Business Guide to Japan: Opening Doors...and Closing Deals! A Quick Guide

by Boyé Lafayette De Mente

Everything you need to know to win at the business game in Japan is explained in this no-nonsense guide. Learn how to penetrate company bureaucracy, how to read the subtle signals of "belly talk", how to win the name-card game and how to master the art of business at night. Here are all the practical tips and insider's hints you need to come out on top in your dealings with the Japanese.

Genres: Japan

176 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Boyé Lafayette De Mente was an author, journalist, and adventurer. He wrote more than 100 books, most of them about the culture and language of Japan, East Asia, and Mexico.

De Mente joined the U.S. Navy and began his career as a cryptographer based in Washington, D.C. In 1948, he joined the U.S. Army Security Agency and was a decoding technician stationed in Tokyo. While there, he he founded and edited the agency's newspaper, The ASA Star.

De Mente wrote the first English guides to the Japanese way of doing business ("Japanese Etiquette and Ethics in Business" in 1959 and "How to Do Business in Japan" in 1962). His other books run the gamut from language learning to the night-time "pink" trades in Japan, the sensual nature of Oriental cultures, male-female relations, and understanding and coping with the Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Mexican mindset in business and social situations. He has also written extensively about Mexico and his home state of Arizona.

Reviews

[Books on Asia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This may be an old book but most of it still rings true today. With the exception of start-ups and new companies like Rakuten, Uniqlo or Livedoor, staid Japanese companies like Sony, Panasonic and Honda still basically do business the same as they always have. It's the difference between Goodyear and Apple Inc. In addition, if you find yourself having to deal with businesses connected to government, or smaller companies outside of Tokyo, the traditional way of Japanese business still reigns. I've heard time and again how the young people are going to change the way things are done, but what I've noticed is that while Japan's youth are great at dictating consumer demand while they're young, once they get into jobs at regular companies, they quickly turn into salarymen and office ladies because once they've entered a company, they've lost all their power and are starting again at the bottom. Eventually, the young become old and do the same things their superiors have taught them to do. And the reason things haven't changed that much in Japan is probably because the current system works for them. Which brings us to this book which covers the basics of doing business with the Japanese. It can't hurt to give it a read and serious consideration before getting into any kind of negotiations with the Japanese. Even if you find the current business situation different from that in the book, you'll be better prepared knowing the rules of the past, should they pop up in the future.

[Stephen Masters · Rating 5 out of 5]

This turned out to be a really good book on corporate Japan.

I've already known many things from this book, but what makes it good is how genuine the words of the author feel. Everything seems to come from personal experience, and there is a strong feeling of author trying to dig through to all of the details of how the society and the corporate world work.

[Ana Maria · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tiene algunas buenas referencias básicas para hacer negocios en Japón, pero muchas ya son pasadas, habrá que actualizarlo a los nuevos tiempos.