On October 18, 2017, Japan media reported that the scandal of Kobe Steel’s Falsified Data reverberated throughout the nation and also made a big blow to the reputation of Japan manufacturing, which was thought as the “root of the country”.

One severity of this Kobe Steel Scandal is long term collective falsification, said local reports. Facts have proved that Kobe Steel Scandal is not an accidental problem. Data fabrication that involved staff even including leaders has lasted for years and many staff has given tacit consent to this problem. Even senior management staff had to admit that data fabrication was not done by others, but had been known by senior managers. It can be seen that self-discipline, self-purification and self-rectification ability that had been proud of by Japan manufacturing industry is being severely tested.

Dropping from being flattered as “Japan No. 1” to economic downturn that lasts for over 20 years has been a heavy blow to Japanese. Since collapse of bubble economy in 1992, Japan has been going through “lost 20 years”. During this long period, there is hardly any increase in salary of Japanese, but there is a drop in standard of living. Therefore, the morale of the troops is sinking lower and professional ethics is falling. Responsibility and passion for the company are not as much as before and many problems occur now.

Under this background, to maintain the successful image of enterprise and products has become an essential objective for many enterprises. Therefore, no matter data fabrication of product quality or financial data fabrication, their common point is to make a false successful image.

It is also reported that with the improvement of Chinese products, the leading space of Japan is being narrowed and the anxiety generated in this environment further triggers the needs for strengthening and maintaining successful image. When it cannot be achieved in practice, it begins to make data fabrication.