Greatest Japanese contribution to the world ?

[Maciamo]

Japan Times : Made in Japan

Please read the article and say what you think is Japan's most important invention or contribution to the world. The article mentions :

- Nintendo & video games
- Digital watches and calculators
- The Self Defense Forces (is that a joke ? hardly a contribution to the world; at best a way to satisfy the Bush Administration in their conquest of the Middle East)
- The Walkman (although invented by a German, not Sony)
- Karaoke
- Black-clothes fashion (didn't know it was the Japanese who launched that)
- Kyoto Protocol (that's in fact 156 countries, Japan was just a host for the conference)
- Overseas Development Aid (ODA), but every developed countries have one, and many European countries have higher per capita donations.
- Instant Noodles


I think they forgot 2 very important things : Anime/Manga (an enormous cultural influence worldwide), and Martial Arts (judo, karate, kendo...), not to mention all the electronics, cameras, cars, etc. in which Japan excels. Certainly all greater contributions to the world than cup noodles or the SDF.

[RockLee]

Cosplay ? And sushi !!?? Those are also very famous

[Sensuikan San]

I think they also forgot to mention that wonderful sense of minimalistic design - which is so uniquely Japanese, and which no-one seems to tire of.

Sake (slightly facetious - but I like it !)

And .... (believe me - this is not meant to be facetious !) ... the Pacific Theatre of War in WWII ... !

They did it , kinda, accidentally (?) .... but it did bring the U.S. into something big .... that changed the world forever. Not necessarily all good ... but forever. Many 'contributions' are dubious and accidental.

( I submit this post with trembling hand .........! )

Regards,

ジョン

[PopCulturePooka]

I was going to say Transformers...
But they were actually created by Hasbro and Marvel in America.

[EnzoHonda]

The Japanese have made all automobile and motorcycle manufactureres around the world work harder.

[epigene]

I personally think that most people who were involved in the manufacturing industry in Japan will vote unanimously for Japanese recognition of Dr. William Edwards Deming, who was little known until he was embraced wholeheartedly by Japanese industrial scientists and engineers:

http://www.deming.org/demingprize/

His concepts of quality control led to growth of Japan's manufacturing power and its economic expansion, which through material affluence indirectly promoted growth of its modern-day culture.

The Deming Prize is well-known in Japan.

[bartbeanie]

they invented my favorite paper art. origami.

[GaijinPunch]

I'm torn somewhere between video games and the ever-so-famous Toto brand toilet seat. You just don't know what you've got until it's gone.

I'm in denial about all the other stuff. My wife basically says Japan invented everything to which I have to take a shaker of salt. I will definitely give them full points on the aforementioned though.

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

Although not invented in Japan, these important things are developed in future Japan.
1.Robot(2-pair-of-shoes walk)
Artificial intelligence
2.Personal digital assistant
3.Biotechnology product
4.Domestic fuel battery
5.Photocatalyst product
6.Hybrid-car(Now, a problem is still in fuel efficiency.)

[nurizeko]

japan provided the cultural and social impliments of an entirely new sub-culture of geekdom.


apart from a bit of cultural influences though japan hasnt made that big a deal on the world, the biggest thing they gave to the world was pushing america into the war and a place of global dominance.


their good at improving on already invented technologies.


cup noodles, japan should get UN leadership just for cup noodles =>

[Maciamo]

I have discussed this topic with a dozen people today, and many Japanese think that instant noodles and karaoke are greater contributions to the world than martial arts or anime.

I would like to add that the VHS videotapes were invented by JVC in 1976 (although Philip's had introduced the similar Video 2000 in 1972, but was later supplanted).

[PaulTB]

I have discussed this topic with a dozen people today, and many Japanese think that instant noodles and karaoke are greater contributions to the world than martial arts or anime.

That's the fatal flaw in your tactics - discussing it with Japanese. What would they know?

