Fly-Jin Hits Even the Wall Street Journal

From the "They can run but they can't hide files;" as was reported in an editorial on this very blog on Sunday March 15 (just 3.5 days after the big earthquake), that the blow back from the panic and irresponsible reactions of foreign business management in Japan - at the beginning of the nuclear accident - was disgraceful and that there would be repercussions. 

FRANK SINATRA - COME FLY WITH ME

In some cases, the flight of the foreign community was a crime; it was dishonest and theft against their respective employers. It also first reported and predicted on this very blog that there was going to be blow back against these foreigners. In fact, even the Wall Street Journal has picked up on this story. Let me pat you and myself on the back for creating and commenting on this story nearly 2 weeks before the Wall Street Journal. Read on!


First, a time line. In an early post, just days after the earthquake and the height of the panic, I wrote about how the foreign community in Tokyo were being completely irrational by panicking and running away. This contributed to people missing the important issue: 400,000 people without shelter, food or water in the dead of winter in Northern Japan. The foreigners panicking was completely without base and any scientific reasoning.

Tokyo Crisis Update: Nuclear Meltdowns, Drama Queens, TV News and Coca Cola

I, like most Tokyo people, have merely been inconvenienced by this incredible chain of events. I do not think, though, that I should adopt a "victim complex" like many people do when these sorts of things occur. I think doing so is dishonest. I believe that taking a "victim complex" identity like many people do only cheapens the experience of those who have truly suffered.

One need only remember the group victim complex shown by Americans after 9/11 for an example of that. As for me, I'm doing my best to suppress my inner "Drama Queen." 

Folks in Tokyo have not suffered. We have been greatly inconvenienced. That's all. That's not to say that many people haven't over reacted and panicked. They have.

I will, here, take this chance to strongly criticize the foreign management of Coca-Cola Japan for showing such a compete lack of responsibility to their employees and to the Japanese people. So much for Corporate Social Responsibility, eh Coca-Cola? Also, so much for dedication to your work and company. Leaving on a "business trip"? Disgusting. Don't you clowns have the guts to even say that you are running away? Saying that it is a "business trip" allows you to get paid from your company at the same time you skirt your responsibilities all the while you expect that your staff and workers continue on like everyday? If I were your boss, we'd definitely have more than a few words about this. I'd probably fire you.

I can understand you sending your family away... But you running away too? And then expecting to get paid and your employees to carry on in your absence at the same time!?

Scandalous.

This theme held true throughout my blog posting over the next several days. I used a major soft drink company as an example (because I knew it was true first hand) as this is a huge international company, but there were many other  companies whose foreign management fall into the same category. I commented as to how actions by many foreigners and the mass media were criminal (at the best dishonest) and that these people who panicked or induced panic needed to be held accountable - at the minimum to themselves and their families - in some cases criminal. I definitively asked the question about trust between Japanese and the foreign management who in a grossly irresponsible manner left their companies - on paid leave no less - and jumped ship.


If these people really thought the situation was so bad and dangerous, then why didn't they tell their staff to go home and care for their families? 


(Note to selfish foreigner: Your Japanese staff think you are just like an irresponsible teenager, regardless of what they say to your face. Your position and status are worse than "dog house". The respect they held for you - if they ever had any - is completely compromised. Remember: It takes a very long time to build trust, it takes one action to destroy that trust forever.) 


What are you going to do about it, foreign manager? 


Japan Nuclear Disaster? The Scorecard So Far


What's going to happen to the relationship between the Japanese and the foreign community in Japan? I think the actions of many of the foreigners (not just in the media) have created much distrust and disrespect of those foreigners (especially in management) by their Japanese counter-parts. I already posted about one foreign company, Coca Cola, whose foreign upper-management committed the sin of running away while taking paid leave (isn't stealing from your own company considered theft?) while expecting the Japanese to continue working as if nothing at all happened?

