When receiving a business card, you should use both hands, and in a taxi or reception room, people of higher rank should sit in the higher seat... These are commonplace in Japanese companies, but there are many business customs that seem strange and surprising to businessmen from overseas.
Foreigners working in Japan for the first time will be able to work with peace of mind if they become familiar with Japan's unique business customs beforehand.
*Overseas = Here we mainly use common examples from Europe and the United States.
[Job hunting first]
The biggest event before joining a company is job hunting. All students wear the same recruitment suits and go through the manual process of writing resumes, going through group discussions, and going to interviews.
How can you find differences when everyone is doing the same thing? It seems to be quite strange from an overseas perspective. It is also a symbol of Japanese corporate culture, which values unity within a group rather than respecting the individual.
【What is it called?】
In Japan, it is common to call your boss by their job title, but this is unthinkable in the West, where people often call their boss by their first name without adding a title such as Mr.
[Is the meeting silent?]
In Japanese meetings, the parties involved often report on matters whose conclusions have been roughly decided in advance and then seek agreement from all the other people attending the meeting, which means that some participants barely speak at all.
In many countries overseas, there is a process in which a variety of opinions are exchanged and a consensus is then reached, so people who do not speak up are considered to have no opinion of their own.
Also, it's not common in Japan to tell jokes at the beginning of a meeting to lighten the mood.
[Decision-making is slow?]
Japanese businessmen are considered to be slow in making decisions. This is said to be due to the Japanese character of not wanting to show something until it is perfect.
Plans and proposals are only allowed to move forward once they have been finalized, which gives the impression that things are not progressing very quickly. In other countries, plans are only allowed to move forward once the general idea is complete, so this difference makes people think that decision-making is slow.
[Meeting delivery deadlines]
One thing that Japanese businessmen are praised for is their ability to meet deadlines. For example, they always meet deadlines for the submission and reporting of data, reports, and proposals, and they also adhere to construction and building schedules, completing projects on time.
In other countries, things are often more vague, and it's not uncommon for construction work to still be going on next door even on the day of a big event.
[Understanding Cultural Differences] ~Summary~
It is not possible to judge these differences in customs as good or bad, because the current business practices are the result of a country's history, culture, and lifestyle.
In Japan, even back when people carried swords, it was important to respect elders and observe etiquette.
Some parts of that tradition are still part of our current business practices. If you are open to the customs and ways of thinking of other countries and are willing to learn from each other's strengths, you can communicate well within the company.