while China has risen from 30th to 16th. According to IC Insights, Japan occupied 50% of the global chip industry market in 1990, but now only 6%. “Although a large number of new technologies such as robots and face recognition, AR, VR, 3D holographic projection, etc. appeared at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, it seems to the outside world that compared with the glorious past, the recent Japanese technology is somewhat fading. “
The opening ceremony of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. (AP picture)
Is the Japanese craftsmanship dying? This is a hot topic. However, Japan’s aging population is the key factor, science and technology is “fighting to be young and strong”, youth and vitality are the sunshine for innovation and entrepreneurship. Japan lacks this, plus it is not open to the outside world and focus on its own. Artisan craftsmanship, if so, one can conclude that today’s technology is lagging. This lag is no longer deliberate, but lingering. Perhaps this is where Japan needs to reflect.
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