Notes from Toyota-Land: An American Engineer in Japan [Hardcover]

Darius Mehri (Author), Robert Perrucci (Author)

Book Description

Series: Ilr Press Book | Publication Date: September 1, 2005

In 1996, Darius Mehri traveled to Japan to work as a computer simulation engineer within the Toyota production system. Once there, he found a corporate experience far different from what he had expected. Notes from Toyota-land, based on a diary that Mehri kept during his three years at an upper-level Toyota group company, provides a unique insider's perspective on daily work life in Japan and charts his transformation from a wide-eyed engineer eager to be part of the "Japanese Miracle" to a social critic, troubled by Japanese corporate practices.

Mehri documents the sophisticated "culture of rules" and organizational structure that combine to create a profound control over workers. The work group is cynically used to encourage employees to work harder and harder, he found, and his other discoveries confirmed his doubts about the working conditions under the Japanese Miracle. For example, he learned that male employees treated their female counterparts as short-term employees, cheap labor, and potential wives. Mehri also describes a surprisingly unhealthy work environment, a high rate of injuries due to inadequate training, fast line speeds, crowded factories, racism, and lack of team support. And in conversations with his colleagues, he uncovered a culture of intimidation, subservience, and vexed relationships with many aspects of their work and surroundings. As both an engaging memoir of cross-cultural misunderstanding and a primer on Japanese business and industrial practices, Notes from Toyota-land will be a revelation to everyone who believes that Japanese business practices are an ideal against which to measure success.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Mehri documents his three years working in Japan as a computer simulation engineer for a subsidiary of Toyota in this book, which is neither a satisfying social critique nor a thorough introduction to Japanese work culture; instead, Mehri provides some of both, but readers looking for either will be left wanting. The author draws on a diary he kept during his time abroad to re-create moments and experiences in and out of the office, and describes interactions with his own colleagues as well as observations of the blue-collar labor force on the manufacturing floor. Mehri argues that the dominant culture at the company is a "culture of rules," consisting of rules written on signs and in memoranda, unwritten rules that employees pick up instinctively and rules regarding language and manners "that are learned culturally, simply by being Japanese or living in Japan." Mehri explores the peculiarities of Japanese corporate life, recalling the trouble he unintentionally caused when he asked about a coffee machine for the workplace. At times, the Dilbert-esque bureaucracy at Toyota seems similar to that common among large American corporations. The author recounts his experiences off the clock, too, discussing meals he shared with co-workers and friends in yakitori places and neighborhood bars. While some of Mehri's recollections are not engaging and some parts of the book could be more fleshed out, the narrative has moments of genuine insight.
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Review

"In Japan, Mehri matured into an intrepid amateur reporter, exposing assembly line dangers and investigating the sham of the unions." -- Far Eastern Economic Review, October 2005

"Notes from Toyota-land documents the ways in which workers lose their souls...in the demanding, demeaning atmosphere of corporate Japan." -- The Wall Street Journal, January 3, 2006 The Wall Street Journal, January 3, 2006

..."Notes from Toyota-Land" is an attention-grabbing look at the dark side of a company... --The Christian Science Monitor, January 3, 2006

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Cornell University/ILR Press; illustrated edition edition (September 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0801442893
• ISBN-13: 978-0801442896
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,504,993 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #75 in Books > Professional & Technical > Automotive > Foreign

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's more social than technical., January 6, 2006

By 

A. Trank (Orchard Park, NY United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Notes from Toyota-Land: An American Engineer in Japan (Hardcover)

This book details the social structure and rigid hierarchical control found in the executive levels of Japanese companies, and not specific manufacturing techniques and methods. The reviewer who claims the title is misleading because the author worked at Hino and not Toyota does not realize Hino is part of Toyota (see http://www.toyota.co.jp/en/news/01/0425.html). The book is informative and interesting. Don't expect dry information on manufacturing.

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant Critique of Japanese Management Practices, January 3, 2006

By 

L. Davis - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Notes from Toyota-Land: An American Engineer in Japan (Hardcover)

Written by Darius Mehri, an American of Iranian descent who worked in Japan for three years as a design engineer for a Toyota supplier, Notes from Toyota-Land provides fascinating insights into life, work, and corporate culture in contemporary Japan. This book is largely a devastating critique of Japanese management practices that, according to Mehri, promote unsafe work habits in the name of speed and efficiency, require employees to put in long hours of "voluntary" overtime, and inspire a wasteful and stifling groupthink attitude. (One of the book's sections is titled "The Price of Obedience," another "Death by Overwork.") But Mehri also writes about the social aspects of his experience, which are equally revealing-sometimes depressing and often very funny. The author did a lot of drinking with his coworkers and his conversations with them tell readers a lot about what its like to work under such a paternalistic corporate system-as well the attitudes, aspirations, and prejudices of "typical" Japanese professionals. This book should be required reading for any American going to work for a Japanese company so they can be prepared for what, as described in this book, will be a rewarding but very challenging experience.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Maybe You Can Argue with Sucess, August 31, 2007

By 

J. head (littlteton, nh USA) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Notes from Toyota-Land: An American Engineer in Japan (Hardcover)

An insightful book, the story of an American engineer in Japan. The author took advantage of this unique opportunity to tell of his experiences working for a Toyota subsidiary in Japan. In Japan, the conditions seem harsh on the lower level engineering and office staff. Many American business studies stress the conformity of the Japanese decision making process and the "good-neighbor" policy relationships of corporations to the city councils in the area in which they reside. The author demonstrates from office experiences that the conformity is often enforced by the individual's fear of being ostracized. It is a very top-down hierarchal structure with some values that American corporations would consider politically incorrect, such as the role of career women and how foreign guest workers are treated.
The author explains the concept of tatemae versus honne. In the workplace confrontation is suppressed under the mask of tatemae (the way things are supposed to be). After some social drinking the individual's "honne", how one actually feels may appear.
I appreciate what this author has done. What I read was so different from what other business books have to say about Japanese management that the reader has to wonder is this author at a typical Japanese corporation. Could one judge all of American corporate culture by working at a subsidiary of General Motors? Probably yes, Corporate Cultures must carry most of the cultural trait of the country.
Any reader from the curious to a business studies major will find this book fascinating. A light book, no analyzing, just the author telling of his office experiences in a radically different culture.
We have all heard of American corporations adopting many of the Japanese business practices. Their strong points seem to be to aid the factory floor. Hopefully their office culture will not be adopted here.