Omotenashi: Analysis of Japanese Hospitality in Business and Culture

This essay provides a comprehensive analysis of Omotenashi, a core concept of Japanese hospitality and customer service. It begins by tracing the origins of Omotenashi to the Japanese tea ceremony (cha-no-yu) and its emphasis on the host's selfless dedication to guests. The essay then explores the key characteristics of Omotenashi, including the collective norm of Japanese society, which prioritizes group harmony and cooperation, and the unique interplay of mind and emotion in Japanese culture, which fosters a deep understanding of customer needs. Furthermore, it examines servant leadership as a manifestation of Omotenashi, highlighting the importance of imitation and cultivating a strong connection between leaders and followers. The essay also identifies the core elements of Omotenashi, such as the host's role in creating a pleasant atmosphere, the importance of performance and skill in service delivery, and the need for comprehensive product knowledge. Finally, the essay concludes that Omotenashi is an integral part of Japanese culture, influencing business practices and shaping customer experiences.

Running head: OMOTENASHI
Omotenashi
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note

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Introduction
The term Omotenashi has recently come into the international media and is being
repeatedly highlighted in the news. It is due to the 2020 Olympic that is to be held in Japan.
Literal translation of the Japanese term Omotenashi means “hospitality” or “service” that is
integrated with the Japanese culture in their everyday life. One can tell the high level of customer
service the Japanese provide in every sector if they have visited the country. It far exceeds the
expectation of the foreigners that can never be found elsewhere. The presence of Omotenashi is
evidenced from the early days or Japanese culture that will be discussed in the following.
Moreover, there are certain characteristics that Omotenashi carries, which is also discussed in the
essay.
Origin of Omotenashi
Evidence of Omotenashi is present in their culture since the early history of the country
and they have emphasized it. It is believed that the concept of Omotenashi has originated from
cha-no-yu, which is their tea ceremony. This tea ceremony exists in Japanese culture since 16th
century and was established by Sen-no-Rikyu (Sato & Parry, 2015). Japanese tea ceremony is
indeed popular and known around the globe. The host of the tea ceremony is expected entertain
his or her guests and expect nothing in return. Guests on the other hand are expected appreciate
the warmhearted nature of the host and reflect their gratitude toward the host (Fuji-
academy.co.jp., 2017). It is believed that this reflects optimum purity in communication or
referred as spiritual communication and much different from the pragmatic practice seen in daily
life. This is indeed a spiritual aspect of Japanese culture, which is not visible or tangible.
Concept of Omotenashi does not restrict the Japanese to provide good and efficient service to
their guests, but asks the service provider to put their heart and soul into the service. The

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Japanese take special training and devotion of the individual for fully understanding the process
of service deliverance with a true heart. This is what makes the Japanese service or Omotenashi
different form services provided by other cultures. Moreover, this concept is not limited to
special occasions or ceremonies, but is seen everywhere in daily life. It is involved in every
aspect of Japanese society starting from industry to private lives (Al-alsheikh, 2014).
The existence of Omotenashi is no consequence in Japanese culture, as the Japanese are
known to be specialized for doing things. “Kata” is another Japanese word often related with
Omotenashi that means rules to be followed. It is integrated in almost everything in Japanese
culture. They have a set of rules for doing almost anything and their life is bound by the rules.
The reappearance of Omotenashi and Kata in Japanese culture became visible to the
outsiders after 1950s when the country took back their control in their hand. Prior to that, the
Japanese products were believed to be poor in quality as the foreign importers only focused on
the quick profit. Japanese then reestablished their traditional kata and omotenashi for providing
optimum quality in any field.
Another believe prevails that the Omotenashi has originated from the late Heian period
and the early Kamakura period when emergent warrior class of Japanese society started using
renga as a tool for discriminating between friends and foes as well as for confirming the
solidarity. They started using it as an efficient tool for building human relationships in the
unquiet times. According to Aishima and Sato (2015), this can be a possible origin of
Omotenashi in the Japanese culture.
Characteristics of Omotenashi

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Different scholars have identified a range of characteristics that are the outcome of
various factors exists in Japanese culture. Some of the identified characteristics are mentioned
below.
Collective Norm
Japanese society is a collective one where the individuals in a group come with the
mindset to cooperate with each other and without seeking anything in return. The members go to
high level of anxiety if detached from the group. These type of groups are called ‘Ingroups’. Al-
alsheikh (2014) further identifies that the group members share common goal, viewpoint, fate
and needs and the members always prioritize the interest of the group more than their individual
needs. He further related this to the high context culture as proposed by Cardon (Cardon, 2008).
It is a form of art that displays sophistication, nuance and cultural identity. It can be related to the
tea ceremony where the participants have to read the atmosphere and act accordingly with it for
enjoying the Omotenashi without saying a single word (Aishima & Sato, 2016).
Japanese Brain
The Japanese behavior, art, history and life is characterized by coexistence of the mind
and emotion. Both the mind and emotion of Japanese people maintain harmony that is reflected
in their life. This leaves the Japanese to put strong emphasize on harmony and act in the group
accordingly to in order to achieve it in every aspect of their life. This differentiates the Japanese
mindset from the non-Japanese, where they tend to direct their mind for logical thinking. There
is no room for emotional elements to enter the sphere of the non-Japanese disabling them to
explore the world form the Japanese viewpoint. This helps the Japanese to provide the optimum

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level of customer service or Omotenashi as it is beyond logical that the non-Japanese are capable
of (Sato & Al-alsheikh, 2014; Al-alsheikh, 2014).
Servant Leadership
Al-alsheikh and Sato (2015) in their study related servant leadership with Omotenashi
through Kagaya case study. They addressed the Omotenashi of Kagaya form the brain science
view point. The ascetic practices in Japan lead the people to practice imitation that is the
imitation of the teacher. However, their mind side represented the in the omotenashi heart of the
teacher. It leads the followers to cultivate the model and understand about the model with
stronger notion. This leads to greater circulation between the model and the heart of omotenashi.
This circulation results into the formation of servant leadership as the leadership is best justified
by this particular leadership style (Nakagawa & Kuwahara, 2017).
Constituent elements of Omotenashi
Horiguchi et al., (2015) on the other hand identified the core elements of Omotenashi that
ensures the efficiency of the service provided to the customers. These elements are host, way of
performance and skills, and knowledge. Host is responsible to follow the guideline to create the
atmosphere required to make the customers feel pleasant and relaxed. The second element speaks
about the performance the members have to perform. Every gesture is carefully choreographed to
fulfil the purpose and represent their wholeheartedness. The knowledge of the product is the
utmost criteria for omotenashi. The host cannot serve their customer without having a complete
knowledge about the product they are providing. The complete knowledge of the product will
enable the host to be true to their selves while providing service.
Conclusion

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It can be concluded from the discussion that the concept of Omotenashi exist in Japanese
culture for very long time. Moreover, this is not just a service that the host provides to their
customers, but much more than that as is considered to be an integral part of their culture. The
mindset of the Japanese is coordinated in a way that it expects every individual belonging from
the culture to provide this kind of service to their customers. The collective norm is responsible
for this type of behaviour seen exclusively in the Japanese culture. Moreover, the elements of the
omotenashi help them to maintain the course and value of the service.

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