Thousands upon thousands of cans are filled with beer, capped and washed, wrapped into six-packs and boxed at dizzying speeds－1,500 a minute to be exact－on humming conveyor belts that zip and wind in a sprawling factory near Tokyo. One factor in Japan’s different take on automation is the “lifetime employment” system. Major Japanese companies generally retain workers, even if their abilities become outdated, and retrain them to carry out other tasks.