In the same area the party visited the plate glass factory of Courcelles, a recently established company.
The factory was planned only five years earlier. Then the money was raised and after three years production
was started. And Kume’s spokesman confirmed that in only two years progress had exceeded all
expectations. Kume takes this opportunity to make a lengthy commentary about the entrepreneurial spirit of
Westerners and Japanese. In his eyes they seem completely opposite. When Westerners plan a new
company, they make a detailed feasibility study, and if the result is positive, they make a model, and draw a
plan (as already shown in chapter 27 about England), write speeches about (the plan), float a company, and
collect subscriptions. This is the start. Then they receive a permit, build a temporary shed and install
machinery. They then take two to three years to gradually get the business going, striving for development.
On the basis of the accounts of the business and the profits, they improve and further complete their
buildings and machinery. Before they have established their name, it takes them at least ten years.