Japanese Business Etiquette & Culture

The assignment focuses on Emily, a foreign individual aiming to collaborate with Mr. Hamasaki from Japan on a food project. It emphasizes the importance of understanding Japanese business etiquettes and culture. Emily is advised to practice respectful greetings like bowing, be mindful of her communication style (less talking, impassive expression), and acknowledge the significance of traditions and information gathering in Japanese business meetings. The assignment highlights the need for cultural sensitivity and deference to establish a strong business relationship with Mr. Hamasaki.

Running head: BUSINESS COMMUNICATION
Business Communication
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Business etiquette in Japan
The Japanese monarchy is considered as the oldest monarchy in the world which justifies
the stringent customs and traditions that prevails in the Japanese society. The Japanese culture is
a group culture where they perceive the welfare of the society as its primary goal. The practice of
harmony is observed as an effective means to promote welfare of the society. The group culture
is the primary source of promoting harmony among the group and the welfare of the group
prevail over the welfare of an individual, hence, before taking any decision it is important that
everybody’s opinion is considered (Sato et al., 2015). Although it may seem to be next to
impossible at several places, in Japan it is an age old tradition that must be performed owing to
the homogeneity factor in the population. The Japanese likes to work with flexibility and usually
feel reluctant to accept deadlines unless they are sure that they can complete the assignment
under the given circumstances. However, in the multicultural workplace, doing business in a
global economy it is obvious that cultural barriers to communication are bound to arise.
However, this essay outlines the ways to overcome these cultural differences and respect the
diverse cultures and establish an effective business relationship.
Japan as a country values social conduct to such an extent that proper behavioral conduct
has become the paramount law of the land. It is important to comprehend that cultural norms
differ from one culture to another. The business etiquettes in Japan demonstrates their loyalty
towards the organization and the members as well; dedication, consistency and promotion of
harmony and welfare (Rothlin & McCann, 2016). The members of the Japanese organization are
loyal towards their organization and co-workers and if necessary they go beyond their job
descriptions to help the company and the members as they value the welfare of the group over

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individual welfare. The Japanese people are dedicated to the company to such an extent that in
case of any conflict between their duties towards the company and family, they usually give first
priority to their duties towards the company. The Japanese are very consistent about their duties
and acts and they must consider all options. They usually do not leave out any details and are
known to be low risk takers which are an essential quality that is required in the contemporary
work environment. The Japanese culture is a group culture where they aim at promoting welfare
of the society and promote harmony as a means to achieve the welfare of the society.
Furthermore, the Japanese regard silent communication as a matter of great importance
and unlike western countries, silent communication is possible in Japan owing to the presence of
homogeneity in the country. According to the business culture in Japan, speaking too much
implies a sign of immaturity or absence of ideas. On the other hand, silent signifies
understanding by using mere words or through body language that aims at surpassing words and
provides a clearer picture. This kind of indirect communication signifies harmony and provides
an opportunity to the other party to accept the results and save face in case of a failure. The
Japanese considers themselves guilty when they fail to act or behave in a manner as expected
from the other party. They do not like to bring in any change or chaos in their traditions that
would disrupt the harmony (Tanaka & Kleiner, 2015).
In the given case scenario, at the beginning of the first or initial meeting, it is imperative
the Emily must take in to consideration of the fact that the business culture in Japan is very
formal. She must follow these business etiquettes in order to conduct business with the
Japanese. Firstly, She must address Mr. Hamasaki by Mr. followed by his surnames and must
not use the first name. Secondly, she must use the professional cards (meishi) which is a vital
business etiquette observed in Japan. These cards are exchanged in the beginning of the meeting

