Made in Japan

I work in a large distribution center for a big retailer. We get thousands of products through every night. One interesting thing I see is the countries where things are made. China, of course is the biggest. Lots from the US too, and some occasionally from India, Thailand, Italy and a few others.

I have yet to se a product made in Japan. A lot of things from Japanese companies, but not made in Japan. China, of course.

I am old enough to remember when Japan was well on its way to conquering the world. Now they seem sadly behind the times. I lived there for some 15 years, and I am not surprised by this. For the last decade Japanese companies have been transfering production to China and other cheap-labor countries.

Lets keep this in mind when hearing pundits bewailing the rise of China. China has an interesting set of self-made problems, not the least of which is its unbalanced population. They will age fast.