Welcome to ECN, John!
Harsh words there.
One shouldn't harmonise for the sake of harmonisation. However, I know that the Americans wire manufacturers are trying to figure out a way of harmonising the mm2 with the MCM and AWG system since they want to sell abroad. The sheer number of AWG to mm2 tables on the net indicate that people often have to convert. Just not for electrical stuff, but electronics, audio gear and various strange things.
Just like you point out, the Asian countries (including Japan and Korea) are using metric versions of the AWG. I've looked at the Japanese sizes, and either I've got something wrong they have been converting a bit at random since some sizes are rather strange, like 5.5, 14 and 22mm².
[This message has been edited by C-H (edited 07-31-2003).]
