Japan is the Best: A Code and The Search for Perfection

I loved the “Last Samurai” movie starring Tom Cruise as an ex-American soldier & mercenary captured in 1876 by a famous Samurai in rebellion against the Japanese government. It’s a fictional story with many historical inaccuracies but it’s a great story. While the American soldier is held in captivity at the samurai village, he makes an observation of the Japanese. 

“They are an intriguing people. From the moment they wake, they devote themselves to the perfection of whatever they pursue. I have never seen such discipline.”

I know this comment may be a bit too much of a cultural stereotype. But stereotypes do exist for a reason. They have a deep sense of their cultural identity and history. The quote above is why Japan is so damn good at crafts, why their food is so good, why they are a manufacturing powerhouse. Their discipline, their sense of duty and devotion to mission whether it’s a company or national mission is unparalleled in the world. The search for perfection. 

This mindset may also be why their startup ecosystem is so behind the USA.  My observation is that in Japan, the mindset of launching something imperfect goes against a lot of internal cultural instincts. One that keeps to super high standards and hates high risk. Although I should note this is changing fast among the younger population now.  Could you imagine doing the lean startup methodology and launching a Minimal Viable Product aka MVP? How hard is that when customer expectations and your own expectations are so high. This is in contrast to America where we focus on getting stuff done but at a good enough level. And let’s be frank, a much sloppier and slapdash way of doing things. 

There is a scene where Cruise’s character is learning sword fighting but he keeps getting beat. He is given advice by one of the samurai. 

“Too Many Mind. Mind sword. Mind people watching, mind enemy. Too many mind. No Mind.”

It’s about being present & not overthinking. It’s about focus and just letting your actions flow. It’s like in the martial arts, you train like mad but when it comes to the fight you trust your training and let things flow. This is a good approach to take in life. 

We can learn to be more samurai. “What does it mean to be samurai? To devote yourself utterly to a set of moral principles. To seek a stillness of your mind. And to master the way of the sword. Life in every breath.”

A code of honor and a way of life. So much wisdom to be gained. That is why I so deeply love the place and culture. This is also why I hope that Japan and America will continue to be closely tied at the hip economically & geopolitically. We have so much to learn from each other. I look forward to spending as much time as I can in Japan in the future.