Mysterious Japanese Business Customs

Above, salarymen heading to work in Shibuya. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Doing business with the Japanese can sometimes be maddening when confronted with their business customs.

If one has already conducted business with a Japanese businessman, they will find "6 Mysterious Japanese Business Customs" by Tsunagu Japan a bit amusing (and a memory jog). If one is about to conduct business with a Japanese businessman or company, they may want to make a mental note of these business customs.

Tsunagu Japan begins their article with:

Japan is known as a country full of diligent people. That economic power is still something that should be paid attention to. These are some of the mysterious business customs that Japanese businesspeople use to energize Japan's economy!

Number four on the list is one that I am very familiar with. I first was confronted with it about eleven or twelve years ago while dealing with a major Japanese company (I will refrain on disclosing the name of the company). This custom (I think of it as more of a quirk) sometimes causes a westerner to get the wrong impression (as in a glimmer of hope) that the company may, in the near future, change their mind. Not so.

To read the article, go here.