ìLuxury Electronics Power Japanís Recovery: New Factories Reflect High-End Focus,î by Anthony Faiola, Washington Post, 6 April, p. A1.

Surprise, surprise. Japan finally comes out of the doldrums that were its 1990s by realizing that, having scaled the mountain that was cheap consumer electronics in the 1980s, they needed to scale some new peak if they were ever going to regain their footing. In short, having exported away that manufacturing base to others (especially China), they needed to move up the product chain.

I am just old enough to remember when the label ìMade in Japanî was a serious put-down, reflecting cheap crap, much like ìMade in Chinaî struck many peopleóuntil recently. Now, Made in Japan is the height of high class, and scaling that new height in design, style, and high-end taste has remade Japan what it is today: the global center of cool.

Too bad they still feature such a clan mentality toward outsiders in their ranks. If they ever gave it up, they could rule this world in more ways than one.