-In the intro when Michael Keaton’s character Hunt visits Japan, he is looking for directions to Assan Motor’s headquarters. In one particular scene he asks a farmer in a rice field. This is a nod to Toyota, whose royal family name “Toyoda” translates to “fertile rice fields” and is sometimes derrided as “a bunch of farmers” in cosmopolitan Tokyo by uneducated business people.

-Michael Keaton kicks at a black sedan in Tokyo, trying to hail it as a cab, which are Toyota Cressidas. This is a nod because the cressida was the predessesor of the 1989 Lexus LS400 and 1992 ES300, which had such the highest qualities in industry in areas such as underbody paint corrosion. This is also eluded to later when Buster is troubled for poor underpainting process.

-Japanese car companies really do morning excercises. They stretch out and perform yoga in order to ease the mind and prevent the body from tension and soreness, which goes back to the Zen-bhuddist foundation

The real life equivalent Towns in America that Hadelyville, PA is based on are Lafeyette, Indiana and Georgetown, Kentucky. The Subaru and Toyota plants were in construction stages when the film came out in 1986.

-Japanese car companies actually have disciplined baseball teams. Again you have to know real japanese car makers are actually split in the film as black and white. Specifically, Baseball games are used to not only to channel discipline further, but help Takumi unwind, bond family ties, and build community and loyalty.

-The 400,000 dollar MSRP Lexus-LFA supercar takumi team leader was recruited by the Toyota baseball team

-”Chie” is a japanese belief of building wisdom by learning from mistakes. Chie is represented on the American side of the Movie

Americans reflect: Chie, Respect for others, Community, Family,

Japanese reflect : “6-sigma quality”, Ethics, Honor, Honesty

If you catch everything, the plant manager Takahara Kazuhiro represents real Japanese car companies. He is victorious in the end because he comes to terms with both his caring “american” side of family and community/social skills, and a high and honorable work ethic. He convinces the CEO of Assan, who would actually be considered very un-enlightened, to see his downfall of hostility. In real-life Nissan, Toyota, and Subaru, hostility has zero-tolerance. This is known as the “Andon System”. Good work is praised and rewarded, known as the “Demming-prize system”

-The real Japanese car companies actually operate as a merge that is revealed in the final scene. The hook actually depicts the polar opposite of japanese customs. The end shows japanese auto executives actually going on the line and helping assemble the cars, known as “Gemba”. Hunt’s speech to the Mayor’s outcry represents the pillar of the house of quality, which is people. Hunt also has a sprinkle of Bob Lutz and Red Poling thrown in, since he manipulated his workers and lost their trust. When Hunt comes clean and regains everyone’s trust, that is a homage to Genchi Genbutsu and Kaizen. The end reflects Subaru’s logo of Unity of humanity.