Bill Belew over at the Rising Sun of Nihon ponders, though it is hard to beat Japanese quality, recent recalls by Japanese companies have left some to begin to wonder. Wonder if Japan is having trouble maintaining that legendary quality? We like to point the finger at China and Taiwan as in posts here and here, but consider these recent major Japanese product recalls:

• Nokia is recalling 46 million batteries made by Matsushita Battery Industrial Co.
• Sony Corp. recalled 9.6 million batteries used in personal computers last year.
• Sanyo Electric Co. replaced 1.3 million battery packs used in mobile phones.
• Matsushita recalled 3.05 million microwaves, refrigerators and clothes dryers because of possible fire risks.
• Sanyo Electric recalled 160,000 washer-dryers this year AND in 2004.
• In March of this year, Sharp Corp. recalled about 500,000 washing machines.

Poison toothpaste, deadly children’s toys, and possibly cardboard buns are funny enough (if you aren’t directly involved) but remember there was a good deal of levity about exploding computers and cell phones last year?

Seems like it may be time for a wake-up call or else business is going to suffer bigtime possibly? A brand is a promise and people expect brands to keep their promises.

Belew observes that “Japan has dominated the lithium-ion battery business (Sanyo Electric 26%, Sony 14%, Matsushita 10%) but serious competition can be expected from Samsung (11%) and Chinese and Taiwanese makers if Japan doesn’t get its quality standards back…and get them back soon.”