This post is also available in: JapaneseAlthough President of the International Olympic Committee Thomas Bach kept reiterating that the Tokyo Olympics would go ahead in 2021 when he visited Japan recently, it’s hard to see how Japan will deliver on the promise it made when it won the Olympics bid, of omotenashi (wholehearted hospitality), if…

This post is also available in: JapaneseMany Japanese companies have a Medium Term Plan, usually covering three years, announced by incoming Presidents, with a second one issued half way through their 6 year term. It is sometimes translated into English, but often in a way that does not resonate with employees outside Japan.  This lack…

This post is also available in: JapaneseFrom time to time clients have requested that I show videos in my seminars for Europeans on how to work with Japanese counterparts.  I usually try to dissuade them from this. Partly because the technology never works well – I either have to try to get a DVD player…

This post is also available in: JapaneseI am asked a variant of this question, several times a year, by Western companies with sales subsidiaries in Japan.  They may not say “useless” as such, rather complain about the passivity, and lack of interest in trying something new in their Japanese team. The Western managers feel obliged…

This post is also available in: JapaneseI occasionally buy objects in local antiques shops which are a hybrid of Japanese and British design and manufacturing. Most of these date from the late 19th or early 20th century when Japonaiserie was at its peak in Europe. Last year I bought a milk jug decorated with a…

This post is also available in: JapaneseMany Japanese companies such as Hitachi and Fujitsu are introducing a “job-type” (job-kei in Japanese) system. The term “job-type” will not be familiar to Europeans, so we will draw on a series in the Nikkei Business  to explain the background to this change. It’s common practice in Japan to…