fishamaphone on 26 April 2007
I'd just like to note for all the people who keep saying "that promotion is just the Japanese way to fire him," that the same thing happens in America more often than you'd think. My high school's first principal had a "marketing" position for the last three months of my Sophomore year. Which had nothing to do with the fact that he was the main reason at least four really good teachers quit. Or that students didn't like him. Or that parents didn't like him. Or that everyone thought he was a douche for riding a horse through campus that one time.
Japan just uses this technique more often because respect is a big deal over there, but it isn't something that's limited to over there.