If the situation were so bad and they bothered to make rational decisions - while showing a tiny bit of leadership qualities - then they'd have had the guts to say that they were running away and told the Japanese staff to go home; or they would have sent their families away and stayed with the ship. I know for first hand fact that the Japanese staff left over by their panicking foreign bosses have very little respect for those people. They probably should have zero; which were just about the odds of a nuclear disaster hitting Tokyo.


There are many foreigners who read this blog... About one half are in Japan. Why this shirking of duty was explained in excellent fashion by a reader living here in Japan. This brilliant and succinct explanation of the problem appeared in a comments section of one of my posts. The reader was countering the ridiculous argument that claimed that the foreigners who left were, "Forced out" it read:

The people who fled irresponsibly were not 'forced out' as you say. Panicked or not, they acted of their own free will, and left others hanging because of their actions.

Japanese do have respect, manners and kindness for others, and also a sense of responsibility and self-sacrifice. Example: the 'Fukushima 50'.

I have many friends and acquaintances in large corporations and government offices, and they all say that not one of their Japanese bosses fled in panic and left the rest to their fate. Do you know why?

Responsibility.

Think long and hard about that word before you bleat any more asininity.

One of the Japanese words for an executive, manager or other person in charge is 'sekininsha', which literally means 'responsible person'. These people are not just responsible for their workplaces and the people below them during fair weather; when the sh*t hits the fan, they are also expected to step up and take responsibility. That is to say, *leaders* are expected to *lead*.

Absolutely. Like I have already written, these people who panicked and left Tokyo in an irrational, irresponsible blur should resign their posts immediately if they are "sekininsha" (responsible person) at their job. Their position has been compromised. They are ruined and they know it.

But, I won't expect them to resign of their free will. They have already showed us their lack of true leadership abilities when they panicked and left. Who would or could expect them to act like a true dedicated leader like Jerome Chouchan of Godiva Chocolates who showed us his true grit?

Mr. Chouchan, a Frenchman, decided to send his family away but he stayed on because he said that he felt like, "If I leave now and leave my Japanese staff to fend for themselves it would be like the captain leaving the sinking ship first."

Soon after these blog posts ran, where I criticized these foreigners, I began taking flak from people defending the actions of these people. I think no one can defend the actions of those whom I attacked. Please read the interesting back and forth between the foreigners who agreed with me and those who wish to defend the actions of those who ran away on the articles that I have linked to. 

The discussion got even more heated when I reported as to how a new word, filled with derision against those who fled, had entered the Japanese lexicon and was hitting Twitter hard all over Japan lead by a famous Japanese TV reporter. 

New Word in Japanese Lexicon: "Fly-Jin"

Akiko Fujita tweets, Learned new term tonight: "Fly-Jin." Foreigners who fled Japan.

Also, in that article, once again I stressed:

The Japanese are not happy - some are disgusted -by the rash actions of the foreign community. They've lost much respect for those who fled like panic stricken kids. The back lash has begun. Whispered voices filled with derision and tittering behind people's backs.

Once again, a reader provided me with a better commentary about the subject than I could ever write in the comments section of that same post countering the apologists for the "Fly-Jins.":

What the Useful Idiots (uh oh, there I go calling names again) fail to understand is that there is a world of difference between getting yourself and family out of potential danger if you have the resources and inclination to do so, and running away irresponsibly at the expense of others like the Coca Cola execs and others did (i.e. lying to justify the expropriation of company funds for your escape, and leaving others you should be responsible for behind to cover your arse as you run).

I have no problem with the former, even if I think it was a knee-jerk panic reaction in this case. If you have the means to do so and your actions do not leave anyone hanging in your stead, knock yourself out. However, I do have a big problem with the latter, and will continue to criticize the actions of the Coca Cola execs and others who acted in such a cowardly and irresponsible manner.

So again, to make things as clear as possible:

If you fled in a responsible manner - that is to say within your own resources and not leaving others hanging in your stead - then I have no problem with you. I also have no problem with anyone defending those people, be they foreign or Japanese.

However, if you lied, stole, or otherwise acted irresponsibly and/or left others to potentially hang in your stead, then to hell with you. And to hell with anyone defending these scum.

