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44-415: The technique was described by Taiichi Ohno at Toyota Motor Corporation . Others at Toyota and elsewhere have criticized the five whys technique for being too basic and having an artificially shallow depth as a root cause analysis tool (see § Criticism ). An example of a problem is: bolts are cross-threading in the engine block on the production line. In this example, five iterations of asking why

88-530: A travelogue ; and Jun'ichirō Tanizaki 's essay " In Praise of Shadows " (1933), which contrasts Eastern and Western cultures. Following the opening of Japan to the West in 1854, some works of this style were written in English by natives of Japan; they include Bushido: The Soul of Japan by Nitobe Inazō (1900), concerning samurai ethics, and The Book of Tea by Okakura Kakuzō (1906), which deals with

132-575: A foundation for mythology , traditions and neighborhood activities, rather than as the single source of moral guidelines for one's life. A significant proportion of members of the Japanese diaspora practice Christianity ; about 60% of Japanese Brazilians and 90% of Japanese Mexicans are Roman Catholics , while about 37% of Japanese Americans are Christians (33% Protestant and 4% Catholic ). Certain genres of writing originated in and are often associated with Japanese society. These include

176-410: A poor tool for root cause analysis. Teruyuki Minoura, former managing director of global purchasing for Toyota, criticized it as being too basic a tool to analyze root causes at the depth necessary to ensure an issue is fixed. Reasons for this criticism include: Medical professor Alan J. Card also criticized the five whys as a poor root cause analysis tool and suggested that it be abandoned because of

220-609: A second wave of immigration, from East Asia to Japan during the Yayoi period (300 BC). Following a population expansion in Neolithic times, these newcomers then found their way to the Japanese archipelago sometime during the Yayoi period. As a result, replacement of the hunter-gatherers was common in the island regions of Kyūshū , Shikoku , and southern Honshū , but did not prevail in the outlying Ryukyu Islands and Hokkaidō , and

264-498: Is a Japanese national. However, Japanese law states that children who are dual citizens must choose one nationality before the age of 20. Studies estimate that 1 in 30 children born in Japan are born to interracial couples , and these children are sometimes referred to as hāfu (half Japanese). The term Nikkeijin ( 日系人 ) is used to refer to Japanese people who emigrated from Japan and their descendants. Emigration from Japan

308-753: Is a traditional, spare dramatic form that developed in tandem with kyōgen farce. In stark contrast to the restrained refinement of noh, kabuki , an "explosion of color", uses every possible stage trick for dramatic effect. Plays include sensational events such as suicides, and many such works were performed both in kabuki and in bunraku puppet theater. Since the Meiji Restoration , Japanese art has been influenced by many elements of Western culture. Contemporary decorative, practical, and performing arts works range from traditional forms to purely modern modes. Products of popular culture, including J-pop , J-rock , manga , and anime have found audiences around

352-550: Is characterized by a relatively small number of vowel phonemes , frequent gemination and a distinctive pitch accent system. The modern Japanese language has a tripartite writing system using hiragana , katakana and kanji . The language includes native Japanese words and a large number of words derived from the Chinese language . In Japan the adult literacy rate in the Japanese language exceeds 99%. Dozens of Japanese dialects are spoken in regions of Japan. For now, Japanese

396-473: Is classified as a member of the Japonic languages or as a language isolate with no known living relatives if Ryukyuan is counted as dialects. Japanese religion has traditionally been syncretic in nature, combining elements of Buddhism and Shinto ( Shinbutsu-shūgō ). Shinto, a polytheistic religion with no book of religious canon, is Japan's native religion. Shinto was one of the traditional grounds for

440-450: Is sufficient to get to a root cause that can be addressed. The key idea of the method is to encourage the troubleshooter to avoid assumptions and logic traps and instead trace the chain of causality in direct increments from the effect through any layers of abstraction to a root cause that still has some connection to the original problem. In this example, the fifth "why" suggests a broken shelf foot, which can be immediately replaced to prevent

484-657: The Hōryū-ji and the Yakushi-ji , two Buddhist temples in Nara Prefecture . After the cessation of official relations with the Tang dynasty in the ninth century, Japanese art and architecture gradually became less influenced by China. Extravagant art and clothing were commissioned by nobles to decorate their court, and although the aristocracy was quite limited in size and power, many of these pieces are still extant. After

