Cheating, shame and scandal call into question Japan’s business integrity

Jason BallByJason Ball

After Kobe Steel was revealed to have been cheating on safety standards for decades, the media is full of articles condemning Japanese business culture.

The company has admitted it falsified safety records for products supplied to more than five hundred firms, including Japan’s biggest automotive firms and train manufacturers.

Other companies recently tainted by scandal include Nissan, Mitsubishi and Toshiba. So is there a crisis within Japan Inc?

In this week’s blog, Duncan Bartlett looks at the press reaction to the scandals and asks why many investors in Japan seem to be unworried by its impact.

You can read the blog on Japan Story or on Linked In.

Japan Story’s blog is written by former BBC Tokyo Correspondent Duncan Bartlett. Each week he analyses how Japan’s story is being told to the world through the international media.