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Review focus: Shinyo, absolute trust, feudal age, japanese society, behavior, business relationships, personal considerations
Asian Business Code Words Index NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company Asian Business Strategy & Street Intelligence Ezine
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During Japan's long feudal age, which began with the ascendancy of the samurai warrior clans near the end of the 12th century and did not really end until 1945, shinyo (sheen-yoe), or trust in relationship between individuals and among groups, was a very serious matter. Japanese society was arranged in vertically-structured, exclusive groups that competed in a variety of ways with all other groups. Loyalty to one's group was a prime directive. Survival depended upon having the trust and goodwill of fellow group members. Shinyo was not easy to achieve in feudal Japan. It developed slowly over a long period of self-sacrifice and service to the group, and had to be constantly reinforced. Even a minor slip was enough to destroy years of effort which, therefore became a vital part of the daily lives of the people. Much of the behavior of present-day Japanese continues to be based on the development and nurturing of a kind and degree of trust that transcends selfish interest and puts the good of the group above the individual. It is the kind of trust that makes it possible for the soft-drink industry to put hundreds of thousands of vending machines out in the open, unprotected, and know that they will not be vandalized. It is the kind of trust that makes it possible for businessmen to engage in business with each other without written contracts and know that no one will take advantage of them. It is also the kind of trust that Japanese want and need to develop with foreigners before doing business with them. Americans, in particular, are inclined to separate business and personal considerations. We think more in terms of the product and the price, and presume that their acceptability is all that is necessary to establish a business relationship. While the process of developing personal ties with a Japanese company is usually drawn-out and costly, it is vital that such relationships be established because the Japanese are not under any social or ethical restraints to treat outside parties fairly if they do not have close personal relationship with them. Generally speaking, all relationships in Japan - business, political and professional - are based on personal considerations, not on principles or the kind of objective reasoning preferred by Westerners - and this is the main reason why lawyers are not nearly as common in Japan as they are in the U.S. Traditionally, business arrangements in Japan were based on verbal commitments backed by trust and loyalty, which, unlike detailed contracts, allows for considerable flexibility in their interpretation and management as circumstances change. Until this fact is recognized and understood, the Westerner attempting to do business in japan is at a bad disadvantage. In some respects, Western businessmen dealing with Japanese have gone from taking a superior approach to taking a supplicant approach. The Japanese abhor both. The superior approach clashes with Japanese businessmen's concepts of themselves and others. The supplicant approach offends their sense of pride in strength, dignity and courage. Weakness in an adversary or competitor does not bring out compassion in the Japanese. It encourages them to more vigorous action.
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Boye Lafayette de Mente is one of our regular monthly columnists at the 
| This month's column is excerpted from Dictionary of Japan's Cultural Code Words, by Boye Lafayette De Mente available from NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company |
© Boye Lafayette De Mente & the Asia Pacific Management Forum 1999
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