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528-542: The Jōmon people had more ethnic diversity than originally suggested or that the people of Japan bear significant genetic signatures from three ancient populations, rather than just two. Some of the world's oldest known pottery pieces were developed by the Jōmon people in the Upper Paleolithic period, dating back as far as 16,000 years. The name "Jōmon" (縄文 Jōmon ) means "cord-impressed pattern", and comes from

572-590: The Tibetan plateau , ancient Taiwan , and Siberia . Beginning around 300 BC, the Yayoi people originating from Northeast Asia entered the Japanese islands and displaced or intermingled with the Jōmon. The Yayoi brought wet-rice farming and advanced bronze and iron technology to Japan. The more productive paddy field systems allowed the communities to support larger populations and spread over time, in turn becoming

616-651: The Tōdai-ji was attacked and burned during the Genpei War , a special office of restoration was founded, and the Tōdai-ji became an important artistic center. The leading masters of the time were Unkei and Kaikei . Painting advanced in the Muromachi period in the form of ink wash painting under the influence of Zen Buddhism as practiced by such masters as Sesshū Tōyō . Zen Buddhist tenets were also incorporated into

660-469: The Yayoi period , artisans produced mirrors, spears, and ceremonial bells known as dōtaku . Later burial mounds, or kofun , preserve characteristic clay figures known as haniwa , as well as wall paintings. Beginning in the Nara period , painting, calligraphy , and sculpture flourished under strong Confucian and Buddhist influences from China . Among the architectural achievements of this period are

704-462: The haiku , tanka , and I Novel , although modern writers generally avoid these writing styles. Historically, many works have sought to capture or codify traditional Japanese cultural values and aesthetics. Some of the most famous of these include Murasaki Shikibu 's The Tale of Genji (1021), about Heian court culture; Miyamoto Musashi 's The Book of Five Rings (1645), concerning military strategy; Matsuo Bashō 's Oku no Hosomichi (1691),

748-605: The tea ceremony during the Sengoku period . During the Edo period , the polychrome painting screens of the Kanō school were influential thanks to their powerful patrons (including the Tokugawa clan ). Popular artists created ukiyo-e , woodblock prints for sale to commoners in the flourishing cities. Pottery such as Imari ware was highly valued as far away as Europe. In theater, Noh

792-765: The 18th century, Arai Hakuseki suggested that the ancient stone tools in Japan were left behind by the Shukushin . Later, Philipp Franz von Siebold argued that the Ainu people were indigenous to northern Japan. Iha Fuyū suggested that Japanese and Ryukyuan people have the same ethnic origin, based on his 1906 research on the Ryukyuan languages . In the Taishō period , Torii Ryūzō claimed that Yamato people used Yayoi pottery and Ainu used Jōmon pottery. After World War II , Kotondo Hasebe and Hisashi Suzuki claimed that

836-477: The Product. Ohno is also known for his "Ten Precepts" to think and act to win. Japanese people Japanese people ( Japanese : 日本人 , Hepburn : Nihonjin ) are an East Asian ethnic group native to the Japanese archipelago . Japanese people constitute 97.4% of the population of the country of Japan . Worldwide, approximately 125 million people are of Japanese descent, making them one of

880-467: The Ryukyuan and Ainu people show mixed characteristics. Mark J. Hudson claims that the main ethnic image of Japanese people was biologically and linguistically formed from 400 BCE to 1,200 CE. Currently, the most well-regarded theory is that present-day Japanese people formed from both the Yayoi rice-agriculturalists and the various Jōmon period ethnicities. However, some recent studies have argued that

924-717: The U.S. He devised the seven wastes (or muda in Japanese) as part of this system. He wrote several books about the system, including Toyota Production System: Beyond Large-Scale Production . Born in 1912 in Dalian , China, and a graduate of the Nagoya Technical High School ( Japan ), he joined the Toyoda family's Toyoda Spinning upon graduation in 1932 during the Great Depression thanks to

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968-703: The Yamato but are often regarded as distinct, and Ainu people . In recent decades, there has also been an increase in the number of people with both Japanese and non-Japanese roots, including half Japanese people . Archaeological evidence indicates that Stone Age people lived in the Japanese archipelago during the Paleolithic period between 39,000 and 21,000 years ago. Japan was then connected to mainland Asia by at least one land bridge, and nomadic hunter-gatherers crossed to Japan. Flint tools and bony implements of this era have been excavated in Japan. In

