Sierra Mike
12-25-2002, 03:01 PM
...unproductive workers! I knew it...all that talk about Japanese overproduction was total bunk! ;)
If you want a look at what's really ailing the Japanese economy, just drive over on any given weekend to the Ito-Yokado shopping center parking lot in Shinyurigaoka, a large suburb half an hour west of Tokyo. Actually, it doesn't matter where you go, since the same scene is played out at parking garages, train stations and construction sites all over the country. But on a typical weekend here in Shinyurigaoka, there are four guards at the intersection directing traffic. Another man is on hand to make sure you don't miss the turn that leads to the garage. Five meters down the path, an attendant removes the ticket that the machine just generated and hands it to you. Head up the slope to the first floor and a woman will wave you on, just in case you missed the brightly lit No Vacancy sign over her head. (Every floor, whether full or not, gets its own guard.) When you exit, you get the same treatment in reverse: more floor guards waving you through, a white-gloved attendant to feed the ticket back into the machine, and a new crew of traffic smoothers to make sure you are safely on your way. By the end of your visit, at least 20 employees have provided you with a service of nearly zero value that could easily have been—and was clearly designed to be—completely automated.Read all about it at Going Nowhere Fast (http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501021209-395413,00.html)
SM
If you want a look at what's really ailing the Japanese economy, just drive over on any given weekend to the Ito-Yokado shopping center parking lot in Shinyurigaoka, a large suburb half an hour west of Tokyo. Actually, it doesn't matter where you go, since the same scene is played out at parking garages, train stations and construction sites all over the country. But on a typical weekend here in Shinyurigaoka, there are four guards at the intersection directing traffic. Another man is on hand to make sure you don't miss the turn that leads to the garage. Five meters down the path, an attendant removes the ticket that the machine just generated and hands it to you. Head up the slope to the first floor and a woman will wave you on, just in case you missed the brightly lit No Vacancy sign over her head. (Every floor, whether full or not, gets its own guard.) When you exit, you get the same treatment in reverse: more floor guards waving you through, a white-gloved attendant to feed the ticket back into the machine, and a new crew of traffic smoothers to make sure you are safely on your way. By the end of your visit, at least 20 employees have provided you with a service of nearly zero value that could easily have been—and was clearly designed to be—completely automated.Read all about it at Going Nowhere Fast (http://www.time.com/time/asia/magazine/article/0,13673,501021209-395413,00.html)
SM