Japanese Ideas in American Amish Life

For years I've known something about what is sometimes called the Toyota Production System.  Toyota's founder does indeed deserve credit for being the first to introduce and popularize the "just in time" inventory management and production system.  From the Toyota production  manual comes this translated explanation of what just-in-time means:  "Making only what is needed, only when it is needed and only in the amount that is needed."  In practice, this meant that if parts were needed in the Toyota manufacturing facility in the afternoon of a given day, they might be delivered in the forenoon of the same day.  This way of operating runs counter to many stalwart traditions in German industrialism, American manufacturing, and Amish thrift, where high value is placed on plentiful provision and great stability.  Setting by in store is taken very seriously.

Just-in-time manufacturing is only one of Toyota's two main manufacturing pillars.  "Automation with a human touch" is the other half.  The Japanese term for this is Jidoka.  In broad-stroke language, the "human touch" part is what is missing in German industrialism.  In Amish thrift, the automation part may be what is missing.  

Beyond the two above principles, Toyota has implemented principles from the work and writing of Taiichi Ohno, a Japanese industrial engineer and businessman. Ohno was a Toyota insider, having grown up with the company, although he was not a Toyoda family member.  Despite his profound positive effect on the company's success, he never became an executive with that company.  Some believe he was denied the opportunity, perhaps because he spoke publicly about  Toyota's production system.  Sigh.  That wasn't a good Japanese thing to do.  Nor is it a good Amish thing to do, despite the fact that sharing freely is a good Christian thing to do.  Walling off ideas and information serves better where preserving control and profit is highly valued.

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The Family Life magazine that arrived yesterday contained a list of books about the Amish that were published in Japan.   I didn't see a list of books on Japan that were published by the Amish.  This comes as no surprise.  I'm not undertaking to change that, but I have often compared and contrasted the Japanese and Amish cultures, both of which are similar in some ways and contrast in other ways with American culture, and have occasionally written about it.  Although it's not my passion or my field of expertise, I believe that investigating manufacturing against its philosophical and cultural influences might reveal something that could be applied practically to other matters in our setting--to  our benefit.

I will likely do some of that in future blog posts.

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I self-identify as Amish--with caveats.  While Amish is part of our church name, some of our/my lifestyle practices would certainly not match traditional Amish practice.  I doubt that they would claim me, in other words, as much as I claim them.    I claim them specifically in all the ways I see as good, and wish to distance myself in all the ways I see as bad--which is no doubt what we all wish to do about anyone or anything that is part of our past.  I suspect it will result in a grand confusing mixture in my writing.

In general (leaving aside theological matters), I applaud these things:  a strong sense of family and community, resourcefulness (knowing how to make-do), modesty, simplicity, stewardship (a sense of responsibility regarding time, money, and things), limited consumption of material goods, honesty, hard work, fairness, etc.

I lament entrenched practices that have become disconnected from the good reasons for which they began.  Rumspringa (literally running around, but now often assuming license to live irresponsibly and indulge in excesses of various kinds), which seems indefensible to me, may have actually originated in some logical notions related to what all parents must reckon with: necessary letting go as offspring move through their teen years, making sure that young people are ready for adult responsibility before they are expected to take on adult responsibility, unwillingness to burden young people with what they are not prepared to handle, etc.  In this lamentable list belong also other once-laudable-virtues-gone-bad such as stinginess, selfishness, lack of common courtesy, closed-mindedness, inflexibility, etc.

If we are credible, we will recognize where we fit in both the lamentable and laudable lists. Perhaps shining a Japanese light on our practices will help us do that.