Recently, at the request of a precision-machining company that has earned high acclaim in Japan, we proposed to a U.S. semiconductor-equipment manufacturer that it adopt the company’s parts.

The products we shipped as samples were clearly superior in quality to those supplied by the existing vendor.
Nevertheless, the result was “rejected.”

The reason had nothing to do with the quality of the products themselves.

Because the Japanese company’s manuals and process controls were judged inadequate when compared with the detailed manufacturing and work procedures mandated by the U.S. firm.
In other words, the conclusion was that faithfully reproducing U.S. standards on the Japanese production site would be difficult.

We were shocked to discover that our conviction—“Japanese products sell because they are high-quality”—did not hold up.
This fact presents the stark reality that, no matter how advanced Japan’s technology may be at the prototype stage, it cannot prevail in the global market.

Meanwhile, Japan still has a sizable domestic market, and an environment where “a certain level of domestic demand can be expected.”
For this reason, many companies conclude that relying on skilled artisans is more efficient than expending effort to create detailed, globally-oriented production manuals.

These days, numerous YouTube videos praise Japan’s technological prowess and cultural excellence.
Such inward-looking messages have become conspicuous, making it seem as though we are averting our gaze from global standards and cultural currents.

If this stance persists, I fear Japan could become “the most isolated country in the world.”
With the advent of AI such as ChatGPT, the language barrier that Japanese people have long struggled with has fallen, and I was enthusiastic that Japan could now venture further abroad.

Yet if companies themselves hesitate to go overseas and instead retreat inward, all such efforts are meaningless.

Of course, even failure overseas will be a valuable experience.
Our own company, though small,  sincerely hopes that we will acquire global standards and more young talent will emerge who can compete on the world stage.
Otherwise, Japan may truly become the most isolated country on earth.

We would therefore like to change our company name from “CDR Eco-Movement” to “Global Eco-Movement.”