Temple University Japan’s Jeff Kingston noted recently in the Wall Street Journal, in Japan there is a proverb: "If it stinks, put a lid on it." Toyota’s management crisis is as much a cultural issue as anything, noted Kingston, director of Asian Studies at Temple University Japan. His book Contemporary Japan: History, Politics and Social Change is due out in September. “Over the past two decades, I cannot think of one instance where a Japanese company has done a good job managing a crisis. The pattern is all too familiar, typically involving slow initial response, minimizing the problem, foot dragging on the product recall, poor communication with the public about the problem and too little compassion and concern for consumers adversely affected by the product,” he writes.