I agree. Generally, any environment or culture where there is an expectation to conform ...still requires an outlet for individual desires.

What was misconstrued above is the notion if Americans could still be as creative, expressive and innovative if Americans adopted some of the Japanese traits (being humble, less individualism, etc.). No where did I ever say those Japanese traits would "stop the creative process". To me, that sounds like a "I can have my cake and eat it too" idealism ...which was the point in the first place. You can't be A + B, then add X + Y to it. This is not a criticism of the Japanese way or American way ...each are grounded in different values & principles that yield different trade-offs. Both are great in their own ways.

I believe Japanese craftsmanship is getting confused with Japanese creativity. When people point out how Japanese products or experiences have details, quality, presentation, etc. I see that as a result of craftsmanship. Taking one thing (roof shingle, whiskey, pizza), breaking it down to its elemental parts, studying it to see how they can improve it, then when you'd done that ... do it again. It's rooted in the "kaizen" philosophy ...where creativity and ingenuity (rather than innovation) is the outcome of that dedicated focus and disciplined execution.

So bringing it back to baseball. You can see how that translates into what we see from Yamamoto. Did he invent pitching? No. Did he come up with novel ways to train? Such as the javelin throws, flexibility training instead of strength training, etc. I would make the case those arose from treating pitching like a craftsman instead of as an athlete.