<p>Tomorrow I am meeting my customers from Japan for the first time. They are all men. Any advice to help me avoid any big blunders would be appreciated. We are not dining. They will be coming to the office. There will be a translator.</p>
<p>Just be polite as usual - they’re used to dealing with people from other countries. One thing the Japanese like to do is trade business cards as introductions are made. This helps them and you with actually understanding what their names are as well as what their titles and relative ranks are. Many that I meet with also like to sometimes pause and speak with each other in Japanese. This is normal and they’re not trying to be rude - it’s just that they can discuss and understand things better with each other in Japanese. When you speak to them, try to avoid big words, speaking too fast, and try to confirm that they really understood what you said. This sometimes takes you querying them as to whether they understand what you say. Sometimes you can tell by reading their faces. A simple nod from them doesn’t mean they understood you - only that they heard you.</p>
<p>Rule #1: When exchanging business cards, take a minute or two to look at both sides of the card you were just handed. Simply shoving it into your pocket or tossing on the meeting table is considered rude…</p>
<p>Edit: If the translator is provided by your company and s/he is available for a short meeting before your clients’ visit, s/he may be able to provide some culture-specific points.</p>
<p>Wow. Thank you, thank you. I had no idea about the business cards and I really appreciate the time you took to respond. Thank you for the hint to not take the nod as an affirmation. That could be bad.</p>
<p>Am curious: What’s the correct business greeting between adult men now, a handshake or quick bow of the head, or both? And for women? Men/women?</p>
<p>This is about children, not adults, but am just adding what I know (slightly off topic) in case it reminds anyone of anything else to tell the OP. When trained as an elementary teacher, we were told emphatically not to touch the heads or shoulders of any Asian kids because it is considered by some as a sacred space not to be touched, especially the head. This whole business of pat-pat on a little kid’s head is not good for Asian kids new to the country. </p>
<p>As well, we were told to have different expectations of eye contact. WesternTeachers always want kids to “look them in the eye” but Asian kids are taught that is incredibly rude to stare at an adult right in the eye, so they look aside in deference to an elder. If the teacher is poorly informed, she starts saying, “look me in the eye” and forces the issue, very bad for the kid.
How then can he be respectful to adults?</p>
<p>Offer your business card with both hands, gripping the top corners with the thumb and forefinger of each hand with the writing turned toward the recipient. Similarly accept their business cards with both hands, and as BunsenBurner said, treat them carefully and with respect.</p>
<p>One thing to remember is that in Japanese society no two people are of equal social status. Every individual is either higher or lower than every other individual. And part of the ritual around the exchange of business cards is to determine how everybody ranks. Until the hierarchy is clear, Japanese usually are somewhat uncomfortable - not knowing who should go through doors first or how low to bow, etc. (the lower ranked person will bow to a lower angle than will the higher ranked person).</p>
<p>[Meishi</a> - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meishi]Meishi”>Business card - Wikipedia)</p>
<p>I just shake hands. They shake hands and sometimes do a head nod to slight bow. This is for meetings in the US. Most of the Japanese businessmen I meet with have traveled here before and know the score - that we have different customs than them. They don’t get offended by us not acting just as they would to each other in Japan.</p>
<p>Another curious custom - depending on the type of meeting and who’s there, it’s not unusual for the Japanese person to bring a small gift for you or certain other people they meet with. I just smile and thank them when they’ve done this. They already realize that you won’t have one to give them in return so don’t worry about that.</p>
<p>We’ve had some Japanese exchange students stay with us and you can’t believe how big a deal this bringing a gift with you on a trip is. Before returning to Japan they loaded up with the weirdest ‘gift’ items - like toothpaste and other things that would never occur to us to use as a gift. They seem to bring something back for everyone.</p>
<p>The shaking of hands reminds me of a Seinfeld episode where the guy sneezed into his hand just before the Japanese executive arrived thereby he didn’t do the handshake thereby the Japanese executive took offense and stormed out.</p>
<p>I once taught English at a Japanese factory. You bring back some memories.
All I can add is expect some miscommunications, possible awkwardness, misreading eachother. IMO the Japanese are very much concerned about being polite, and may say what they think you want to hear–and not their actual opinion. They would probably not admit that they don’t understand something.
