JAPAN CONSULTING OFFICE
Transforming cultural differences into business strengths
ANNEX – TABLE OF CONTENTS
Japan at a Glance
pg. 2
Vocabulary list
pg. 5
Do’s & Don’t’s with Japanese
pg. 6
Working with Japanese customers
pg. 7
What Japanese say about their European colleagues…
pg. 9
Books & Websites & Movies
pg. 10
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Annex 1
JAPAN CONSULTING OFFICE
Transforming cultural differences into business strengths
JAPAN AT A GLANCE
JAPAN TODAY
Area: 364,571 square kilometres (140,761 square miles)
Population: 126,144,902
Capital City: Tokyo
People: 98.5% Japanese; 1.5 % other (mostly Chinese or ethnic Korean)
Language: Japanese
Religion(s): 80% of Japanese adhere to more than one religion: Shinto (106.8 million),
Buddhism (89.2 million), Christianity (3.0 million), others (9.8 million)
Currency: Japanese Yen
Major Political Parties: DPJ - Democratic Party of Japan; LDP - Liberal Democratic Party;
New Komeito; JCP - Japan Communist Party; SDP - Social Democratic Party
Government: Representative democracy with a bicameral (two chamber) parliament (the
Diet). Executive power rests with the Prime Minister and his cabinet. The emperor is head of
state, although his function is purely symbolic.
Head of State: Emperor Akihito, ascended to throne 7 January 1989.
Prime Minister: Shinzo Abe, since December 2012.
Foreign Minister: Fumio Kishida, since December 2012
GEOGRAPHY
Japan consists of a chain of islands. The main ones are Kyushu, Shikoku, Honshu (where
Tokyo and Osaka are situated) and Hokkaido. The land is mountainous and volcanic, and
only 17% of the total area is cultivable. The highest mountain is Mount Fuji (a dormant
volcano) at 3,776 m.
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Annex 2
JAPAN CONSULTING OFFICE
Transforming cultural differences into business strengths
HISTORY
A centralised state has existed in Japan since the 4th century. In the middle of the 19th
century, the ruling elite set about developing Japan's industrial and military power, and
methodically adopted much from the West. Japan's rapid rise led to a war with China 189495, Russia 1904-05, and the annexation of Korea in 1910. Japan appeared to be becoming a
liberal democracy in the 1920s, but the Great Depression led to acute economic problems
and military domination. Japanese military expansion in China after 1931 led to friction with
Western powers and, faced with an oil blockade, Japan started the Pacific War.
The Allied occupation after the Second World War introduced far-reaching political, social
and economic reforms before Japan regained full independence when the San Francisco
Peace Treaty came into force in April 1952. By 1955, a strong co-operative arrangement was
established between a dominant conservative party, the bureaucracy and business, which
successfully implemented policies aimed at rapid industrial growth. This concentrated
economic activity in some regions and led to policies aimed at ensuring wealth was
redistributed to rural areas.
POLITICS
Japan's Diet consists of the House of Representatives, and the less powerful House of
Councillors. The House of Representatives has 480 members (300 from single seat
constituencies and 180 from regional PR blocks); the House of Councillors has 242 members
(146 from prefecture-based multimember constituencies and 96 from a national PR list).
Members of the House of Representatives are elected for a four-year term, but the Prime
Minister can call an election at his discretion. Members of the House of Councillors serve a
fixed six-year term, with half of the seats contested every three years.
The conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) ruled Japan for most of its post-war history.
In power continuously from 1955-1993, they were toppled by a loose coalition of their rivals
in 1993. But in 1994 they were back in power as part of a coalition and nearly all
governments after that were LDP-led coalition governments. Junichiro Koizumi became Prime
Minister in April 2001. His fresh approach was popular with the public allowing him to pursue
difficult structural reforms and tackle vested interests within the party.
