Japanese are really strange people. Strange because they don’t feel the need to brag about their strengths or accomplishments.
Let’s look at the watch manufacturer Seiko, from Tokyo. It makes one of the most precise mechanical watches in the world, but doesn’t feel like making too much noise about this. Under the name of Grand Seiko, the horological wonders begin with the concept of being produced in-house. In-house as in-house, when all the components are being made under the same roof. The much more famous Swiss Horological industry claims that it is also manufacturing in-house many of its brands. But, in reality, there is more of a legal challenge to keep the Swiss Made concept Swiss. More and more desirable watches coming from Switzerland and described as ”manufactured” are in fact industrially produced. They also have a lot of components coming from outside the country but, in the end, they are assembled in Switzerland, so they are Swiss.
For Grand Seiko, as for all the Japanese people, principles and promises are to be kept for real. In the beginnings, in the 1960s, Seiko went to the Swiss chronometry competitions to prove its qualities. It was not taken seriously. It had to come back over and over again before the Swiss juries had no other way but to admit Seiko as what it was and is: a precise and serious watch manufacturer. Seiko didn’t brag about it. The watchmakers are happy to receive the recognition of their talent and this is worth much more than money.
Mitsubishi is doing 4×4 cars since 1936. And this means that it is a legitimate off-road segment founder as much as the more famous Land Rover or Toyota. Mitsubishi has a 4×4 system – Super All Wheel Control – which has proved its qualities by contributing to the 12 wins over the extremely hard rally of Dakar and to the 5 titles of manufacturers champion in the World Rally Championship. But being a true Japanese, the brand doesn’t brag about it. On the contrary, they feel it is not enough to be perfect in technology. So now they step into a new era with a freshly designed SUV Coupe – the Eclipse Cross. They add everything that is trendy these days, from head-up display to touch-screen multimedia.
Then, they take a few journalists and invite them for a drive in the heart of Norway, close to the North Pole. Guess what? The highly attractive urban oriented Eclipse Cross flies smooth upon ice and snow. It is so user friendly so it needs only a few minutes to make you fall in love. But, still, the Japanese are quiet. The new and sexy SUV looks into the future and trades the big engines for a smart 1,5 l able to deliver 163 CP. Sounds strange? Well, it isn’t. At least if you consider the Eclipse Cross had no issue in overtaking the harsh winter conditions. Who would have thought about it? Matching ice, snow and reindeer steaks to what it seems to be the new hot choice in the lifestyle compact SUV segment. Well, as I said, the Japanese still don’t know they should brag about their strengths or accomplishments. And they have all the reasons to!
