Japan - Rieko Aiba - Communicating with Other Cultures

Following up on the first post of my newsletter on LinkedIn, I am sharing this week’s article with a summary of the interview I did with Rieko Aiba, from Japan.

Rieko is a Coach & Facilitator.? She helps individuals and teams dream up their full potential and support them to get where they want to go.? She lives and works in Tokyo, Japan.

The article below is only a short summary of the conversation I had with Rieko, but in the recorded video, there is a lot of rich content and experiences she shares about the cultural aspects of doing business in Japan.? Don’t miss out Rieko’s full video interview on this direct link.

For more information about Rieko, and her work, she sent us these links that you can visit and use to contact her if you are interested.?

LinkedIn? https://www.dhirubhai.net/in/rieko-aiba/

email:?[email protected]

Instagram:?@youmoveyou - https://www.instagram.com/youmoveyou/

---------

As I mentioned in the first post of this newsletter, all the international interviewees will be asked the same 7 questions.? The objective is for us to learn new insights on the most effective way to communicate and understand different cultures when doing business in the specific country where the interviewees work at.?

This will help the foreign businessperson who wants to enter a new market to increase empathy and cultural understanding with their international colleagues, clients, or partners.?

We will be publishing the full recorded interviews on our recently rebranded and relaunched YouTube Channel.? ?I will share a summarized version of each of the interviews through a new article on this newsletter.? ?Don’t forget to subscribe to the YouTube Channel and receive updates of the future interviews we will be organizing.?

So, let’s begin!

?

The 7 questions, and Rieko’s answers, are the following:

?

1. Tell us more about you and what kind of work you do.

Rieko’s career started in the advertising field, while managing different accounts and clients, and she had the opportunity to work with multiple companies in Japan and overseas, and with different teams in and out of the agency and across borders.

She strongly believes that success in business is really all up to the people that run the company.? It's the combination of the people, the chemistry, the culture, their relationship with each other, and how their individual leadership comes into play in the team.

So rather than continuing in the advertising field, she made a shift over to people and team development, and now supports people, leaders, and their teams to become the team they strive to be. ?She does this through personal coaching, team coaching, facilitation, and training.

Rieko has a particular interest in working with teams from different backgrounds, where culture is an obstacle; like with international teams and international couples.

She mentions about the challenges and differences between Japanese and American companies on how decisions are made, how meetings are held, and the definition of processes.? You’ll have to watch the video to listen to Rieko’s explanation and all the lessons she has learned from her experiences. ??

2.?What are some things you recommend people to do or say when first meeting and speaking with a person with whom they might initiate a new project or business opportunity together in Japan?? What should someone not do or say?

Rieko emphasized that Japan is a very relationship-based culture, where Japanese people want to work with people they know, that they trust, and that they can build a relationship with.? If someone you know has a contact of a person in a company you are looking to do business with, and you get an introduction through this contact of yours, it might be the easiest way to initiate conversations and future working relationships with that company.

Bring an omiyage - a small gift as an ice breaker.? This shows that you thought about them in advance, and it is an initial attempt to establishing a relationship with the person.? If you are a foreigner, bring a souvenir, or small gift, from your country, and share the story behind that gift.? This is very much appreciated with the Japanese people you will be meeting.

3.?We recognize that it is important to have a deeper cultural understanding of a local place when doing business there.? What cultural aspects might be considered when doing business in Japan?

Rieko reinforced that Japan is a high-context culture, very much focused on relationship-based exchanges, and how that can reflect back to the communication.?

Japanese people are not as direct, and they follow a behavior called Tatemae and Honne.

Tatemae – it is kind of acting on the surface, how one presents him or herself. They don’t want to appear rude, and they want to keep a nice relationship and vibe going.?

Honne – this might not come out in public, and it is more an internal feeling.

The Japanese reserve their expressions because they are a consensus-based society, so perhaps the Japanese businesspeople will meet amongst themselves after a meeting with you, discuss further the points addressed, before making a final decision.?

She highlights examples of foreign businesspeople she has worked with and who have come to her after meetings, mentioning that they had no idea how the meeting went, because their Japanese counterparts had a blank face, with no expressions. ?The foreigners did not know if it was a great YES, or a super NO, on the proposal or ideas discussed. ?

Rieko recommends you (as a foreigner) not to get disappointed or lose patience, but instead, to allow more time for Japanese companies to give an answer.? Don’t force them to give an answer immediately.

