Yet this seeming contradiction paradoxically means it is more important
than ever that people make up their own minds and act decisively.

Management and marketers alike know what it takes to launch new products into the market, and the Japanese market is one populated by highly educated businessmen and other consumers. Not every country can make this claim, and it is imperative that we take full advantage of this distinctive climate.
  
Smarter-than-ever consumers are looking for goods and services to make their lives more comfortable. And the constant drive to meet these demanding requirements has forced Japanese business to develop among the best expertise and systems in the world. We need to sustain and accelerate that momentum.
  
So what are the barriers to mounting new initiatives to meet cutting-edge needs? Among the worst are the old standards, norms, and you-can't-do-that common sense which may have altered in outward appearance but remain fundamentally unchanged forces for inertia. These barriers can only be broken by determination and will-power -- the kind of ambition that comes when people make up their own minds and act for themselves.

Now is the time.
  
Kawashima Tamotsu
Freelance editor