A monthly column from the Asia Pacific Management Forum
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Review focus: The Japanese habit of praising indiscriminately no doubt grew out of a social etiquette that demanded that people stay on good terms with superiors.
Asian Business Code Words Index NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company Asian Business Strategy and Street Intelligence Ezine
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The grand opening ceremony of an American company's marketing operation in Japan, held at the huge Events Hall in Makuhari on the outskirts of Tokyo, was a conspicuous example of the ongoing cultural differences that separate and often confuse Japanese and Western businessmen. The Americans chose to emulate a rock concert, with an elaborate production of laser lights and loud music accompanying the introduction of the president and vice-president of the American firm. In keeping with this approach, the Japanese master of ceremonies shouted out his lines with all the bombast of a circus announcer - all behavior that was totally alien and inappropriate to the Japanese. The president and vice-president of the American company made speeches in English that were translated into Japanese. Both of the VIP visitors incorporated short Japanese phrases into their talks in a common practice that can add a nice tough if the phrases are appropriate and the speaker pronounces then well enough that they can be understood. In this case, neither of the speakers did well at pronouncing the Japanese words they used, and one of them really butchered the expression he chose: yoroshiku onegaishimasu (yoe-row-she-kuu oh-nay-gut-she-mahss). This is an institutionalized and very important expression that means something like, "please...," "please take care of it," "I leave things in your hands," "I ask your indulgence," or "I ask for your support." Yet the master of ceremonies heaped loud praise on the visitors' "beautiful Japanese". The behavior of the MC was not an isolated incident. It was, instead, symptomatic of a deeply ingrained Japanese habit of praising people for actions or accomplishments that are totally undeserving of any accolade. Foreigners who manage to use chopsticks well enough to get a few tidbits of food into their mouths are praised effusively. Being able to actually pronounce a few words in Japanese invariably elicits high praise. The Japanese habit of praising indiscriminately no doubt grew out of a social etiquette that demanded that people stay on good terms with superiors by strictly avoiding any words or behavior that might be construed as criticism or arrogance and by the need to maintain a careful harmony by following an extraordinarily strict code of politeness. Japan's samurai warriors, who were the arbiters of acceptable manners for some seven hundred years, played a key role in conditioning the Japanese to compliment rather than criticize. Not only were they severe taskmasters in their own standards of behavior, they demanded as much from commoners as well. Punishment for those who offended them was sure and sometimes fatal. During this long warrior-dominated feudal age, it paid to polish everyone's apple, regardless of how rotten it might be, and the custom eventually became so ingrained that it was done automatically on every level of society. One of the special words that came into use during this period to describe unwarranted praise was odateru (oh-dah-tay-rue), which literally means "to flatter," "to butter up," and even "cajole" and "wheedle." The Japanese still habitually use the odateru technique in all of their relationships and are extremely sensitive to this deeply ingrained form of behavior. Professionals, in particular, are accustomed to being buoyed up by a constant flow of odate (oh-dah-tay), or "flattery," from outsiders, their clients, and junior associates. Foreigners working in Japanese companies often have an especially hard time because they are either not familiar with this buttering up syndrome or its importance, or they downplay it or ignore it altogether. More traditionally minded Japanese consider failure to follow this custom a serious transgression, marking one as insincere, selfish, and arrogant.
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Boye Lafayette de Mente is one of our regular monthly columnists at the 
| This month's column is excerpted from Japan's Business Code Words, by Boye Lafayette De Mente available from NTC/Contemporary Publishing Company |
© Boye Lafayette De Mente & the Asia Pacific Management Forum 2002