Just continue to follow up and try to understand the processes that are going on internally at the Japanese companies.?

4.?If someone does not speak Japanese, what do you suggest a foreigner do to be able to communicate more successfully with locals in Japan, and to be able to do business there?

Like in most other countries, if you want to communicate with some locals, and you don’t speak the language, you can hire someone to translate in the meetings.?? But one thing you could do before any meeting with a Japanese counterpart, and you don’t speak Japanese, is to let them know the agenda before the meeting takes place. ?

This agenda can highlight things (points) that you will bring to the meeting, questions you are interested in receiving answers to, etc.? The Japanese people love to prepare and know beforehand, and they don’t like to be surprised too much.?

Documentation is important, because with some slides or material they can follow through visually, it may minimize the barriers of the lack of interactions in the spoken language, for example.?

If the Japanese counterparts do speak a bit of English, and the meeting is in English, what is very important is to watch over the tempo (speed) of how you speak. ??Give the Japanese sufficient space to think and respond.? Rieko mentions that the Japanese tend to have the longest length of pauses.? So, the foreigner needs to slow things down, give it a pause, check in to see if things are clear, and if they have questions to ask?

5.?To get better results in visibility or sales, what are your recommendations on the most effective ways to do marketing for products or services in Japan?

Rieko points out that the older generation still watches TV, so that is one channel of marketing that is important for that segment of the population.? Some newspapers are also significant to this group, and even material in paper that they receive in the mail.?

The younger generation will be receiving more information through social media, including Instagram, Facebook, and digital influencers.? The app of WhatsApp is not a common chat tool used in Japan.? They use mostly the app called Line.

She recommends that businesses should have many users try and experience their products and have these users talking about it to their friends and their communities, also as a strategy.

Rieko points out that a foreign company should recognize and respect Japan’s mindset of believing that Japan is a unique market.? One can show evidence that a product has worked in other markets, but they need to understand that the product requires adaptation to local cultural aspects when entering the Japanese market.?

6. If a business partner in Japan wants to get to know you better, and invites you to a local coffee / tea place, restaurant, or wants to do a “virtual happy hour” via Zoom, what are the kinds of topics people in Japan like to talk about, and that is not related to business, for example??

The weather is a common topic discussed, especially when it is the season of the cherry blossoms.? People in Japan like to talk about food a lot as well.? The Japanese like to ask foreigners what their favorite Japanese food is.?

Amongst friends, or even in a business environment, people in Japan are less likely to be speaking about politics and religion.? It is a topic that does not come up as often in Japan.? You can talk and ask questions about it, but people might not be as used to explaining their views on these topics.?

7. What one word should everyone learn to say in Japanese, and why??

Yoroshiku Onegaiitashimasu – a word that can be used in the beginning or at the end of a meeting.? There is not a clear definition of this phrase, but it lets people know that you are in gratitude to them, and that you are depending on them to continue working with you. ?You can use this phrase when you ask somebody to do something, and that you are thankful that they will do that for you. ?

?

-------

?

I hope you enjoyed this summary of the conversation with Rieko, and don’t forget to watch the full video interview with her through this direct link, and subscribe to our recently rebranded and relaunched YouTube Channel for more content on cross-cultural communication tips and lessons learned to share with everyone. ?

?

• Is there anything else, related to cultural or communication aspects with Japanese counterparts, that you think would be interesting to share with everyone as well??
• Or some experiences you may have had when working with Japanese colleagues, clients, or partners? Feel free to write them below in the comments.
• What other country (countries) do you want us to highlight in this channel, and to share their cultural and communication insights and suggestions?

?

Would you like to recommend someone for us to interview from a specific country?? If so, write to us at, [email protected], for us to learn more about this person.?

??

*Please note that the answers provided by Rieko are based on her own experiences and knowledge of the local culture.? There is no intention to generalize all the Japanese to any specific behavior mentioned in this interview.

Thank you again (Arigato – in Japanese)

Sign up for the Newsletter through this link, and stay updated with the future interviews we will share and the lessons learned, suggested action steps, and examples of successful cross-cultural communication solutions.

For more information about the work we do at Occasio International Advisory Services - www.occasioias.com

For more information about the work we do with Cross-Cultural Communication – https://occasioias.com/cross-cultural-communication