1012-418: The basis for more advanced institutions and heralding the new civilization of the succeeding Kofun period . The estimated population of Japan in the late Jōmon period was about eight hundred thousand, compared to about three million by the Nara period . Taking the growth rates of hunting and agricultural societies into account, it is calculated that about one-and-a-half million immigrants moved to Japan in

1056-481: The characteristic markings found on the pottery. The Jōmon people were mostly hunter-gatherers, but also practicized early agriculture, such as Azuki bean cultivation. At least one middle-to-late Jōmon site (Minami Mizote ( 南溝手 ) , c.  1200 –1000 BC) featured a primitive rice-growing agriculture , relying primarily on fish and nuts for protein. The ethnic roots of the Jōmon period population were heterogeneous, and can be traced back to ancient Southeast Asia ,

1100-597: The factory may need to add a process for regularly inspecting shelving units for instability, and fixing them when broken. In history, there are early examples of repeated questions to gain knowledge, such as in Plato 's Meno . Aristotle developed a different approach with the four causes to develop four fundamental types of answer to the question ‘why?’. Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz used iterative why questions in his letter to Magnus von Wedderkop in 1671, in which he applied elements of argumentation that he later used to solve

1144-594: The field of sales process engineering has shown how the concept of Just In Time (JIT) can improve sales , marketing , and customer service processes. Ohno was also instrumental in developing the way organizations identify waste, with his "Seven Wastes" model which have become core in many academic approaches. These wastes are: 1. Delay, waiting or time spent in a queue with no value being added 2. Producing more than you need 3. Over processing or undertaking non-value added activity 4. Transportation 5. Unnecessary movement or motion 6. Inventory 7. Defects in

1188-464: The five whys method as "the basis of Toyota's scientific approach by repeating why five times the nature of the problem as well as its solution becomes clear." The tool has seen use beyond Toyota, and is now used within Kaizen , lean manufacturing , lean construction and Six Sigma . The five whys were initially developed to understand why new product features or manufacturing techniques were needed, and

1232-499: The following reasons: To avoid these issues, Card suggested instead using other root cause analysis tools such as fishbone or lovebug diagrams . Taiichi Ohno Ohno Taiichi ( 大野耐一 , Ōno Taiichi , February 29, 1912 – May 28, 1990) was a Japanese industrial engineer and businessman. He is considered to be the father of the Toyota Production System , which inspired Lean Manufacturing in

1276-529: The largest ethnic groups . Approximately 120.8 million Japanese people are residents of Japan, and there are approximately 4 million members of the Japanese diaspora , known as Nikkeijin ( 日系人 ) . In some contexts, the term "Japanese people" may be used to refer specifically to the Yamato people from mainland Japan ; in other contexts the term may include other groups native to the Japanese archipelago, including Ryukyuan people , who share connections with

1320-664: The most notable authors included Natsume Sōseki , Jun'ichirō Tanizaki , Osamu Dazai , Fumiko Enchi , Akiko Yosano , Yukio Mishima , and Ryōtarō Shiba . Popular contemporary authors such as Ryū Murakami , Haruki Murakami , and Banana Yoshimoto have been translated into many languages and enjoy international followings, and Yasunari Kawabata and Kenzaburō Ōe were awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature . Decorative arts in Japan date back to prehistoric times. Jōmon pottery includes examples with elaborate ornamentation. In

1364-399: The origin of Japanese people was not newcomers in the Yayoi period (300 BCE – 300 CE) but the people in the Jōmon period . However, Kazuro Hanihara announced a new racial admixture theory in 1984 and a "dual structure model" in 1991. According to Hanihara, modern Japanese lineages began with Jōmon people , who moved into the Japanese archipelago during Paleolithic times, followed by

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1408-506: The other hand, many Sakhalin Koreans who had held Japanese citizenship until the end of the war were left stateless by the Soviet occupation. The Japanese language is a Japonic language that is related to the Ryukyuan languages and was treated as a language isolate in the past. The earliest attested form of the language, Old Japanese , dates to the 8th century. Japanese phonology

