Where did all the technology go?

Let me tell you one puzzling thing about Japan.

As you sit reading this from a country outside Japan, take note of all of the goods in your vicinity that bear the logos of the pillars of the Japanese corporate world - Toshiba, Sony, Panasonic, Sharp, Mitsubishi, Daikin, Canon etc.. Some of these companies have fantastic reputations and consistently release products with creative and impressive technological improvements. This may give the impression that Japan must be a futuristic land with families clicking and tapping everything around them in their ultra-convenient lifestyle.

Sadly, this is nowhere near reality. Well, not consistently spread out in all facets of life. You can frequently see the latest and greatest technology from the automotive industry on the roads. This is consistently ahead of their exports. And you do see the odd mouth-opening gadget or household appliance. However, in education technology, to use as an example, they are way behind European, Nth American and Oceanic countries. Due to many circumstances, either blame the economy, poor school budgeting, conservative or ignorant leaders, or all, they still maintain the blackboard and chalk model in most schools, with a peppering of desktop computers and whiteboards. The stamp and sticker industry is still doing well, as is the ridiculously excessive use of paper. In another sign of the slow uptake of technology, the fax machine is still a commonly used means of communication.

I am sure you have let a few "What?" whispers out already, followed quickly by "How come they don't use the technology they make?". I hear you. I cannot answer that either, other than with the common reasons I mentioned above. I can offer one reason that is a little different though. From an early age, children are taught the lifelong lesson of never waste anything. This is recognised every day when everyone utters "いただきます, itadakimasu" before eating a meal. This one word packs a lot of meaning actually. It stems from Shinto (see my page on this) origins and basically recognises all the contributions, from people and nature, that lead to the meal being placed in front of them. In a sign of gratitude, it is polite to finish every grain of rice in your bowl (do your best at least). This is quite different to other Asian countries, so keep this in mind.

Limiting waste is also seen in other aspects of life in Japan too. For instance, it is quite bothersome to get rid of old electronic equipment such as DVD players, microwaves, fridges etc.. In Australia, we could take it to the tip (or "dump") and leave it there (there are small costs involved and it depends whether you are a householder paying rates etc....). However, in most cases it costs money to throw it away here, and can only be thrown away at certain places and at certain times. Then there is the recycling. I have discovered that this varies depending on the prefecture or city/town, but I have experienced a very pedantic system in one of the places I lived. Everything had to be separated, dismantled, folded, packed, tied up, crushed, stripped, and the verbs go on and on. To give an example, a 600ml soft-drink bottle had to have the label thrown in one bin, the cap in another bin, and the PET bottle into another. On a certain day, there would be a collection point in your neighbourhood that was monitored/supervised on a rotational basis by your neighbours. If it did not meet their standards, they would ask you to do it properly. Your regular rubbish bags had to be labelled with your name and address too, so if that contained "illegally dumped" material, they would return it to your front door. It was so annoying, but you got the guilt-trips if you did not do your bit. Global warming would be your fault.

Back in the mid 00's, there was a very catchy slogan that was engraved in everyone's mind - もったいない, mottainai. It is now common vernacular and roughly translates to "what a waste". It was used left, right and centre when someone appeared to be wasting something - paper, food, money etc.. The phrase got over-used, but it really is a good thing. People became a lot more aware of conservation of materials and used things until they really could not be used anymore - try and fix it before discarding it and buying a new one. Recycle the water from your bath-tub for the washing machine or garden.

Could this be the reason why technology has not reached the classroom? Are educational leaders thinking that it is not needed? Will it cost too much to get rid of existing materials in order to get new things that will eventually be replaced again? I do not know.

Sorry to waffle on up until now, but I actually wanted to share something startling that happened today. We spotted an ad in the local newspaper about a free movie screening at the city's Culture Centre this Sunday (today) for kids. It sounded great for us, especialy considering it would be nice to sit in an airconditioned room during this oppressive heat. Anyway, we got there and were quickly reminded that the volunteers were well into their silver age and passionate about sharing and helping educate the young 'uns. The screening room was... old, and they were only using the collapsible chairs and blue tarp seating area for the kids at the front. It was beautifully airconditioned, so I was happy. However, the event was well and truly controlled by members of a distant era. The first DVD was a 20 minute "lesson" on safety on the streets - can't fault them for giving a good message, but curious about the delivery. Then, the guns came out. I heard it before I saw it. Tick..... tick.... tick.. tick.. tick, tick, tick tick tictictictick...

The silver screen! Film! They showed us two movies on film. Including the shadows of the heads of fools walking near, and the skipping of scenes due to film wear and tear. Oh, it was awesome. What made it even more awesome was the comment from one of the oldies that the last movie was still really popular with high school students. It was seriously from the 1950s. This is definitely not the case by the way. What a classic! I hadn't seen anything "rewound" for many years before today. The smiles continued though. After the films, we were privileged to be shown one last DVD (from the future) that unfortunately was not cleaned properly. It was entertaining for the parents and kids because of all of the funny noises being made due to skipped or cut words. It actually got to the point where we were all wondering why no one had stopped it. What were the organisers thinking? We watched an incomprehensible DVD for more than 10 minutes!

It was such an interesting experience. The organisers (all volunteers, let me remind you) were really friendly and innocent looking people. Grandmother or grandfather-like people, ... actually, more like great grandparents, that you just love them for trying and forgive them for being one or two generations behind in contemporary knowledge.

So, for me this summed up one of the puzzling aspects of Japanese culture. There is amazing, cutting edge technology being designed and created in Japan, but not so much used. If it aint completely broken, then why change it? Why waste the previous cutting edge technology?

I could go on and on about technology in education, and what they are missing out on, but that will come in due course.