Business Japan: A Practical Guide to Understanding Japanese Business Culture [Paperback]

Peggy Kenna (Author), Sondra Lacy (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1994

Business people around the world conduct business in different ways. Understanding these differences can be the key to building better business relationships. BUSINESS JAPAN offers a smooth and problem-free transition between the American and Japanese business cultures. Its concise, at-a-glance comparison of business styles, practices, and social customs will help you succeed in the Japanese business community.

Product Details

• Paperback: 55 pages
• Publisher: Ntc Pub Group (March 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0844235520
• ISBN-13: 978-0844235523
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.1 x 0.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,640,713 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Aweful, pathetic, very short and waste of money, May 6, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Business Japan: A Practical Guide to Understanding Japanese Business Culture (Paperback)

When you order this paperback and it arrives you see that it is only 53 pages. Now that may sound like a lot, but some pages have as little as 4 sentences. (Page 18 may have the record with 3 whole sentences on it.) The book is small and the print is very large. The first seven pages are generic introduction about business today without reference to Japan. The has about a dozen phrases in Japanese (goodbye is sayonara). No mention is made of things like gift-giving, how to exchange cards, tact, norms in socializing, when/if to bow, much about proper ettiquete, etc. Other books tout authors that have lived in Japan and worked with the Japanese for many years. Curiously, the bios of these authors make no mention of either having any experience in Japan what-so-ever or even having visited there. I could write this book based on one two-week visit or a quick read of any other book out there.

Seven bucks for something anyone visiting Japan could write in a few hours.

The other book I got for my visit to Japan (by Rowland) was a dense 300 or so pages with glossary, and dozens and dozens of contacts in Japan and the U.S. and advice on every conceivable subject.

I would advice you to get another book. There must be others.

I feel incredibly and utterly robbed.

5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a true gem, March 15, 2000

By 

Tom Potocki <[e-mail]> (Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Business Japan: A Practical Guide to Understanding Japanese Business Culture (Paperback)

I am a consultant helping US companies enter the Japanese market. Often, I am asked to recommend a book. This tiny book (paperback - 55 pages!) is one of the best presentations of the crucial cultural differences between Japanese and American business cultures. Its size is perfect for two purposes: slipping into your hip-pocket for quick referencewhile on the road (I can imagine its user excusing himself from a business meeting for a quick reference to the booklet in the bathroom stall: "he closed his eyes and smiled while listening to me! what does it mean?") and for rote memorization. In fact, memorizing its central chapters (Understanding Japanese Culture, Japanese Business Etiquette, and Japanese Gestures) is probably its best single use. The weakness of the book lies in its brevity: its ratio of meaning to words is very high and there are no illustrations or examples at all, making it very likely that the reader will miss something very important. The best way to deal with this risk, I think, is to read it over and over and to think very intensely about every sentence in those three chapters. Its second shortcoming from the point of view of our visitors is that the book contains no advice on how to enter the market and how to solve practical problems. Why that should be is easy to understand: the books aim is to help dispel misunderstandings and prevent cultural gaffes. And this aim it achieves superbly. At its price the book's well worth every penny.