1452-437: The period. According to several studies, the Yayoi created the "Japanese-hierarchical society". During the Japanese colonial period of 1895 to 1945, the phrase "Japanese people" was used to refer not only to residents of the Japanese archipelago, but also to people from colonies who held Japanese citizenship , such as Taiwanese people and Korean people . The official term used to refer to ethnic Japanese during this period

1496-461: The philosophical implications of the Japanese tea ceremony . Western observers have often attempted to evaluate Japanese society as well, to varying degrees of success; one of the most well-known and controversial works resulting from this is Ruth Benedict 's The Chrysanthemum and the Sword (1946). Twentieth-century Japanese writers recorded changes in Japanese society through their works. Some of

1540-556: The question of theodicy : The modern technique was originally developed by Sakichi Toyoda and was used within the Toyota Motor Corporation during the evolution of its manufacturing methodologies. It is a major component of problem-solving training, delivered as part of the induction into the Toyota Production System . The architect of the Toyota Production System, Taiichi Ohno , described

1584-477: The relations of his father to Kiichiro Toyoda , the son of Toyota's founding father Sakichi Toyoda . He moved to the Toyota motor company in 1943 where he worked as a shop-floor supervisor in the engine manufacturing shop of the plant, and gradually rose through the ranks to become an executive. Ohno's principles influenced areas outside of manufacturing, and have been extended into the service arena. For example,

1628-411: The reoccurrence of the sequence of events that resulted in cross-threading bolts. The nature of the answer to the fifth why in the example is also an important aspect of the five why approach, because solving the immediate problem may not solve the problem in the long run; the shelf foot may fail again. The real root cause points toward a process that is not working well or does not exist. In this case,

1672-622: The right to the throne of the Japanese imperial family and was codified as the state religion in 1868 ( State Shinto ), but was abolished by the American occupation in 1945. Mahayana Buddhism came to Japan in the sixth century and evolved into many different sects. Today, the largest form of Buddhism among Japanese people is the Jōdo Shinshū sect founded by Shinran . A large majority of Japanese people profess to believe in both Shinto and Buddhism. Japanese people's religion functions mostly as

1716-496: The variety of ethnic groups in Japan . While this has contributed to or reinforced the widespread belief that Japan is ethnically homogeneous, as shown in the claim of former Japanese Prime Minister Tarō Asō that Japan is a nation of "one race, one civilization, one language and one culture", some scholars have argued that it is more accurate to describe the country of Japan as a multiethnic society. Children born to international couples receive Japanese nationality when one parent

1760-564: The world. Article 10 of the Constitution of Japan defines the term "Japanese" based upon Japanese nationality (citizenship) alone, without regard for ethnicity. The Government of Japan considers all naturalized and native-born Japanese nationals with a multi-ethnic background "Japanese", and in the national census the Japanese Statistics Bureau asks only about nationality, so there is no official census data on

1804-564: Was "inland people" ( 内地人 , naichijin ) . Such linguistic distinctions facilitated forced assimilation of colonized ethnic identities into a single Imperial Japanese identity. After the end of World War II, the Soviet Union classified many Nivkh people and Orok people from southern Sakhalin , who had been Japanese imperial subjects in Karafuto Prefecture , as Japanese people and repatriated them to Hokkaidō . On

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1848-726: Was also significant emigration to the territories of the Empire of Japan during the colonial period, but most of these emigrants and settlers repatriated to Japan after the end of World War II in Asia . According to the Association of Nikkei and Japanese Abroad, there are about 4.0 million Nikkeijin living in their adopted countries. The largest of these foreign communities are in the Brazilian states of São Paulo and Paraná . There are also significant cohesive Japanese communities in

1892-484: Was not developed for root cause analysis. In other companies, it appears in other forms. Under Ricardo Semler , Semco practices "three whys" and broadens the practice to cover goal setting and decision-making . Two primary techniques are used to perform a five whys analysis: the fishbone (or Ishikawa) diagram and a tabular format . These tools allow for analysis to be branched in order to provide multiple root causes. The five whys technique has been criticized as

1936-675: Was recorded as early as the 15th century to the Philippines and Borneo , and in the 16th and 17th centuries, thousands of traders from Japan also migrated to the Philippines and assimilated into the local population. However, migration of Japanese people did not become a mass phenomenon until the Meiji era , when Japanese people began to go to the United States , Brazil , Canada , the Philippines , China , and Peru . There

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