Since 1998 the main Opposition party had been the "centrist" Democratic Party of Japan
(DPJ), founded through the merging of a number of smaller parties. It led an opposition
coalition in the Upper House after elections in 2007 and caused the ruling coalition problems
by disrupting the legislative process. The DPJ finally took power, after an overwhelming
victory in the Lower House elections in August 2009. After failing to affect any change due to
lack of support outside of the Diet, new elections were held in December 2012. The LDP
regained power and Shinzo Abe was appointed Prime Minister for the second time.
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Annex 3
JAPAN CONSULTING OFFICE
Transforming cultural differences into business strengths
ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT
As a country with no fossil fuel resources of its own, energy security has long been a core
goal of Japanese domestic and foreign policy. Its vulnerability to external supply shocks
explains the vigour with which Japan has pursued a nuclear programme, investing huge
sums in the pursuit of the nuclear fuel cycle. Although Japan currently produces 35% of its
electricity in nuclear plants, recent safety scandals and demand concerns mean that this
programme may not expand much further. Japan has also invested tremendously in the
pursuit of 'new energies', and is a world leader in solar, hybrid car and fuel cell technologies.
Japan's own natural environment, while diverse and often exceptionally beautiful, has
suffered from the pressures of population density and expansive infrastructure investment.
HEALTH
Japan has one of the world's fastest ageing populations thanks to the highest life expectancy
in the world and a low birth rate. As a result, the population has started to shrink. The
working-age population is forecast to contract by over 20 percent over the next 25 years if
current trends continue. This presents significant challenges - all too familiar in Europe - for
the provision of pensions and healthcare in the future.
ECONOMY
GDP: US$ 4123.26 billion (2015)
GDP per head: US$ 44,656 (2015)
Annual Growth: 1,7% (2016)
Inflation: +0.3% (2016)
Major Industries: High-tech electronic products, motor vehicles, office machinery,
Major trading Partners: China, US, EU, South Korea, Taiwan, Australia, Saudi Arabia,
Australia, UAE and Thailand
The post-war Japanese economy experienced rapid growth, expanding ten-fold from 1955 to
1990 allowing living standards to catch up and surpass those of established Western
economies. A number of factors, including low interest rates, banking deregulation and
sudden appreciation of the yen, resulted in a stock market and real-estate bubble in the late
1980s. At the end of 1989 the bubble burst; after that stock prices fell by as much as 75
percent and the value of commercial land in Tokyo by 85 percent.
The economy then stagnated for more than a decade due to sluggish consumption and weak
investment as excesses from the 1980s unwound and Japan adjusted to Asian
industrialisation and globalisation. A particular hindrance was the lingering non-performing
loan problem that prolonged the life of the weakest companies and hampered economic
recovery.
Starting in mid-2002, the economy recovered strongly with its expansion lasting as long as
the longest previous expansion, which ended in 1970. The economy seemed to be close to
achieving self-sustaining growth.
The Tohoku earthquake/tsunami/nuclear disasters of March 2011 caused extensive damage
and the tragic loss of approximately 30,000 people. The resulting disruption of supply chains
and power supplies has had an effect well outside the immediate disaster area
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Annex 4
JAPAN CONSULTING OFFICE
Transforming cultural differences into business strengths
VOCABULARY LIST
English
Japanese (Romanji)
Japanese (Kanji forms)
Hello
Konnichiwa
こんにちは
Good evening
Kombanwa
こんばんは
Good morning
Ohayou gozaimasu
おはようございます
Nice to meet you
Hajimemashite
はじめまして
How do you do? /Please
Yoroshiku onegaishimasu
よろしくお願いします
How are you?
O-genki desuka
お元気ですか
I'm fine, thank you.
O-kage samade
おかげ様で
Excuse me for being first (leaving office)
O-saki ni shitsurei shimasu
お先に失礼します
Expression after finishing a task/work
O-tsukare sama deshita
お疲れ様でした
Hello (when picking up the phone)
Moshi moshi
もしもし
Mr,Mrs, Ms (add it after the family name) -San
－さん
Excuse me
Sumimasen
すみません
Sorry, Excuse me
Gomen nasai
ごめんなさい
Thank you very much
Arigatou gozaimasu
ありがとうございます
You're welcome
Dou itashimashite
どう致しまして
Word usually said before eating or when
receiving something
Itadakimasu
いただきます
Cheers !
