The Moral Vision
Character Builds the Nation
~ 310 ~
CHARACTER BUILDS THE NATION
Toyota, a Japanese motor company, has been
functioning for the last thirty years without a single
day ever having been wasted, and without its
production ever once having slackened. This is only
one of the many examples which explain the fast
development of industry in Japan. General Motors
and the Ford Motor Company of the U.S.A. are the
biggest motor manufacturing companies in the
world. The annual production of these motor
companies is, on an average, 11 cars per employee,
while the Toyota Motor Company annually
produces 33 cars per worker.
Considering the non-existence or at least paucity of
all the major raw materials of industry in Japan—
coal, iron, petroleum, etc.,—Japan still manages to
surpass all other countries in industrial progress.
One might well ask why. A
Hindustan Times
commentator (25 August, 1981) attributes Japan’s
success to “A national spirit of compromise and co-
operation, and a willingness to endure
short-term setbacks for the long-term good of the
nation, company or family.”
