Every time I go to New York City, I am always amazed at the number of garbage boxes on almost every corner of the street. It is so easy to throw away garbage while in New York. I often compared the number of garbage boxes in NYC with that in Tokyo and wondered why there are so few garbage boxes in Tokyo. (I almost have to remember where in the subway stations I can find garbage boxes!)
The other day, I noticed (I have always taken for granted, I suppose) that the streets in Tokyo are so clean. I started wondering why they are so clean despite the small number of garbage boxes. Then I read the comment made by some non-Japanese visitor to Tokyo. He said that the streets are so clean and the Japanese do not have too much garbage. When they do, they bring them back home rather than throw away on the street.
It dawned on me that it must be the lifestyle of people rather reflecting the number of garbage boxes! I often see a cookbook which describes how to use every part of the vegetable or something without wasting any in Japan. As far as I know, I have not seen too many of the similar type of articles overseas. Probably this is one way of making the best of what we have, MOTTAINAI attitude.
Yoko Ishikura is a Professor at Hitotsubashi University ICS in the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy in Japan. She has held positions as a professor at the School of International Politics, Economics and Business of Aoyama Gakuin University in Tokyo, as a consultant at McKinsey and Company Inc. Japan and a visiting professor at Darden School.
Professor Ishikura is a consultant to a number of multinational companies and has been a frequent speaker at management conferences, seminars, and workshops throughout the world. She was a member of the Regulatory Reform Committee for the Japanese government and the International Competitiveness Commission for METI. She is currently a Forum Fellow of the World Economic Forum.
She is the author of Strategic Shift from OR choices to AND paradigm, Building Core Skills of Organization , and the co-author of the following publications: Managing Diversity in the 21st Century, Strategy for Cluster Initiatives in Japan , and Building a Career to the World Class Professionals – all in Japanese. Her books in English include: Asian Advantage, Hitotsubashi on Knowledge Management and Trust and Antitrust in Asian Business Alliances.
Professor Ishikura’s current research interests are focused on global competition, innovation, and knowledge management. She received her BA from Sophia University in Tokyo, Japan; MBA from Darden School, University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Virginia; and DBA from Harvard Business School.