Thanks to all of have added to this conversation. I stand by all my remarks as my excuse is that I was merely predicting what was going to happen and told of the future repercussions of failed leadership and poor decision making. I also am guilty of being the messenger boy. Of course, when those who are guilty, hate the message, they try to kill the messenger boy.


Now, the results of this shameful affair have even hit the pages of the Wall Street Journal.


The Wall Street Journal reports in "Expatriates Tiptoe Back Into the Office": 

Life in Japan is showing tentative signs of returning to normal, but a fresh challenge may be facing the expatriates and Japanese who left and are now trickling back to their offices: how to cope with ostracism and anger from their colleagues who have worked through the crisis.

One foreigner, a fluent Japanese speaker at a large Japanese company, said that his Japanese manager and colleagues were "furious" with him for moving to Osaka for three days last week and that he felt he was going to have to be very careful to avoid being ostracized upon returning to work in Tokyo.


The flight of the foreigners—known as gaijinin Japanese—has polarized some offices in Tokyo. Last week, departures from Japan reached a fever pitch after the U.S. Embassy unveiled a voluntary evacuation notice and sent in planes to ferry Americans to safe havens. In the exodus, a new term was coined for foreigners fleeing Japan: flyjin. 


Think about it: Everyone knows the government are idiots... You pride yourselves on being in private businesses yet when these clowns tell you to panic, you do? Really? I also remember when they told us about Swine Flu, SARS, Bird Flu and Saddam's Nooklar weapons too... And you fools believe what they say? Ha!


So, now, you foreigners who are apologists for those who shamefully ran away can complain to me or call me names all you want... What you say to me isn't going to do you any good in the minds fo your staff... I am not your judge; they are. 


You messed up big time and you know it. 


Still think you shouldn't feel ashamed? 


Denial isn't just a river in Egypt.


NOTE: I have information that Coca-Cola has donated $25 million dollars to the relief fund for those poor folks in Northern Japan. Thanks. Everything helps. It is appreciated. But, should we awe-struck? Maybe. Maybe not. 

Nice

I have information that I wish for you to use to compare. Try Uni-Qlo vs. Coca-Cola. There's no question as to which is the bigger monster company, right?


Uni-Qlo - a much smaller company than Coca-Cola - on March 14, 2011 - just three days after the earthquake - donated $4 million of dollars to the disaster fund. That same day, the president of Uni-Qlo, Mr. Yanagi, donated $10 million of dollars -  out of his own pocket for this effort! Add to that $7 million dollars worth of clothes to the relief effort. Also, a donation effort at 2,200 Uni-Qlo stores nationwide!  


Now compare that with the efforts of Coca-Cola who is a much bigger company with much more resources... Well, thanks Coca-Cola, but I'm not so impressed... Then again, I guess I should be grateful and can excuse you for not acting quickly. After all, your upper management in Japan had all ran away when they jumped ship at the beginning of this mess. I shouldn't expect that the Japanese middle management would have the authority to make donations or any other important leadership decisions. 


The Japanese staff can only be depended on for holding the bag - not the important decisions - while the foreigners run away..... right? 


A big thanks to alert reader Mark (still) in Tokyo Owens for the links to WSJ!

Japan Nuclear Disaster? The Scorecard So Far

“…Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so…” --- Bertrand Russell

Things have calmed down quite a bit concerning the nuclear accident at the reactors in Fukushima. The situation is stable as reported by Japan's stalwart NHK news. 

Can one judge the stability of the situation as it is being perceived by foreigners through the foreign media too? Yes. But, in my case, do I make this judgement that things have calmed down from viewing the news in Japan? No. The news in Japan is pretty much the same today as it was over these last four days: Calm, collected and reporting the facts on the ground without resorting to hysteria. It's too bad that the foreign community in Japan does not bother to learn enough conversational Japanese to be at least able to watch and understand news broadcast in the native tongue of Japan.

