Reinventing the Millennium

In half a month, the fourth Japanese company suspected of fraud was released.

It did not disappoint, and the Fortune 500 lived up to expectations.

However, Kobe Steel, which was named by Wikipedia, did not respond immediately. It first responded to questions from customers from all over the world.

The media and the public can enjoy it, but brands that use Kobe Steel as their suppliers really cannot have such a mentality when things affect themselves.

In other words, after Japanese companies have been exposed one after another, many brands that use Japanese suppliers will inevitably mutter in their hearts, don’t they also have fake products at home?

Therefore, Kobe Steel's customers almost immediately made inquiries in various ways after learning the news, and the company called the company one after another.

Such a vague suspicion of Japanese companies is also a concern of the Japanese media recently.

Sony is the most famous brand of Japanese companies in the world. It is currently suffering huge losses, its CEO has resigned, and it is a mess. However, Takata and Kobe Steel's product fields are relatively sensitive, and murderous airbags and counterfeit steel cannot be ignored.

And Olympus, this kind of industry giant's counterfeiting lasts for a long time, which is really rare in the world...

Just after Kobe Steel was exposed, some Japanese media made appeals.

"The fraud that is occurring now is just that of individual companies. Please do not have a wrong understanding of Japanese companies as a whole."

"The source of information on the WikiLeaks website is not authoritative. Please do not expand the market's impact."

"Japanese companies have excellent financial systems and corporate governance mechanisms. This cannot be questioned just because of the situation of a few companies."

"We have reason to believe that this is an organized and premeditated smear campaign against Japanese companies."

Well-known Japanese media such as "Asahi Shimbun", "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" and "Mainichi Shimbun" all reacted quickly and gave similar attitudes.

However, what makes them troublesome is that even if they are looking for counterattack targets this time, it is not easy to find them. The source of WikiLeaks' revelations claims to be from Fobolo and the SEC, although sources close to the two departments have denied this. , but it’s hard to say who is more trustworthy between them and Wiki.

Assuming it is indeed not two departments from the United States, then who could it be?

The range is so large that it is difficult to even imagine a counterattack target.

Influential Japanese media have all taken action to try to cool down the recent turmoil involving Japanese companies. However, they can still play some role in Japan, and larger public opinion venues cannot reverse the hot trend.

The New York Times, as a media outlet that has witnessed Olympus and Sony up close, asked a question in its report: “If even industry giants like Sony and Olympus are committing fraud, what if Takata and Kobe Steel are even concerned about this? Life-safe products are all fake, so how can we trust Japanese brands?”

Official reports spread too slowly, and Japanese media responded on Twitter and Facebook.

"Media reports should be objective. Sony did not falsify. It just suffered losses due to various factors. Takata is also investigating. The situation of Kobe Steel is also not clear enough. The current reports and carnivals are all based on WikiLeaks. There is no guarantee. Real information.”

"As for Olympus, prosecutors, police and the exchange have all officially investigated, but doesn't it take time?"

"Even if Takata and Kobe Steel really confirm that there are problems, how can they represent the operations of our other brands in Japan? There is no Sony, there is Toshiba, there is no Kobe Steel, and there is Kawasaki Heavy Industries. It should not be because of the problems of individual companies. And obliterate the efforts and operations of more enterprises."

There is some truth to what the Japanese media said. They want to cut up the companies that have problems to avoid affecting the overall image.

However, in the evening, there were more developments regarding the situation at Takata.

Toyota and Nissan, both well-known Japanese brands, announced the recall of 3 million vehicles equipped with potentially dangerous airbags and will further evaluate the situation.

Takata airbag problems have begun to spread to the industrial chain.

As the world's second largest manufacturer of automotive safety components, the sales volume of its customers' automotive products is not measured in millions, but in billions.

Toyota and Nissan obviously do not want the use and image of their own products to be affected by a supplier's product problems. Regardless of whether they are both Japanese companies, they have already made substantial cuts.

But before Takata's internal investigation was released, it was undoubtedly the first step to confirm that there was indeed a problem with Takata's airbags.

Just a few hours after Toyota and Nissan announced the recalls, Takata held a press conference, and President Shigehisa Takada bowed and apologized to the public.

"I apologize for not communicating with the victims in time, and I apologize for the casualties. It is very regrettable that as a safety equipment supplier, our products have caused harm to users."

"The company is currently discussing how to help victims and their families, including setting up a fund for compensation. We will strictly regulate product standards in the future and strive to regain the public's trust in us."

Car manufacturers have issued recalls, and there have been reports of class-action lawsuits from customers in Europe and the United States. Some previous car accidents have also begun to be revealed, and it is believed that Takata airbags were involved.

The most important thing is that the media went back and found that in 2009, Takata had already bowed and apologized for the airbag killings caused by its products.

——"The unforgivable Japanese security manufacturer!" 》

——"A company like Takata cannot escape bankruptcy!" 》

——"If bowing works, Takada will not make the mistake a second time!" 》

Takata's press conference had no effect at all. What made the Japanese media even more embarrassed was that Kobe Steel issued a statement one day later.

Unlike Takata's previous tough talk, Kobe Steel's attitude is much more submissive, saying that it has received feedback and complaints and initially believes that there may be problems in some product processes. It is carefully investigating and will provide a conclusion soon.

"There may be a problem."

Such a tone is considered a disguised admission in the current context, and the impact of product inspections that may result from this may even exceed that of Takata airbags.

On October 19, the first page of "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" used "What's wrong with Japanese companies" as a huge bold title, discussing the situation of four well-known companies and the epitome of the development of Japanese companies in recent years.

It first focused on criticizing the problems of Sony, Takata, Kobe Steel, and Olympus, then talked about the decline of Japanese companies' global influence, and finally expressed the need to reflect.

The stock prices of the four companies have plummeted, Takata may go bankrupt, Kobe's hidden dangers are more dangerous, Olympus's mechanism has allowed it to cheat for twenty years, and Sony's reform is in a quagmire.

What exactly happened here?

As the "Nihon Keizai Shimbun" initiated reflection and discussion, Japanese public opinion and the public finally turned their perspective and launched a major discussion on Japanese companies.

However, this scene seemed familiar to Fang Zhuo.

It seems that we discussed it last time, but I vaguely remember that it was Sony who started it. It was a discussion of Japanese public opinion brought about by "Sony Shock 1.0", and more deeply, it was about issues in the Japanese electronics industry.

This time it is not just the Japanese electronics industry, but a broader enterprise as a whole.

Fang Zhuo recalled the scene a few years ago, and others also remembered the original discussions and celebrity guests.

The discussion remains the same, but the guests have more weight and star status.

Some Japanese fans and Japanese media tweeted @Fang Zhuo, wanting him to share his thoughts and conduct a phone or online interview with him.

Fang Zhuo did not refuse directly, but just pointed out a question: "Is it too early to discuss it now? WikiLeaks seems not to be over yet."

"Let the bankrupt be bankrupt and the reorganized be reorganized. There is no doubt that fraud needs to be criticized, and reform must find the right direction."

He also quoted a famous saying: "A true warrior dares to face the bleak life and the dripping blood."

As a business leader familiar to Japanese media and people, Fang Zhuo's words appeared in newspapers and magazines, and he also received more interviews and program invitations.

However, when Kong Yu arrived in New York and saw these situations, the thought came to his mind, who stabbed this dripping blood with a knife?

Well, the murderer always likes to return to the scene of the crime...