An Appeal to Conscience

An old Japanese custom got a new--and somewhat surprising--raking-over in Tokyo last week. On display at the Shirokiya Department Store went more than 70 foreign-made products alongside Japanese copies so cleverly done that only an expert could tell which twin had the patent right. The purpose: a campaign by the Japanese government to shame businessmen out of pirating foreign designs. Said the Ministry of International Trade: "This exhibit is an appeal to the Japanese people's conscience."

Crowds passing through the display saw copies of Ronson and Zippo lighters, Sheaffer and Parker pens, Bell & Howell movie projectors, Leica cameras, Esterbrook desk-pen sets, Revere Ware copper-bottomed saucepans, even a West German B.M.W. motorcycle. Some Japanese copies were so precise the parts were even interchangeable with foreign products. "There would be many more complaints if people only realized the full extent of the copying," said one trade official. "American electrical appliance makers may be due for an early shock. Japanese appliance manufacturers are rapidly nearing the stage of technical proficiency where facsimile copies will be possible."

Despite the good intentions of the Ministry of Trade, the exhibit seemed to make little impression on the Japanese conscience. Said one gentleman of Japan to his wife at the exhibit last week: "When you see some high-priced foreign product, do not buy it but wait; after a few months a good Japanese imitation is bound to be on sale cheap."

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