A Daily Samurai Duel

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Saito, by contrast, spent much of his day in solitude. Before work began, he sat for 15 minutes in the plant cafeteria drinking coffee and poring over newspapers. Then at 8 a.m. he stood at attention next to his desk and, along with his fellow workers, sang the company song, which begins: "A bright heart overflowing with life linked together, Matsushita Electric." This is an honored tradition in many corporations throughout Japan. Saito's job is to help TV distributors understand the technical details of Matsushita products. He first answered a stack of telex messages, most of them from the U.S., where the firm's products are sold under the brand names Panasonic, Technics and Quasar. Nearly all replies were cabled in English, even when addressed to a fellow Japanese. Explained Saito: "We would not want to give our American colleagues the impression that we were exchanging secret messages."

Except for a 45-minute lunch in the company cafeteria, Saito sat at his desk most of the time. But he did not feel isolated. Said he: "Never do I feel like a cog in a huge impersonal machine." Occasionally he went off to consult with the experts on the assembly line. Most of this afternoon was spent writing and revising an English-language manual for a new " TV-set model. Then at 4:45 p.m., he | and his colleagues stood and again sang the Matsushita song. That was not, however, the end of Saito's day. He returned to the cafeteria for a light supper of grilled fish and then walked upstairs to a 2½-hour English-conversation class. Saito returned home at 9 p.m., when he and Etsuko shared a snack, accompanied by a daily tot of two whisky-and-waters.

Yamashita finished his day at the plant at 5:30 p.m. He did not take time to chant the company song. Instead, he hurried off to entertain a few clients at a restaurant. Such affairs are an integral part of Japanese business life, and Yamashita must often attend them five nights a week. He got home at 10 p.m.

Both men were up early the next morning because, as one old hand at Matsushita says, "Every day is a samurai duel."