I assume you are seeing your customers in the U.S.–they would expect to shake hands here since that is our custom.</p>
<p>Isn’t there also a big emphasis in Japan on “saving face”? Yet, I’m not sure how to translate that into guidance for content of a meeting, being direct versus side-stepping any criticism, and so on. </p>
<p>Is face saving actually a big theme, and if so how might it manifest itself during a typical business meeting?</p>
<p>Another thing - visuals help a lot. If you’re trying to discuss something with them it’s helpful to have a prepared powerpoint and/or a whiteboard available. Diagrams help.</p>
<p>Thanks again. Yes, the meeting is here in the states. So I can assume hand shakes and an exchange of business cards. Quite the dance between being polite and sharing honest evaluations…a very fine line.I will lean towards polite for now 
I certainly have found out that in general my clients are very detail oriented. The more the better. Thanks UCSD, I will pull out some charts and pictures. Obviously this is new ground for me.</p>
<p>I notice that some people, when not understood due to language, repeat but raise their voice louder. That’s gotta be wrong. Keep voice volume steady.</p>
<p>Be very careful with language - the response to “Don’t you like this?” will be quite different from “Do you like this?”</p>
<p>I have had business dealings with the Japanese for the past 25 years and certain rules apply whether you meet them in Japan or the US. </p>
<ol>
<li>All major decisions are reached by consensus. This means negotiations take a long time. So be patient and be prepared, because your counterparts certainly will be.</li>
<li> The corollary to 1. is that once they reach a decision they stick to it through thick and thin. They are extremely loyal to their business partners and won’t drop you just because they found a better deal elsewhere.<br></li>
<li>Often the true decision maker just sits and listens while the underlings do most of the talking. Don’t assume the person you interact with has any decision making power. Most likely he is just the one who speaks English the best. The real decision maker is generally the older guy sitting in the corner seemingly asleep from jet lag who does not speak a word of English. </li>
<li> If a Japanse says Yes in a meeting, it does not mean they agree with you. It simply is a polite way to say they understand what you say. It is more like “I see, I see”. They could still disagree with every one of your statements but it would be extremely unusual for them to raise a lot of objections right away. If there are disagreements it may take some time for the real issues to surface. </li>
<li>Since you are female, don’t be offended if they turn to your male colleagues assuming they are the real decision makers. Female managers are still rare in Japan and the truly good ones work for foreign companies. </li>
<li> The Japanese like to conduct business while socializing which can make it difficult for business women at times. Most Japanese don’t go home until late in the evening after hours of eating, drinking, Karaoke singing with business associates. Try to plan something for the evening and not just leave them at their hotel at 6 PM, especially if they are not frequently in the US.<br></li>
<li> Don’t be surprised if they ask a lot of personal questions. It is simply that they trust people more than they trust contracts. They will want to know if they can rely on you and the members of your team and it is more than just superficial. They want to assess how committed you are to the relationship if things don’t go exactly as planned. (And they never do.)</li>
</ol>
<p>There are lots of other useful tips but these are among the most important IMHO. In general, I have found my business experiences with the Japanese to be among the most satisfying and exciting. I hope you will as well.</p>
<p>I’ll second what was said above about Japanese business people in the US – just shake hands like you normally would. No American is ever going to understand how much to bow, to whom, and when. Don’t even try. You’ll do it wrong. It’s better to be what you are – and American in the US. If you pretend to be Japanese, it will go wrong. </p>
<p>When I was doing a lot of business with Japanese, I found that they preferred eye contact upon greeting, and the business card ritual is as written above.</p>
<p>As for talking, try to speak a little slowly and clearly. Don’t use colloquial expressions, and try to restrict yourself to standard English. </p>
<p>Other than that, I thought cellardweller and the others up there provided excellent advice.</p>
<p>Thank you to each and everyone of you for your time and wonderful advice. I knew none of the above and feel much more prepared to meet with our clients. I’ll let you know how it goes. Cellardweller: Thank you for the step by step tutorial and your time to share it. WashDad: “You’ll do it wrong” . Boy, isn’t that the truth! Coureur : Your staus comments will not go unheeded. Thanks for your helpful advice…</p>
<p>Go to this web page on Japanese protocol </p>
<p>[culturalsavvy.com</a> | Japanese Business Etiquette & Protocol](<a href=“http://www.culturalsavvy.com/jp_etiquette.htm]culturalsavvy.com”>Cross-cultural Training Japan - Working Effectively with Japanese)</p>
<p>Wow, you were all so on target it was like my meeting was scripted right here on CC. Shook hands, business cards exchanged as stated above. A small but very thoughtful gift was received and acknowledged. There was side dialogue between the Japanese group as stated and things went very slowly. Lots of head nodding and “yes,yes” I just felt so comfortable knowing that I had a heads up on the dynamics. Thank you again. </p>
<p>Tommybill: thanks for the link. Used it and gathered some additional great insights.</p>
<p>Year end bonus to you all!</p>
<p>Glad it went well…good luck in the future with them…</p>