My Japanese relatives also experiencing "outsourcing"

[Generic Other]

They own a small factory that manufactures underwear and t-shirts. They have been in business since the war. I always crack up at the samples I get because they mangle the English so badly when they write on the products. You should have seen what a set of "weekly" undies labelled Monday-Sunday looked like (Fliday was my favorite).

Anyway, the past year or so, they have complained that orders are way down and mostly (get this) from Japanese companies who have bought stuff in China and want a Japanese label sewn in, so they can charge more. A thriving and honest family business has been reduced to cutting their workers, closing their shop and only employing the immediate family in a shameful act of deception.

Long live capitalism. I think middle class workers all over the industrialized world are starting to find out what CLASS WARFARE means. This is becoming an issue everywhere.

The only people benefitting are the rich.

[Dunvegan]

1. Informative. Thanks for the inside view on an international problem.

[Yollam]

2. (sigh) and I'll be living there as of next week.

I know that Japanese businesses have been trying to resist those pressures as long as humanly possible, but all my friends there tell me it's tough there. It doesn't help that Koizumi is a Bush fan who has privatized the postal system and slashed government programs. Unfortunately, Japan also has a ballooning deficit, and supply-side taxation gimmicks are popular there as well. There are many Japanese politicians and business leaders who belong to US right-wing think tanks like Carlyle and Cato, and I think they are using their influence to try and undermine Japan's more egalitarian society.

But it will be a while before Japan becomes as economically stratified as the US...

As for mangled English on products, here is an absolute treasure trove:


www.engrish.com

[Generic Other]

4. I hope my relatives didn't make that one!

That's just...precious.

[porphyrian]

13. Oops, you beat me to it. - n/t

[oneighty]

3. I have a

cyber friend that is married into a Japanese family (He lives in Japan). The family business is making Kimonos. The business is slow mainly because Kimonos are going out of style except for weddings.

But in light of what you are reporting there might be more to it-perhaps cheaper from China.

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[Yollam]

5. But kimono are very intricate, high quality items made of silk.

Hard to imagine them getting REALLY cheap.

[oneighty]

6. That is true.

Did you receive my PM?

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[Yollam]

7. Sorry, don't check my inbox often.

Hope you got the reply.

[oneighty]

8. Not yet

I hope you enjoy your stay over there.

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[Yollam]

9. I'm sure I will - it's a second home to me.

We have always planned to move back before the kids went to middle school. There are problems over there, too, but I vastly prefer their education system to ours.

[oneighty]

12. Interesting

I have answered your PM. Please read.

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[Generic Other]

11. My mother was a kimono maker

She apprenticed to an old teacher who never let her tie a knot for 4 years. Everytime she sewed the kimono, the old teacher pulled out the threads. My mom can sew the most perfect hem on the face of this planet! Otherwise, she hates to sew.

Modern Japanese rarely wear formal kimono (silk). They may wear the cotton bath house kind in the summer, but these are all machine made.

The old hand-sewn variety are just not being produced. You can find some interesting vintage kimono on ebay often underpriced if you ask me. A bargain. I have a whole trunk full of old kimono, some with the basting threads still in place indicating they've never even been worn.

You should try and acquire any vintage kimono you can find while in Japan. I think people are happy to get rid of it. Crazy.

[porphyrian]

10. Tangent: On Asian Products With Mangled English

I found this site a few years back, and it cracks me up every time. If you haven't already, I'm sure you could send them in some photos:

http://engrish.com/

[Lisa]

14. a guy I know from Afghanistan ...

... said that the last time he was in Kabul, he went to get some garlic -- and the type he was looking for wasn't available. Apparently the local farmers are being driven out of business by imported Chinese garlic, which is cheaper but doesn't taste like the traditional Afghan varieties. So globalization is affecting jobs in developing as well as developed countries.

My relatives in Japan run a bakery, Generic Other ... I suppose that because they sell perishables, they might not have been affected yet like your relatives in the garment industry. But eventually, I wouldn't be surprised if they too have to deal with an influx of cheap croissants from the mainland ...