Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Oct 23, 2017 (I)

choi

Stephen Stapczynski, Nao SANO 佐野 直 and Kevin Buckland with Masumi Suga and Ichiro Suzuki, The Japan That Can't Keep Up.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/a ... ow-lying-to-compete

Quote:

"Japanese manufacturers were once held in awe for their mastery of flexible manufacturing and a continuous improvement mantra that revolutionized business practices the world over. Even now, for example, Fanuc (page 48) remains the preeminent maker of sophisticated robots, sought by manufacturers from China to the US. But an increasing number of companies in China, South Korea, and elsewhere have found success emulating—and often besting—Japan's long-established enterprises, forcing them to scramble.

"about two-thirds of the weight of most vehicles is still steel.

" 'The world is now far more competitive … and the Japanese have lost many opportunities and contracts just based on being too expensive,' says Landry Guesdon, an attorney at Tokyo-based Iwata Godo. 'So quality has come down for certain products. You try to cut corners, cut costs.'

"The spotlight has taken a toll on Kobe Steel [, Ltd or Kobelco 株式会社 神戸製鋼所], Japan's third-largest steelmaker

"The scandal 'at the very least removes some of the ability of Japanese companies to have premium pricing,' says Alexander Robert Medd, managing director at Bucephalus Research Partnership Ltd. 'You don’t buy Japanese goods because they are cheap. The whole thing is because of quality.'

Note:
(a) summary underneath the title in print: Long known for manufacturing savvy, more businesses in the country are lying to compete
(b) The print and online versions are one and the same.

(c) Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal  新日鐵住金株式会社
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nippon_Steel_%26_Sumitomo_Metal
(was formed in 2012 with the merger of Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal 住友金属工業株式会社; Headquarters Tokyo)
(i) "Sumitomo Group 住友グループ is one of the largest Japanese keiretsu 系列 [English: conglomerate], or business groups, founded by Masatomo SUMITOMO 住友 政友 around 1615 as 富士屋 in Kyoto selling books and medicine."  En.wikipedia.org.
(ii) 住友 政友 (1585– 1652) was a Buddhist monk 涅槃宗の僧侶 (法名: 空禅); got married in his 20s (I don't know how; maybe a monk did not have to be celibate then?); 涅槃宗 (founded in 1592) was accused by other Buddhist sect as 邪教, so he together with sect founder were banished/exiled; in 1621 he returned to Kyoto. Ja,wikipedia.org
(iii) Of note, Ja,wikipedia.org does not say when he established 富士屋, However, Group's website suggested establishment was ~1930.
住友政友. Suitono Group, undated
www.sumitomo.gr.jp/history/chronology/01/
("「富士屋（ふじや）」の屋号で書物と薬の店を営みました。寛永年間、政友45歳のころです")

(d) The second largest steelmaker in Japan is JFE Holdings "formed in 2002 by the merger of NKK (日本鋼管株式会社 Nippon Kōkan Kabushiki Kaisha) and Kawasaki Steel Corporation 川崎製鉄." en.wikipedia.org

JFE Group Name and Corporate Symbol
http://www.jfe-holdings.co.jp/en/company/brand/index.html
("The JFE name is composed of the letter "J" for Japan, 'F' for steel (as in Fe, the atomic symbol of iron) and "E" for engineering. The acronym can also be thought of as standing for 'Japan Future Enterprise,' ie, a future-oriented Japanese business group centered around the core businesses of steel and engineering")

Both 新日鐵住金 and JFE are based in Tokyo.