Kampai
乾杯
Go-chisou sama deshita
ご馳走様でした
Utchi
内
Outside, Outsider
Soto
外
Senior
Sempai
先輩
Junior
Kouhai
後輩
To do one's best
Gambarimasu
頑張ります
Discussions (in an often informal
environment) with few people involved
to discuss/share/prepare future decision
Nemawashi
根回し
Meeting
Kaigi
会議
Fast/early
Hayai
早い
Slow/late
Osoi
遅い
One's private/"honest" opinion
Honne
本音
Private/"honest" talk (do not ask during
meetings)
One's public opinion
Honne no hanashi
本音の話
Tatemae
建て前
Abbreviation for Houkoku, Renraku, Soudan
Hourensou
ホウレンソウ
To report
Houkoku
報告
Contact someone
Renraku
連絡
To consult with, ask advice to somebody
Soudan
相談
Usually said after eating (”Thank you for
the diner")
Inside, Insider
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Annex 5
JAPAN CONSULTING OFFICE
Transforming cultural differences into business strengths
DO’s & DON’T’s WITH JAPANESE …
Do:
 Give your business card, with two hands and a slight bow, immediately when
meeting a business colleague.
 Because age equals rank, show the greatest respect to the oldest members of
the Japanese group.
 Give a slight bow when meeting someone who is your peer. Give a lower bow
if they are your elder or boss.
 Do meet with your Japanese colleagues after business hours. While it is
primarily for building friendships rather than for doing deals, you may discuss
business during the evening.
 Use both hands to hold a bowl or a cup that you wish to be refilled.
 Let your host treat you if you are taken out and let him order for you.
 Say "sumimasen" often. It is the all-in-one politeness word, meaning "excuse
me“, "thank you”, “I’m sorry”.
 Bring a gift such as cakes or chocolate when visiting a Japanese home or
company.
 Be punctual!
Don’t:
 Don’t point out your chopstick at another person or stick them upright in a
bowl of rice. When you are not using them, you should line them up on the
chopstick rest.
 Don’t make jokes on the job; the Japanese tend to be very serious at work. Be
careful with humor. Never make jokes about WW2 / occupation of China /
Yakuza / Royal family / whale fishing as these are sensitive topics that can kill
relationships. Don’t laugh with your mouth wide open.
 Don’t blow your nose in public. Sniffling is okay.
 Don’t wear shoes or slippers on tatami mats.
 Don’t give someone 4 of anything. The Japanese word for "4" is similar to the
word for death. (Not applicable in business, more in ceremonial events like
anniversary, wedding, birth, etc.)
 Don’t point at things, it is considered impolite. Instead, wave your hand, palm
up toward the object being indicated, as the Japanese do.
 Don’t be overly direct.
 Don’t open a gift in front of the person who gave it.
 Don’t eat while walking, or eat an apple during a TC or a meeting
 Don’t sit on the desk
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Annex 6
JAPAN CONSULTING OFFICE
Transforming cultural differences into business strengths
WORKING WITH JAPANESE CUSTOMERS…
Remember:
 In Japan, the “customer is God” (not king!)
 Respect of deadlines
 Perfectionism and “Kaizen” mentality
 Quality and uniformity (regularity)
Our advice:
 When considering customer’s requirement, it is important to draw out what is behind
the request
 Consider the big picture, not just this particular product or deal
 Try to avoid giving immediate negative responses to a customer's request
 Even if you cannot meet what appear to be unreasonable demands, it is important
for the customer to know that you have made a great effort to do so
MANAGING QUALITY:
Remember:
 If a defect is encountered in a product, it will invalidate the complete (manufacturing)
process
 External default (not in the product itself) is seen as a default in the process
 A small default is treated as a major one
 The effort involved in issues resolution is impressively high in Japan. They have the
same expectation from you.