I also judge that the situation has calmed down quite a bit for the west in that western media has stopped making ridiculous doomsday pronouncements about nuclear melt-downs and comparing Fukushima to Chernobyl. News in the west has suddenly shifted away now from the potential "nuclear meltdown" in Japan to events in Libya. 

Of course, western news media can get away with this. Attention spans in America are short. 

Think about it person sitting in their home in America - or even Japan... One day you are told to fear for your very lives because of the nooklar boogeyman and a nuclear melt-down... The next minute? Well, look at that! We're bombing Libya! 

If the situation in Japan were so serious and so dangerous to you and your family safety and our lives were coming to an end, do you actually believe that the mass media would be switching your attention so easily to bombing some lunatic in North Africa? 

Hey! There's a novel revelation for me right there! Doh!

Is this sudden switching of attention proof of ridiculous mass media induced tabloid sensationalism? Absolutely. I rest my case, your honor. The mass media in the west is guilty as charged.

Other foreigners in Japan feel the same

Don't think that I am the only one - the only foreigner - in Japan who thinks this way. There are lots of us. You can also bet that very many Japanese are unhappy about this too. There are also several of us long time residents of Japan who, while they won't use the term 'disgusted', are quite dissatisfied with how this situation was handled and reacted to by the foreign news and community in Japan.

(L-R): Me, Daniel Kahl and George Williams drinking together in 2009 

One aquaintance, Daniel Kahl, probably one of the top two experts on Japan (along with George Williams) made this excellent Youtube video... Daniel fumbles his words a bit but I think he can be forgiven because he is restraining himself as I can tell he is actually furious (to put it lightly). Watch:

I enjoy the part at the end where Daniel says, "Cut it out. Knock it off, or your just not going to have any fans in the country." Hilarious. Daniel, my friend, you don't actually think the mass media care about fans or regular people, do you? They only care about ratings and money. That's why they do this sensationalism. Either way, thanks Daniel. I owe you a beer next time we drink together at George's house. 


What's going to happen to the relationship between the Japanese and the foreign community in Japan? I think the actions of many of the foreigners (not just in the media) have created much distrust and disrespect of those foreigners (especially in management) by their Japanese counter-parts. I already posted about one foreign company, Coca Cola, whose foreign upper-management committed the sin of running away while taking paid leave (isn't stealing from your own company considered theft?) while expecting the Japanese to continue working as if nothing at all happened?


If the situation were so bad and they bothered to make rational decisions - while showing a tiny bit of leadership qualities - then they'd have had the guts to say that they were running away and told the Japanese staff to go home; or they would have sent their families away and stayed with the ship. I know for first hand fact that the Japanese staff left over by their panicking foreign bosses have very little respect for those people. They probably should have zero; which were just about the odds of a nuclear disaster hitting Tokyo.


Let me give you an example of a leader who deserves massive respect and knows how to make a company culture whereby his staff and workers will follow him to the end of the earth. I heard from an extremely reliable source that, during the crisis, the foreign president of Godiva chocolates, Jerome Chouchan, decided to send his family away but he stayed on because he said that he felt like, "If I leave now and leave my Japanese staff to fend for themselves it would be like the captain leaving the sinking ship first." He said this and this gentleman is a French citizen! (This means you other westerners who diss the French must bow their heads.) Bravo!


This gentleman calmly made a professional judgement using the basics of risk management. He was able to control his emotions and make a logical, clear-headed decision. Contrast that with how so many foreigners panicked and ran off like some Bruce Willis movie.


This gentleman showed the qualities of a true leader. He has made a situation whereby his staff have nothing but the utmost respect and admiration for him. They would follow him to the end of the earth. As a customer, I will always buy Godiva chocolate.


Coca-Cola? No. 


Let me ask you a question. If you are foreign management in Japan - or foreign management returning to Japan after panicking and running away - and are reading this, how would you judge yourself and your status and level of respect amongst your Japanese staff at this moment? 


