Customer Reviews

How to Work for a Japanese Boss

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The book itself is funny and insightful, and filled to the brim with notable faux pas committed by foreigners, particularly Americans, when working with or for the Japanese. While there is a certain amount of over-emphasis on the old stand-bys often associated with doing business with the Japanese, such as punctuality, bowing, and the appropriate way to dole out meishi, there are a few kernels of useful knowledge that are at once interesting, practical and effective. Each chapter is structured to give the reader some interesting facts upfront, the bad news on Japanese business and cultural practices, and finally an example, either real or imagined, of just how beneficial some Japanese managerial and cultural practices can be. A thoughtful and intelligently laid out glossary of key Japanese terms, along with a very useful bibliography for further reading, is included at the end of the book.

Some of the concepts from the book, such as apprenticeship and observational research, not only comprise very important aspects of Japanese culture, but also resonate with my own observations and experiences living and working with the Japanese. Finally, apart from the more interesting and colorful cultural and historical tidbits, the most important concept that I took from the book was the Japanese emphasis on non-verbal communication, and ambiguous, indirect speech. For many non-Japanese not of Asian heritage, this de-emphasizing of non-verbal communication can be quite daunting to comprehend and ultimately master.

After reading this book, I came to understand the importance of playing to Japanese strengths and matching my interests with Japanese needs and strengths. Working for a Japanese boss means emphasizing teamwork and group loyalty over individual accomplishment, and adroitly implementing your qualifications and expertise wherever appropriate as opposed to banking off of your experience, rank and seniority in the company. In short, the requirements for success when working for a Japanese boss are the same as those needed to work well with an American boss. Increasingly, your performance and results matter more, on both sides of the Pacific, than your willingness to work hard, which by now is a given in both Japan and the US. Those looking to work well with the Japanese must learn to pay very close attention to not only themselves, but also their surroundings in a way that is different from what they are accustomed to at home.

Written at the height of mass hysteria and public paranoia towards Japanese corporate influence, the book portrays an influential Japanese presence in America with exasperated resignation and tries to offer its readers keys to landing good paying jobs with the Japanese. That said, the reader should bear in mind that attitudes and behaviors have changed drastically on both sides of the Pacific in the twelve years since this book was published. Moreover, chapters such as `Sex and the Japanese Salaryman' are clearly thrown in to make the book more commercial, and other chapters, such as "Why Women Are Over the Hill and Out of the Door by Thirty', clearly are playing to the author's and the public's pre-conceived and antiquated notions of Japanese business. Chapters such as these, while marginally informative, attest to the dated nature of the text and essentially serve to simultaneously entertain the reader and stoke the flames of an already biased public. As such, this book occupies the opposite extreme of those books lauding everything Japanese, such as Ezra Vogel's Japan as Number One, and ultimately does little to present the inquisitive reader with a clear, balanced representation of the Japanese people. The book would have been much stronger if some Japanese perspectives, particularly those of Japanese bosses, were included alongside those of American workers. If one really wanted to know how to work for a Japanese boss, then it stands to reason that one would rely heavily on the information and experiences of Japanese bosses who have managed non-Japanese personnel and firms outside of Japan. Instead, this book gives the reader copious anecdotal experiences from American employees of Japanese companies.

Nonetheless, the United States still is at the center of global trade, finance, and economy, and the specter of imminent and inevitable Japanese corporate rule is nothing more than a dim flight of fancy. Overall this book is better than most that I have read on the subject. In conclusion, given the unfolding events of the last decade, Ms. Bacarr would do well to write a similar text for the now economically insecure and lay-off threatened Japanese employee entitled `How to Work for an American Boss'.

If your new to Japanese culture, you might like this book. Lots of musings about all different aspects of Japanese work culture. The problem is, a lot of it has nothing to do with what the title suggests, such as AIDS in Japan, contraception in Japan, how prejudiced the Japanese can be, you name it, the author covered it. Even the Nan King massacre is brought up. For you Japan hands, this title will provide little that is new. The book was written at the time Japan was at it's economic peak, before the bubble burst and before the 10 year long recession. Because of that, there are a lot of assumptions regarding how powerful Japan was/is going to be in the year 2000, predictions that really didn't come true. Lastly, after reading the book, if it was your intention to work for a Japanese company, you're sure not going to want to after you read this, especially if you are a woman or do not like the idea of working six days a week.