 Probability analysis/argumentation is not valid
Product recall = Disastrous consequences
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Annex 7
JAPAN CONSULTING OFFICE
Transforming cultural differences into business strengths
Our advice:
 Do not wait for the responsibilities to be clarified before apologizing
 Respond quickly to Japanese requests
 Work with Japanese counterparts on how to communicate the relative urgency of
issues and details of the situation
 Expect Japanese problem solving and issue resolution to involve more people and
take more time
ISSUE RESOLUTION
Ask yourself:
1. Why did it happen?
2. What are you going to do to solve it?
3. What are you going to do to prevent if from happening again?
What you can do:
1. Recognize the problem & apologize
2. Identify the root cause & report
3. Implement a workaround/solution & report
4. Confirm the resolution of the problem (test) & report
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Annex 8
JAPAN CONSULTING OFFICE
Transforming cultural differences into business strengths
WHAT JAPANESE SAY ABOUT EUROPEAN COLLEAGUES …
Responsibilities towards work
 Local staff tends to refuse to do work which is not included in their job descriptions.
 Local staff put all their energy into their own work and do not take an interest in what
is happening before/after their part of the process (impact on other divisions, for
example.)
 Job description is very segmented (entering into someone else territory is not well
perceived)
 Little information exchange between colleagues (horizontally)
Respect of deadlines or different notion of time
 Low respect for deadlines
 No rescheduling planned to make up for lateness
Performance review and promotion
 Local employees have a tendency to spend a lot of time on their performance reviews,
and they work very hard to convince their boss why they should be promoted.
 Salary negotiation often takes place directly with one’s manager (not HR)
Communication
 Local employees keep asking “why”, “why”, “why”. They always want to know the
background explanation of the request.
 Local employees speak a lot (at meeting for example) and are sometimes too direct.
Do not actively seek next step
 Sometimes lack initiative. They don’t spontaneously come to ask “what to do next?”,
but wait for instructions.
 They don’t take action when they are missing information or have an issue which
prevents them from moving on.
Do not pay attention to details
 Do not perform deep check
Reporting – analysis
 Lack of analytical (skills)/motivation to analyze in details
 No automatic reporting to boss or report of average quality
 Project members don’t spontaneously report to their project manager. The project
manager has to ask each member individually.
 Sometimes, poor “visualization” skill
Do not apologize
 Tendency to find excuses and not to apologize
Work life balance
 Highest priority on family life, essential to their life balance …. but sometimes going
home with work unfinished.
Others
 Classes separation/distinction (white><blue collars)
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Annex 9
JAPAN CONSULTING OFFICE
Transforming cultural differences into business strengths
BOOKS & WEBSITES & MOVIES
Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival
by David Pilling
The geography of thought: how Asians and Westerners think differently... and why
by Richard E. Nisbett
Business Guide to Japan
by Tuttle publishing. (It´s a bit older but still valid and not too long to read.)
www.economywatch.com/world_economy/japan/
For general information (English)
web-japan.org/links/business/organizations/construction.html
Japanese Organization by Industry (English)
www.meti.go.jp/english/index.html
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (English)
www.jetro.go.jp/
Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) (English)
https://www.jetro.go.jp/en/database/j-messe/
Trade Fair Data Base (Jetro) (English)
http://jguide.stanford.edu/site/travel_daily_living_126.html
Stanford Guide to Japan (English)
www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/culture/culture.html
For general information (English)
http://asia.nikkei.com/
Nikkei Journal (English)
blogs.wsj.com/japanrealtime/
The Wall Street Journal (Japan Real Time) (English)
https://info.yomiuri.co.jp/english/index.html
The Daily Yomiuri - The Japan News (English)
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Annex 10
JAPAN CONSULTING OFFICE
Transforming cultural differences into business strengths
Ghibli’s movies
By Hayao Miyazaki
Your name
By Makoto Shinkai
Love Exposure
By Sion Sono
Departures
By Yojiro Takita
Nobody knows
By Hirokazu Koreeda
Our little sister
By Hirokazu Koreeda
Ring
By Hideo Nakata
Memoirs of Geisha
By Rob Marshall
Lost in translation
By Sofia Coppola
The Last Samurai
By Edward Zwick
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Annex 11