[alexriversan]

i like the idea NINTY would manufacture instant noodles.
or games about/with instant noodles/instant noodles eating monsters.

though a rather useless reply, it does not hurt anyone.
just another opportunity to display my signature (it is not that big anymore).

and of course, casio watches (the 80's models), the slogan "nothing is impossible" (toyota)

[Wang]

Some more Japanese inventions:

1. Aibo - the robotic pet invented by Sony.
2. Cultured pearls - invented by the Japanese man Mikimoto in 1900s.
3. Dry Cell Battery - invented by Mr. Senzou YAI, in 1885
4. The SW1C antenna - Japanese physicist
5. Ion Exchange Unit - The medical scientist, Dr Noboru Horiguchi , invented the world's first Ion Exchange Unit in 1990, which generates negative-ions equivalent to nature.
6. Soluble 'instant' coffee - invented by Japanese American
chemist Satori Kato in 1906
7. The first pocket television - invented by Japanese firm Matsushita
8. Raku is a glazing technique - invented by Japanese potters in the 16th century
9. The floppy disk - by Dr. Yoshiro Nakamatsu. He holds more than 2,300 patents. Among his many inventions are the compact disc, the compact disc player, the digital watch, a unique golf putter, and a water-powered engine.
toothbrush with a built-in video camera - Japanese scientists
10. Haiku poem - invented by Japanese
11. VHS - A standard for video tape recording invented by the Japanese Victor Company (JVC)
12. 9V "transistor radio battery" - invented by the Japanese
13. Godzilla
14. Teacube, the "smallest PC in the world" - invented by the Japanese, Weighing a scant 166 grams, "as big as a Rubik's cube"
15. Tamagochi
16. Folding fans - were invented by the Japanese in the 7th century.
17. The rotary cutter (think pizza cutter) - was invented by the Japanese in 1979
18. Leaf blowers - is an engine-powered, hand-held maintenance tool used in lieu of a rake or broom to remove leaves and debris from a lawn or garden by blowing them away is also invented by Japanese.
19. The term "mechatronics" - invented by Japanese to describe the union of mechanical and electrical systems in producing a generation of machines, robots, and smart mechanisms for manufacturing as well as other applications.
20. Honda's ASIMO - is the first biped robot that moves in a realistic way and can smoothly change direction while walking.

[Index]

I wouldn't say martial arts were invented by the Japanese. They exist in almost all cultures, and not just Asian ones (savatte, fencing, krav manga, kung fu, boxing, the list goes on). The ones you mentioned are of course Japanese Maciamo, but strictly speaking one could even argue that Karate is not Japanese because it's roots are in Okinawa. The oldest Japanese 古武道 ie. old martial arts (meaning the traditional ones) are acknowledged to have come from China in any case. Japanese martial arts were originally battlefield techniques and ways of waging war so to say that the origin of 'martial arts' is in Japan is like saying war originates from Japan.

[yukio_michael]

アンパンーMan?　　Contributions to the world? The whole world? Well, lets see, the cartoon network plays horible bishonen anime all the time, uh, there was the dubbed Iron Chef series which was unwatchable, everyone has heard of the movie Audition and Takashi Miike is sort of a household name if you care about those sorts of things.

So far, Strappu Keitai hasn't caught on here, so I'll save that one.

ps. Wang, you took this waaaay too seriously. ;)

[blade_bltz]

yeah Gaijinpunch is right. It's all about Toto

[RockLee]

Seiko watches (Seiko(u) = succes) , invented by Hattori Kintaro in 1881

[Dutch Baka]

mmm TAMAGOCHI .... and karaoke, that was born in a cafe in kobe

background info:

Tamagotchi was released on November 23rd, 1996 by Bandai (makers of Power Rangers) and was finally released in May 1st 1997 for the US. A second released of a Generation 2 was made available about 6 months later.

The Japanese story, and the one I believe is this: They are little alien creatures from Planet Tamagotchi, who crash landed on earth, and The Professor and his assistant Mikachu found them. The Professor built them little egg shaped protection cases so they could survive on earth, then Mikachu painted some, took them to school and started the Tamagotchi craze...

[Maciamo]

That's the fatal flaw in your tactics - discussing it with Japanese. What would they know?

I gave them the list before, and asked which they considered the most important among these.

[mad pierrot]

Japanese women. Definately the women.

[Silverbackman]

Video Games definatley. Also broadened the world's imagination with Anime.

[Hiroyuki Nagashima]

Futures trading started in Osaka.

A Japanese female high school student

[Iron Chef]

Onigiri. Kinda like this fellow here->

[Maciamo]

I'd like to add a few typically Japanese gadgets, like the toilets with seat-warmer and water jets, the photo stickers on a background of your choice (famous place, anime, decorations...). Well, I am not sure they were invented in Japan, but they certainly became popular there first.