Behind each book there is a life, or lives, as is the case with the business title “Reimagining Japan.” Indeed, many lives, more than 80 in all, including the publishers who brought the book to life and published it, during one of the most challenging eras in recent Japanese history.
When the earthquake hit Tokyo on the afternoon of March 11, Brian Salsberg was busy transmitting the final manuscript of reimagining to a printing company abroad. That would not be the last time the disaster and Salsberg’s book would cross paths. As news of problems at a nuclear power plant in Fukushima began to emerge and the crisis deepened, Salsberg and his team agreed to a comprehensive review, and the results paid off. A book born in an hour of crisis was suddenly the book that many readers looked to for answers.
Salsberg, like the collection of essays he edited a year ago, has a natural gift for putting Japan in sharp focus. A graduate of Cornell and Harvard Law Schools, Salsberg transitioned from corporate law practice to management consulting, and is the leader of McKinsey’s Consumer & Shopper Insights Center. And in his last five years, he too has accumulated knowledge about Japan, some of which he shared with AsianTalks.
AsianTalks: Brian currently works in the Tokyo office of McKinsey. Tell us how you got there.
Brian: I started out in our New York and New Jersey offices where I was doing a variety of different and interesting projects. In New Jersey I found myself doing more pharmaceutical and consumer products. Then I moved to Japan after being with the firm for six or seven years.
And given the number of years you’ve worked at McKinsey, is it safe to assume you enjoy consulting much more than practicing corporate law?
Brian: I do, I do. It takes a lot of time as a lawyer to really get involved in strategy and decision making. As a young lawyer, you are called in after the important decisions have been made, to effectively put in writing the main terms of the deal, the transaction, whereas in consulting, even as a young consultant, you are front and center from the first day.
I’m still at McKinsey because I love learning new things, helping individual executives achieve their goals, and getting to work with a very smart group of pretty diverse people, which makes coming to work fun and exciting every day.
Was it a difficult decision to move to Japan in 2007? How did you feel about moving your family?
Brian: Yes, you know it’s fun. So McKinsey really encourages young partners to move away from their home office, because that’s really how the company leverages our best practices around the world.
I wasn’t even thinking about that, but after I became a partner in 2006, they always take the new partner somewhere as a little celebration, and also start explaining some of the things that we need to know as leaders of this firm. . And it happened in that year that he was in Bangkok and Cambodia. We had just had our second child, but we heard some really compelling speakers talking about the benefits of moving abroad, so it really got us into a process of thinking about where to go. We looked at London, Shanghai, and Tokyo, and after looking at all three, we fell in love with Tokyo, simply as a place to live and raise a family. Two months later, we meet here.
As a parent, what has it been like raising children abroad?
Brian: It has been a fantastic experience. The biggest compensation they have had to make is being separated from their family. That has been difficult, even in the age of Skype and FaceTime. But the benefits have been quite extraordinary. My daughter is five so she literally grew up her whole life here, my son is eight so they don’t know any different but it’s been fantastic for a number of reasons.
They understand Asia, they know where all the countries are, they have been to all these countries. I joke with my son: he has been to many more countries than me when he is eight years old, he took me until I was 38 to get there. And they’ve been everywhere, so the experience has been great. And even though they go to the American school, there is a very diverse group of students there. If I look at his close friends, it’s a bit like the United Nations, which has been great too.
Also learning a different language and a different culture at that young age, even if they don’t retain it all, has been fantastic and it even shows in their accents. The way they speak Japanese is much more native. So it has been a fantastic experience, and one that we have never regretted at all.
Let’s talk about Japan. Would you say that Japan is different from the rest of Asia?
Brian: From my observation, I absolutely believe that there are differences. It does not mean that all Japanese people think they are superior to others. However, I think that in everything they do, there is at least a very deep pride.
If you look at the quality of life, the appreciation for food, products, and other sophistication, courtesy, cleanliness, respect for elders, nature, all those things you hear about Japan are 100 percent true. You see that every day. And as a foreigner here you get the benefits of all that.
Secondly, I wouldn’t call it xenophobia, but certainly if you look at the Japanese stance towards immigration and letting others in here, I mean Japan is still one of the most homogeneous countries in the world. I think only 2 percent of Japan is non-Japanese. All of these things end up being reinforcing, and on top of that, this is an island nation, speaking a unique language among its people that no one else speaks. So when you add all that up, it’s no surprise that some of these themes persist.
Has the expat community in Tokyo changed since the earthquake?
Brian: There was absolutely – and the facts confirm it – a very large exodus after March 11, 2011. A large percentage of people did not return. It also served as a bit of an impetus for people who had been here for quite some time, to use that as a little reason to finally pack up and leave.
And you can see this in school attendance. There was an article about the German school really fighting so hard that they were thinking of asking the German government for support.
The foreign clubs and some of the foreign restaurants have closed. As for where they went, it’s a combination of returning to their home country and seeking refuge in places like Hong Kong and Singapore, which are two of the most popular expat havens. And actually you can see that getting into the school for foreigners in those places has also become more difficult since the earthquake.
And what are your plans for the near future?
Brian: My personal situation is difficult, because we love Japan and probably the only thing we don’t love about Japan is the aftershocks and tremors that have persisted, even more than a year later, which could be quite stressful.
However, I think it’s fair to say that if you look at all the places in Asia where an expat can live, coming from a person who is quite biased, I think Japan would win hands down, and Singapore, Hong Kong are probably a very close country. second, but it’s still hard to get out of here.
When you visit the United States from Japan, have you ever felt a sense of contrast between the two countries? For example, do you sometimes find that facilities are lacking in the United States?
Brian: Oh absolutely. The example I use is the airport system. If you look at Haneda Airport, or for that matter Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing New Airport, these are the best world-class airports across the board in all dimensions.
Then you fly like an American to JFK Airport in New York or Newark Airport in New Jersey, feeling like you’re in a third world, developing country with crumbling infrastructure, long lines, and lousy customer service.
It’s a very strange feeling, to feel like that, and it’s a very strange feeling when you come back and land in Japan, and you see half a dozen workers dressed in their perfect uniforms bowing to the plane at 6 in the morning. , and people smiling, welcoming you, courtesy. And you think, “Wow. I’m happy to be home.” It is a very strange feeling to have been away for so many years.
What have been your gastronomic experiences in Asia? Are there any that make us a little envious?
Brian: When it comes to food in Asia, the dining experiences here have been very fascinating, and I think it would make others cringe a bit, especially if they haven’t had a chance to try this, but when you’re with a bunch of executives Japanese, after a bit of sake, everyone convinces you that some of the best parts of the fish are the testicles and the eyes of the fish, somehow you are convinced to try it. So I’ve had both and they’re delicious here. I’ve even had the chance to try Fugu, the puffer fish, which if the chef doesn’t cut the right part, it kills you.
So I would say you definitely get a bit adventurous here. But with that said, the cuisine in Japan is the best in the world, and it’s not just Japanese food that we’re necessarily talking about here. On that note, if you like food, there really is no better place to be than Tokyo.