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Review focus: traditional culture, japaneselike, acceptability, conforming, society, nihonteki,
Asian Business Code Words Index NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company Asian Business Strategy & Street Intelligence Ezine
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Japan's traditional culture was both distinctive and exclusive to the point that anybody or anything that was not pure Japanese was as conspicuous to a Japanese as black on white. Virtually all Japanese eventually became so discriminating that the slightest variation from a very narrow norm in appearance and behavior was considered un-Japanese and not acceptable. This built-in discrimination became as essential element in the Japanese concept of their own identity. Anyone who did not demonstrate the element to the proper degree was no longer considered to be truly Japanese. Generally speaking, Japanese were conditioned to reject foreign philosophies and morality offhandedly, and anything foreign had to be Japanized before it could be accepted. This conditioning in exclusivity and discrimination has been steadily diminishing for more than a hundred years, but it was such a deeply integrated part of Japan's traditional culture for so long that it continues to prevail among most Japanese. Still today, there are probably no more discriminating people on earth than the Japanese. They automatically distinguish between what is foreign, what is Japanese, and what is Nihonteki (nee-hoan-tay-kee). Nihon means "Japan". Teki has the meaning of "suitable, fit, compatible, conforming to" or "similar to". When combined, the compound can be translated as "Japaneselike". Since the reopening of Japan to the outside world in the 1850s and 1860s, the Japanese have used the Nihonteki rationale to adopt a wide variety of foreign attitudes, behavior, customs, and things by the simple process of Japanizing them. And herein lies the source of much of the friction that continues to exist between Japan and the outside world. Outsiders too often presume that because the Japanese have adopted so many Western ways, they think and behave like Westerners. Such is almost never the case. The point is that all of the Western ways that the Japanese have adopted are no longer purely Western. They have become Nihonteki, with their own special Japanese nuances. They may look the same to Westerners, but they are not. They have been Japanized. American companies in particular were slow in picking up on the need to make their products Nihonteki before they tried to export them to Japan. It was well into the 1980s before this message finally got through. Americans were even slower in picking up on the idea that the image the Japanese have of a product regarding quality, value, and the manufacturer begins with the packaging. The higher the market end a product is aimed at, the more its packaging must qualify in terms of material, design, and printing. Indeed, there have been many occasions in the past when foreign shoppers in Japan valued packaging or container more than the product they bought. Determining when something is Japanese or Nihonteki enough to be accepted in Japan requires a level of exposure to Japanese culture that eliminates virtually all foreigners who have not lived in the country for many years or who have not become sensitized to the subtle signs and nuances of the necessary Japanese-ness. Merely living in Japan is not enough to give one a sense of Nihonteki. It is a level of awareness and insight that must be deliberately pursued and must cover the whole of Japanese aesthetics. Such words as shibui (she-booey), "restrained, refined"; wabi (wah-bee), "simple, quiet, tranquil"; sabi (sah-bee), literally "rust", but referring to the beauty of age; and yugen (yuu-gane), "mystery" or "subtlety", are keys to this understanding. In fact, there is no way that one could possibly understand Japanese aesthetics without a full grasp of the meanings and uses of these terms. Among other things, these words refer to elements that make up Nihonteki, and as such are the foundation of all Japanese arts and crafts, including architecture, gardening, and all other genres for which Japan is known overseas, from kabuki and noh to flower arranging and woodblock prints. Even Western products that have been accepted by Japanese consumers without any changes - and there have been some - have a different image when viewed by the Japanese. Any company contemplating exporting a consumer product to Japan should be aware of the Nihonteki factor and should try to make sure that the product "fits" the Japanese image of product correctness.
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Boye Lafayette de Mente is one of our regular monthly columnists at the 
| This month's column is excerpted from NTC's Dictionary of Japan's Business Code Words, by Boye Lafayette De Mente available from NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company |
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