are generally chosen because they know both parties in a situation and are trusted by both sides, or they have a public reputation as a skilled go-between who can be trusted to be impartial and fair to both parties. Chukaisha are also retained to initiate and help establish new relationships between companies and other types of organizations. In this case, an experienced chukaisha is far superior to a shōkai-jō. Again, chukaisha play critical roles in situations where there is a major conflict between two parties because the Japanese will always opt for mediation over litigation.
The Indispensable Business Card
名刺 Meishi (may-she)
The first use of meishi—name cards or business cards—was apparently in China, when eunuchs serving at the Imperial Court began using them more than 1,000 years ago. Their cards were large in size and came in bright colors… and the original Chinese ideograms used to write meishi meant “Famous Gentleman.”
Meishi were introduced to the emperor’s court in Japan soon thereafter but they did not become common until well after the fall of the Tokugawa shogunate government in 1868. Now, it is commonly said in Japan that you are nobody if you don’t have a name or business card. It goes without saying that foreigners doing business in Japan [and in some cases ordinary visitors to Japan] should have business cards—and they should be bilingual; Japanese on one side and the bearer’s native language on the other side.
The manner of presenting business cards in Japan is now much less formal than it used to be [using both hands and bowing slightly], but it pays to be a little formal, and if you are going to be engaging in sit-down discussions after the card exchange, put the ones you received on the table in front of you so you can refer to them during the proceedings. In Japanese, exchanging name cards is 名刺交換 meishi kokan (may-she koh-kahn).
[A growing number of people in sales positions in Japan now put their photographs on their name cards—a custom this writer originated in the early 1960s.]
The Indispensable Greeting Ritual
挨拶 Aisatsu (aye-sot-sue)
The literally meaning of aisatsu is “greeting,” but its cultural nuances and uses go far beyond the connotations of this English word. Aisatsu incorporates the behavior that is a key part of the foundation of the culturally approved interpersonal relationships of the Japanese, including the hierarchical [senior-junior] status of individuals, the obligations that one owes to others, and the process of sustaining and nurturing relationships.
All Japanese are obligated to pay aisatsu visits to people who have helped them in the past to express their thanks and appreciation, and particularly when they want to ensure that they continue to benefit from the goodwill and help of the individuals concerned. In the business world, aisatsu visits to customers, potential customers, suppliers, etc., are a vital part of keeping the relationships on track.
There are many congratulatory-type occasions when aisatsu are called for, from managerial promotions to the introduction of new products. The period between about the 4th and 7th of January each year could be called “Aisatsu Season,” because that is the period when people as a whole— especially businesspeople—pay their respects to benefactors.
When an aisatsu visit involves a middle or senior manager or executive, appointments are advisable because they normally receive many visitors during this New Year’s period.
Top Man in a Department
部長 Buchō (buu-chohh)
Bu (buu) means department or division, and cho (chohh) means “the chief” or “the head.” Buchō therefore means department chief or division chief. [The terms department and division may be interchangeable in smaller companies and organizations, but the larger the group the more likely it may be referred to as a division.]
In any event, the buchō in Japanese companies is an important individual, and in larger organizations may be comparable to a vice-president in Western terminology. In military terms, buchō are the equivalent of company commanders in smaller organizations and battalion commanders in larger firms. They are the front-line managers in the operation of the company, and it is therefore vital for outsiders wanting to do business with a Japanese company, or already doing business with a firm, to establish and sustain a close relationship with all of the buchō in the firm who have anything to do with the product or service involved.
Another reason why it is important for foreign businesspeople to build and nurture close relations with department managers is that some of them will move up in the company hierarchy and become directors. Traditional etiquette calls for people doing business with a company to pay courtesy visits to key buchō every other month or so—not to talk business but to show their face.
Key Man in a Section
課長 Kachō(kah-chohh)
Departments (and smaller divisions) in Japanese companies are made up of several ka (kah) or sections, consisting of as few as six or eight individuals to as many as two or three dozen. The head or chief of a section is a kachō. Again using military terms, a kachō is like a squad leader… and in business in Japan as in war it is the kachō who are on the frontlines, who, in fact, oversee virtually all of the administrative work that is done in companies.
The directors, the vice-presidents and the buchō in Japanese companies play important roles, but it is the kachō who see that the work gets done. It is therefore vital for foreigners who want to do business with or are already doing business with Japanese companies to develop and maintain close relations with all of the kachō concerned with the product or service. They can determine if a project succeeds or fails.
Part of the etiquette of developing and nurturing good relations with section chiefs is to invite them and one or two of their top staff out for an evening of drinking and dining. In the natural order of things they will one day become a buchō and it pays to have had good relations with them for several years.
“Root Talk” in a Japanese Company
根回し Nemawashi (nay-mah-wah-she)
The literal meaning of nemawashi is “revolving or turning the roots” of a plant being transplanted. As is well-known the roots of a plant in a box or pot become balled up as the plant grows. In the transplanting process the roots must be spread out for the plant to grow properly.
This concept has become a key word in Japan’s business vocabulary, referring to the details of a newly proposed project or relationship with another company being spread out among individuals in the company for them to discuss; and to the “lobbying” actions of individuals within companies who are advocating or opposing something. New projects proposed by outsiders invariably go through the nemawashi process.
The possibility of a project being accepted can be significantly enhanced by the person who proposed the project doing some nemawashi of his or her own with individuals in the company who would be responsible for its implementation—the buchō and the kachō. The etiquette—or process if you will—of developing a relationship with Japanese companies invariably includes a period of internal nemawashi that can take from weeks to months.
The Imperative of Trust
信用 Shin’yō (sheen-yohh)
In pre-modern Japan there was no body of laws that established or controlled business practices similar to what we are now familiar with. The national laws that did exist were decreed by the shogunate government and were primarily designed to ensure the survival of the government and the feudal system of fiefs and lords.
Fiefs, however, did have a system of laws the pertained to business, but in both essence and practice business relationships in Japan were based on shin’yō, or “trust,” between the parties concerned.
Since the only thing that the parties could depend upon was unqualified trust, developing the feelings of trust to the point that the parties were bonded was a lengthy and detailed process.
Still today Japanese businesspeople are more concerned with shin’yō than with laws, and establishing an acceptable