e the Pioneer Electric Company had attempted to dismiss 35 employees, all over 50, who were members of the "madogiwazoku or 'window-gazing tribe' . . . ageing white-collar employees who . . . draw salaries but are, in essence, unemployed [and] are simply waiting out the years until retirement" (Kilburn, p. 44). Vigorous protests from other employees and union members caused Pioneer to change its mind, but the protest and the custom were not, as Kilburn suggests, an instance of Japanese cultural inflexibility--quite the opposite.
The institution of lifetime employment has been under steady attack as the 1990s produced no turn-around in the national economy but it has not yet been dismantled. By 1999 Porter and Takeuchi could boast that "the rest of the world has caught up and some are leapfrogging ahead, particularly American companies that have been more aggressive about restructuring [mass firings] and using information technology" (p. 73). This is, however, an instance of misunderstanding the true nature of Japanese social institutions which are rigid in the sense that trees are rigid. They can bend in the wind.
The practice must be seen in the context of Japanese industries' need for a flexible, loyal, and well-trained labor force. Permanent employment was only one facet of a major effort that resulted in a work force, spurred by the efforts of the government and large firms, that was responsible for the extremely rapid industrialization effort that beg
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