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and must not be put away before the meeting ends and the cards must not have anything written
on it otherwise it would be misinterpreted to be an impolite gesture.
Emily should provide gifts to the Mr. Hamasaki after a business relationship is
established between them as Japan is a country that is expert in endowing its business delegates
with company gifts and it is almost mandatory to exchange gifts twice a year. Thirdly, since the
Japanese upholds harmony as a valuable aspect of their business culture, they tend to give more
importance to the organization and its members (Mukherjee & Ramos-Salazar, 2014). Emily
must consider the fact that while discussing about her food project she must explain how the
project is going to promote welfare of the society and how the business activities shall maintain
harmony within the organization, thus, benefitting both the organization and the society.
Fourthly, Emily must consider that in a business setting in a country like Japan, silent
communication is given more preference compared to overabundance of talking. Silence is often
linked to credibility and a more formal approach, in the beginning of a meeting is more
preferable and is likely to be received better when conducting business with Japan. Lastly, Emily
must have regard to the fact that Japanese usually value group solidarity over individualism.
Unlike the western countries, where individual recognition and contributions are valued, the
Japanese gives more importance to the team concept and values praises and achievements of the
entire group (Polleri, 2017).
Potential Cross-Cultural Miscommunications
Cross-cultural communication refers to the communication with respect to two distinct
cultures. In business, cross-cultural communications play a significant role in conducting
business with other individuals or teams in different areas of the globe. However,

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miscommunication could often lead to broken relations with partners, employees, customers, etc.
In the given scenario, a common cross cultural barrier in the business communication is
language. Emily is Australian and Mr. Hamasaki is Japanese and both belong to different cultural
backgrounds. the cultural dimension model of Dr. Hofstede is considered as an internationally
recognized standard for comprehending the cultural differences. Since cultural norms play a
significant role in maintaining interpersonal relationships at work, it is pertinent for Emily to
assess her decisions, actions and approach based on Hofstede’s cultural dimension to avoid
making mistakes and demonstrates the much needed confidence (Nelson & Matthews, 2017).
Under the given scenario, Emily may follow the cultural dimension pertaining to
Masculinity versus Femininity (MAS) as the gap between men and women values is the greatest
tin Japan. This approach refers to the distribution of roles between the women and men. In
masculine societies there is less overlapping with respect to the roles of men and women and the
men are expected to behave positively. In feminine societies, the overlapping is more and
modesty is observed as a virtue. The maintenance of good relationships with direct supervisors is
of greater importance. Emily must consider the fact that in order to open office in Japan, she
would have to operate in a hierarchical, traditionally patriarchal and deferential society where
long hours is embedded in its business tradition which might cause inconvenience for female
team members owing to their family commitments (Kinloch & Metge, 2014).
Cultural differences are often considered as a nuisance at best and may often cause
disaster. Despite the difference in culture, it is believed that all people are the same and instead
of understanding, respecting and accepting the cultural differences, people strive to reduce the
cultural differences which cause misinterpretations and misunderstandings between people from
different countries. This often led to breakage of relations between the business partners,

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customers, employees etc. Cross-cultural communications requires both the parties who intends
to conduct international business with each other, must possess sufficient knowledge about the
cultural differences as what may be considered as acceptable in one country may not be
acceptable in other countries (Chen, 2017).
Every culture has distinct business ethics, distinct set of values and accepted behavior and
different facial gestures ad expressions. It is pertinent to understand the cultural differences and
demonstrate respect for the culture while communicating with the professionals from different
cultures. In this given scenario, Emily must possess knowledge about the business etiquettes and
work culture of the Japanese people and must portray respect for the culture while
communicating with Mr. Hamasaki about her food project. She must avoid overabundance
talking with Mr. Hamasaki and must maintain an impassive expression while communicating
with Mr. Hamsaki as he would prefer to rely more on the facial expression, posture, tone of voice
compared to verbal messages (De Mooij, 2015).
It is recommended to Emily that she displays correct amount of deference and respect to
someone based upon the status of Mr. Hamasaki instead of her own. While foreigners usually
shake hands when they meet, but Japan being a traditional country bows when they meet as it
displays a traditional form of greeting. Emily must have regard to the fact that the Japanese value
traditions greater than any other place in the world. She must present her ideas about the food
business keeping in mind that Japanese perceives meetings as a means to obtain and collect
information rather than a decision making activity and would take a lot of time to plan and
decide its business activities. Therefore, Emily must ensure that she accepts and respects the
culture and business traditions followed in Japan while expressing her ideas and work culture to
him with a view to establish a stable and good business relationship with Mr. Hamasaki.

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Reference List
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