Misery loves company


From now on you might see that some of these foreigners who panicked and took off will be coming back embarrassed and feeling a bit ashamed. Rationalization will be their tool in defending their actions. Let us forgive them. I hope the embarrassment they feel in their hearts will be sufficient punishment for them. I'm sure this lesson has also taught their children well. After all, aren't the parents responsible for building strong minds and a strong character in their children? 


Once again, let me state that there is no problem in the world with wanting to protect your children and - making a level headed judgement based on basic risk assessment - then sending them away if deemed necessary. But panicking and making hasty decisions is not teaching them an important lesson in life.


What lessons did your reactions teach your children about how to handle themselves and what to do in an emergency?


Another foreigner who has lived in Japan all his life - has been the president of a world famous major foreign corporation in Japan - wrote to me and said;



A lot of the expats were getting that kind of pressure (to panic and run away) from their families from overseas as well.. But in many cases, it was just blind, stupid fear without digging into the facts.

Not everyone has the choice to leave and when people come back, there will always remain the question about how much can we trust or rely on these people..!

I do have a number of friends that call me every night to check in.. Partly out of concern, partly out of guilt.. But mostly I think because they are bored to death with nothing to do.

Aha! Yes. I couldn't have said it better, "...there will always remain the question about how much can we trust or rely on these people."

The time is coming to assess the situation and to pay the piper. This means that everyone will have to judge their actions during this crisis. Foreign parents and company executives need to stand in front of the mirror. They need to look themselves straight in the eye and make serious and fair judgements about how they handled themselves in front of their own children and their Japanese employees. Did they panic? Or did they make rational decisions? Did they gain respect or lose respect during this time?

I think far too many will not like what they see. 

A Japanese family recovers clothes from their destroyed home

And now, finally, the scorecard as of right this moment about the nuclear accident: 

Yahoo reports:

In the first sign that contamination from Japan's stricken nuclear complex had seeped into the food chain, officials said Saturday that radiation levels in spinach and milk from farms near the tsunami-crippled facility exceeded government safety limits.

Minuscule amounts of radioactive iodine also were found in tap water Friday in Tokyo and elsewhere in Japan — although experts said none of those tests showed any health risks. The Health Ministry also said that radioactive iodine slightly above government safety limits was found in drinking water at one point Thursday in a sampling from Fukushima prefecture, the site of the nuclear plant, but later tests showed the level had fallen again.

Six workers trying to bring the Fukushima Dai-ichi plant back under control were exposed to more than 100 millisieverts of radiation

Now we must make a judgement about nuclear power. Is it safe? Is it safer than, say, burning coal or gas refineries that spew toxic wastes into the air that we breathe? This next piece of information from Energy From Thorium

Q: Is nuclear power unsafe?

A: No. It is far safer than chemical power and renewable power. Look at the burning refineries and gas lines. There are no burning reactors. People are scared of "radiation" and don't understand what it means. The media makes little attempt to tell them. I am trying to be a resource to help explain because I have had some training in this area. A dam gave way due to the earthquake. That's not safe either.

Ultimately, the scorecard up until now shows that deaths from the nuclear accident until now are zero. On the other hand, tens of thousands of dead and many more than 11,000 people are still missing, and more than 452,000 are living in shelters. Now that is the catastrophe.

Japanese refugees after earthquake and tsunami left them homeless

The foreign media sensationalizing the nuclear reactor accident and then the foreigners panicking and running away all contribute to the news ignoring the true humanitarian crisis in this country. Those people need our help, not our abandonment.

That's the score as of today concerning the real disaster here in Japan. 
Please donate & help if you can. 
http://www.google.com/intl/en/crisisresponse/japanquake2011.html

Thanks to: Daniel Kahl,  George Williams,  Michael Distacio,  Michael Anop,  James Allen,  Mike Newton,  Tim Rabone,  Paul Guilfoile,  Roger Marshall,  Steve "Poots" Candidus,  Marc Abela,  Ken Nishikawa,  Yuka Rogers,  Jon Lynch,  Google,  Rob Schwartz,  Tina Kawamura,  Jerome Chouchan