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American expressions that the Japanese have difficulty with

Articles, Cross-cultural communication, North America by Rochelle Kopp

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When Japanese are asked “Can you do it?”, unless they are 100% certain that they can, they would not answer “Yes we can.”… Americans, on the other hand, sometimes say...

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When Japanese say “We must confirm”—what does this mean?

Articles, Cross-cultural communication, Japanese business keywords by Patricia Pringle

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Your Japanese colleagues probably have a pretty good command of English, but they may not be aware of the nuances a seemingly simple sentence such as “We must confirm” may...

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Power harassment

Articles, HR management, Japanese business keywords by Rochelle Kopp

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Are Turkey and Japan culturally similar?

Articles, Europe, Global management by Pernille Rudlin

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Japanese prime minister Abe has visited Turkey twice in less than six months to promote Japan's energy and infrastructure business. Will Japanese and Turkish business partners be able to...

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In Japan…Perfectionism or Standard?

Articles, Japanese business, Japanese culture by Patricia Pringle

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The Japanese point out ugly weld seams on the machines, saying their customers are not happy with the way the machines look. The Americans point out some new innovation...

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Communication Kaizen

Articles, Japanese business, Japanese business keywords by Patricia Pringle

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If we approached the communication between the Japanese and Americans in our organizations with the same open spirit and common sense, we could increase our communication productivity and avoid misunderstandings....

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Otsukaresama deshita: A simple two word phrase in Japanese can say volumes in English

Articles, Japanese business keywords by Rochelle Kopp

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Japanese can compact lots of meaning into a short phrase, whereas it takes a lot more words in English to say the same thing. And that depending on the...

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High brand recognition for Japanese companies does not necessarily mean they are well known

Articles, Europe, Marketing by Pernille Rudlin

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There is a generally favourable view of Japanese companies in Europe, but nobody is quite sure what they do, and therefore there is a doubt as to whether becoming an...

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Try treating foreign acquisitions not as lodgers but adopted sons

Articles, M&A by Pernille Rudlin

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One way Japanese executives could do a better job of acquiring overseas companies is to be conscious of the fact that Japanese companies behave like traditional Japanese families - and...

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Famous in Japan but utterly unknown in Europe

Articles, Europe, Marketing by Pernille Rudlin

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The need for more than press release PR for Japanese companies...

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