Re: [tlug] OT: interesting NY times article:High-Tech Japanese, Running Out of Engineers

[Shin MICHIMUKO <smitimko@example.com>]

Hm, many of Japanese should improve the attitude for people from other 
countries.

From: Jim Grisanzio <Jim.Grisanzio@example.com>
Sent: 2008年05月20日 09:26:04

> Stephen J. Turnbull wrote:
> >  The Japanese neither
> > want foreigners to stay a minute longer than they're needed for the
> > job at hand, nor do they expect them to, whereas (corporate) America
> > has been far more welcoming (to the H1B elite, anyway), and succeeded
> > in corrupting most of them into staying.  

I don't think it is applied to every Japanese people. I know many people 
from outside of Japan like you guys and I have learnt lots of things 
from those people.

I belong to Catholic church and have learnt in a missionary school, and 
many people came from outside of Japan in those area. Of course day are 
doing their job, but the job won't finished in the near future, and no 
one expect those people go back home quickly, but stay in Japan as long 
as possible, since we know they are contributing a lot in Japan.

> When I came here I was told (rather sarcastically) that "most foreigners 
> just leave after a couple of years" and considering how I have been 
> treated so far I can see why. :)

The impression should be different, if your first place was in the 
different groups or organizations. But yes, unfortunately, some (or 
many) of the companies settles in Japan send many people from outside of 
Japan and pull them out before learning about Japan in detail. I am 
feeling that Japanese society is pretty complicated even for Japanese, 
and cannot believe that people from outside Japan can learn the details 
in short term.

> It's interesting, though, I don't find these conversations taking place 
> among my western colleagues in China. Not even close, actually. For all 
> its faults (and there are many), China seems to be changing regarding 
> this one issue while Japan remains utterly clueless about it. 
> Generalizations, I realize.

Do you mean that China is welcoming people from outside of the country 
than Japan? Maybe true and maybe not. China is emerging market, and they 
are welcoming people/companies from outside China, of course. However, I 
know some examples that they changed their mind for some cases. If some 
competitive company grown in China wants to compete with foreign 
companies, sometimes the regulation or written contracts were changed by 
government operation suddenly. So, I have to say it depends on the 
situation/location even in China by my small experiences.

> Having said that, though, the longer I stay the more Japanese developers 
> I find who reject this exclusionary attitude. I find those guys 
> remarkable. They they have a lot to teach the west (and me especially). 
> Who knows. I haven't been here long enough to really know what I'm 
> talking about. :)

I hope that everybody can understand that Japan is a small country but 
has long history. The initial reaction of Japanese people when they meet 
foreign person is checking the person if s/he is becoming our friend or 
not. I was treated exactly the same in US, when I was sent there (New 
York) to check if one of the development goes correctly, so I guessed 
that the situation won't be different in any countries. However, once 
you have found a friend in Japan, perhaps s/he will tell you the way of 
thinking of Japanese people.

Anyway, I hope you can live longer in Japan peacefully.

---Shin.
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