Japanese manufacturing industry is a really interesting blend of manual artisanship combined with cutting edge technology. One of my favorite shows is "Supreme Skills!" - a 'reality competition' produced by NHK where teams of engineers/fabricators compete making "impossible" objects.

Watch a guy on a lathe go head to head against an EDM to drill a hole through a pencil lead lengthwise https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCtWPbTDbuY