Are Japanese secretive? Why American employees think they are

The trust level at the company has plunged.  American employees feel like they are not being included in the information flow, and think that Japanese are actively trying to keep them in the dark.  The negative emotions are permeating the entire atmosphere at the company, and may be contributing to problems such as high turnover and low productivity.

A Japanese senior manager was having dinner with a trusted American manager in his company.  Relaxing over their meal, they were having a frank conversation.  The Japanese decided to ask his American colleague about areas in which he thought the company can improve, from the perspective of himself and other American employees.  The answer was not one that he expected: “There’s too much secrecy here.  It seems like the Japanese in this company hold information close to the vest.  We American employees always feel like there’s something we don’t know, something we haven’t been told about.  Everything is on a “need-to-know” basis, and it appears that the Japanese think that American employees don’t need to know.”  The Japanese senior manager was shocked.  He had thought that communication within the company was good.  Where did this perception come from?

The view that Japanese are secretive is one of the most commonly occurring misunderstandings in Japanese-affiliates in the United States.  In my work as a consultant to these companies, the following types of comments are frequently heard from American employees:

•     “We are always excluded from important information.  We never know what’s going on.”

•     “The Japanese conceal things.  It seems like they don’t trust us.”

•     “I’m never able to get the full story from my Japanese counterpart.”

•     “There are things happening under the surface.  I always wonder what I’m missing.”

•     “It seems like the Japanese don’t want to give us all the details, don’t want to share information with us.”

•     “I feel like I’m not part of the team.  They don’t let me in on things.”

These emotions are strong ones.  And while no one is going to file a lawsuit accusing a company of not having good internal communications, the lack of information flow that these concerns reflect are surely a drag on the company.  Employees who have these concerns feel that they are missing information needed to do their jobs, so they may be less productive than they could be.  The feeling of being excluded also tends to lower the morale of American employees, which can lead to problems such as higher turnover.  And when difficult situations occur, an atmosphere of secrecy and mistrust is fertile ground for the seeds of potential lawsuits to germinate.

What is behind these common complaints?  Why do Americans employees often suspect that important information is being withheld from them?  In most cases, Japanese staff are not really keeping big secrets and actively plotting to keep American employees in the dark.  Rather, this impression tends to be created as a combination of two important factors: the language barrier and differences in communication style.

The language barrier

“We were having a meeting, when all of a sudden one of the Japanese says “Just one moment” and starts into a Japanese conversation with the others.  The Americans were just sitting there, wondering what they were saying.  They continued on in Japanese for about ten minutes.” — American employee at a Japanese firm

One of the most annoying things to American employees of Japanese firms is when their Japanese colleagues speak Japanese in front of them and they are not able to understand.  Preoccupied with the challenges of doing business in a second language, Japanese often don’t realize how sensitive American employees can be about this issue.  As a country of immigrants, America has developed the strong attitude that people who come to this country should speak in English.  Americans consider it rude when people talk in front of them in a language they do not understand.  Often, in such situations Americans will jump to the conclusion that the foreign language speakers are actively using their language as a secret code to exclude those who do not speak it.  Yet the real reasons Japanese tend to use Japanese in these situations is to express something they don’t know how to say in English, to ask about the definition of a word or content of what is being discussed (without having to lose face by revealing their ignorance or confusion to their American colleagues), and sometimes just sheer fatigue or laziness.

In understanding why these situations occur, American employees need to realize that their Japanese colleagues are at a disadvantage in speaking English all day at work.  Even for Japanese who have good command of the language, using English extensively can be tiring.  It can be extremely tempting to use Japanese for greater clarity and efficiency.  To expect that Japanese colleagues never ever use Japanese in the workplace may be unrealistic in most situations.

Yet, Japanese need to be aware of Americans’ sensitivities about the use of Japanese.  Using the following etiquette can allay the concerns of Americans.  First, before beginning to launch into a Japanese conversation in front of Americans, Japanese should excuse themselves and explain why speaking Japanese is needed.  For example, “Excuse us for a moment.  We need to speak in Japanese to confirm the details here.”  Second, the Japanese interlude should be kept as short as possible — no more than a few minutes.  Also, it is important to avoid using American colleagues’ names in the middle of a Japanese discussion; this naturally makes them feel uncomfortable!  Third, when the Japanese portion is completed, take a moment to explain what was said.  For example, “We were just discussing some of the technical aspects of the change.  Mr. Sato pointed out some key information about a recent change made by the Engineering Department.  That change was…”  Following this approach helps Americans feel more included in what is going on.

On a company level, steps such as offering Japanese language lessons onsite (e.g. at lunch or after work), subsidizing employees who want to study Japanese at local schools, or creating a library of books and tapes for language study that can be lent to interested employees can be very helpful.  Such official encouragement of Japanese language study by American employees sends the signal that Japanese are not seeking to keep Japanese as the exclusive province of Japanese employees.  Also, studying even a little Japanese can also make American employees better able to empathize with the challenges their Japanese colleagues face using English all day.

Documents and other communications from headquarters written in Japanese are also a source of irritation to American employees.  Not knowing what the contents of such documents are, Americans can feel uncomfortable that they may be missing out on important information that affects their work.  Here as well, sometimes Americans can begin to fear that the Japanese language is helping to hide something from them.  This issue is a real dilemma for Japanese firms operating in the U.S.  Japanese expatriates are often too busy to translate these documents for American colleagues, and even if they try they are unable to keep up with the volume.  Yet, if one asks headquarters to only send documents in English, the flow would shrink to a trickle, also posing problems for the U.S. operation.

The following are some measures that American operations of Japanese firms have taken to deal with this challenge:

•     Hiring a translator (a locally hired bilingual person) to work full-time on translating such documents.  With the growing numbers of Americans who have experience living and working in Japan, qualified people for such positions are becoming increasingly easier to find.

•     Sending selected documents to an outside translator.  It is helpful to establish a good relationship with a freelance translator who will take the time to learn the specialized vocabulary relevant for a company’s business.

•     Creating a cover sheet to be used by headquarters personnel every time they send a document to the U.S.  The cover sheet would have spaces that prompt (require) the sender to fill in a title and/or brief summary of the document in English.  This helps American employees to know what it is that is coming in.  They can then identify what are the documents that are most important.

•     Creating a log book to be filled in each time there is a communication from headquarters, indicating the subject of each document.  This can help Americans keep abreast of the communications flow.

Differences in communication style

As formidable as the language barrier is, it is not the only reason that Japanese communication is perceived by Americans to be insufficiently forthright.  Japanese communication differs from the American style in the degree of importance attached to words.

American communication relies heavily on words.  We expect communicators to be clear, precise, and skilled in expressing themselves verbally.  We value people who have good presentation skills and are good at discussing and debating.

In contrast, Japanese communication relies heavily on non-verbals.  Words are important, but so are body language, gestures, tone of voice, facial expressions, posture, and “non-word sounds” such as the hissing sound that Japanese often make when confronted with an unappealing proposal or situation.  Japanese speak of haragei, the art of silently communicating “belly to belly,” through intuition rather than with words.  Although the adage “silence is golden” is seldom heard in the U.S. today, it is still in common use in Japan.

One reason that Japanese are able to rely more heavily on non-verbals for their communication is due to what scholars refer to as a high degree of shared context (background information).  For example, think of the communication style between you and your spouse, or between your parents.  One raised eyebrow can clearly say “You forgot to take out the garbage,” and a certain tone of voice can communicate volumes.  This is classic high context communication that needs only a minimum of words in order to get the message across.  Japanese tend to have this style of communication in general, with everyone, not just their spouses.  The high degree of homogeneity of Japanese culture fosters this, as well as the long-term working relationships between employees that occur as a result of the lifetime employment custom.

Japanese often describe this communication style as ichi ieba ju wakaru (hear one, understand ten).  The idea is that when the speaker says 10%, the listener will be able to figure out the other 90% on the basis of the non-verbals and the shared context.  For the American used to hearing all ten from the speaker (if not 11 or 12!), this communication style can be puzzling, and is easily misunderstood as the active withholding of information.

In order to bridge this gap, Japanese need to become adept at expressly stating more than 10%.  This is difficult because it means breaking culturally ingrained habits, but is essential in order to communicate effectively with American colleagues.  Cross-cultural training seminars can help Japanese learn this skill.  On the other hand, Americans can learn to draw out their Japanese colleagues, gently prodding them to give further explanations and information.  This means asking effective follow-up questions after a Japanese colleague has given you the first 10%.  For example, “Please give me some more information about this,”  “I would like to know more background about this,” “Just to check to make sure I understood you completely, you would like. me to..?,” “Is there anything else I should know about?,” “Do you have any advice for me about this?,” “Please help me understand why this is important,” and “Please explain more about the situation”   If no such follow-up questions are asked, Japanese will tend to assume that you have grasped the other 90%; you need to signal if you want further information.  If such questions are asked in a non-confrontational manner, they will not reflect poorly on you in the eyes of your Japanese colleague.