Tokyo, Pursuing Perfection and a Fulbright Specialist Adventure!

This past January, my dear friend Prof. Tohru Yagi invited me to spend a fortnight at Institute of Science Tokyo (Science Tokyo), join his research group, meet with Institute faculty, visit companies and explore the Japanese approach to innovation and entrepreneurship. This trip was made possible under the auspices of the Fulbright Specialist Program and with the support of Fulbright Japan (Japan-United States Educational Commission). While the Fulbright's graduate student scholarships are well known, this this Program connects academics and professionals, to execute short-terms projects and, more generally, build invaluable lifelong relationships.

In the Yagi-lab I found an inspiring group of students, from Japan, Laos, Vietnam and even the US, working on projects as varied as robotic eyelids, for people with glass eyes, to electrostimulation, as a way to counteract mental fatigue. I met faculty working on humanoid swimmers, flapping insects and robotic penguins, and flexible tube robots.

A messy lab is the sign of creativity! Visiting the PEECs— Practical-Based Entrepreneurship Education Course felt like I had never left home, with students working on easy to wear surgical gowns, patient positioning blankets and a host of other human-centered projects.

As I munched my way around Tokyo, I saw with old friends, not seen since pre-COVID, and (re)kindled relationships with companies as varied as Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Tendo Furniture, Canon Japan and Mitsubishi Pencil, best known for the Uniball brand, but which also has a performance, materials and machining division, Mitsubishi Infrastructure Group and Takeda, who I know well from Cambridge, MA. Each discussion gave me the opportunity to probe how Japanese engineers approached innovation, starting with deep research and technical sophistication.

As I met with students, industry and academic researchers and, generally, navigated my way around Tokyo, what struck me was the pursuit of perfection. Whether in the presentation of a meal, the rigorous approach to research, striping in the metro to guide everyone in lining up correctly, or the design of industrial equipment and pencils, the Japanese mentality believes that perfection is possible and often, actually, achieves it.

Shopping was also a highlight of the trip, but not for the purpose of acquiring more stuff (has anyone seen my basement?) but, rather understanding the local psychology. The goal of the sales assistant is not to make a sale, rather to assist the customer in finding the perfect product. That is why it only looks like all the guys on the metro are wearing the same dark suit and conservative tie. Look closer. In a single brand, there will be 50 variants on the same white shirt, with every possible variant of fabric weave, collar and fit. The same applies to a wider range of products and leads to important decisions, such as, do I need to carry 250 mL or 300 mL of coffee to work?

This pursuit of perfection is what gives the Japanese the patience to build complex technologies and execute at scale, while maintaining rigorous quality standards. There is none of the "good enough" and "we can fix it in V2" mentalities. But what is the catch? Speed. When selling and innovating within the 125M population island, the pursuit of perfection approach works perfectly. But globally, there is an impedance match when competing against the US and other countries, where we prioritize speed to market, albeit often with quality problems.

So how do we find the balance between speed and quality? What will it take to gently encourage Japanese young folks to start exploring entrepreneurship as a career path. Can we suggest to researchers that their excellent work has the potential to be more than a paper?

It starts with engagement and for this a I am most grateful that a decade ago the Fulbright Program brought Tohru Yagi to MIT Department of Mechanical Engineering (MechE) for his sabbatical and that, now, I have had the chance to explore his Institution, culture and community. An extra thanks to World Learning for coordinating and, especially, Akira and Marie Yagi for adopting me!

For any promising graduate students and young professionals, looking to expand their horizons and share their culture, please look to the Fulbright Program. The program offers funded opportunities to study in the US and I can promise that you will be welcome and well supported.