Tokyo Intro - Best 55 Cool Sights, Tips, and Experiences for Visitors
‘Japan is the future.’ This phrase had so much meaning to me. At one point in the in the early 2000s, it seemed so true. Their technology was ten years ahead of everyone else. There were futuristic urban developments, bullet trains, robots, supercomputers, advanced cell phones, and cities of neon with giant TV screens on street corners. At the same time, it was the land of Godzilla, anime, samurai, ninjas, Zen Buddhism, Shinto, and Geishas. Japan was the land of cyberpunk and deep traditions glued together with samurai honour. Even after the 1990s bubble crash, the country was still an economic powerhouse. People knew the names: Canon, Fujitsu, Honda, Komatsu, Nikon, Nintendo, Mitsubishi, Panasonic, Sega, Sony, Toshiba, Toyota, Yamaha, and many more. Japanese businesses seemed to be doing everything right. The Toyota Production System or just-in-time production, kaizen, and consensus-based decision making all influenced global business practices. ‘Japan is the present.’ Th