The Seven Keys to Communicating in Japan Quotes

“Are you OK with this?”
― Haru Yamada, The Seven Keys to Communicating in Japan: An Intercultural Approach

“haragei may be viewed as gut feelings or intuitive communication, which the Japanese often idealize as purer forms of human feelings when compared with thought-up rational speech or critical expressions. Like a silent tête-à-tête, then, the goal for haragei silent communicators is to practice a-un-no-kokyū, or a-un breathing, a kind of scripted dialogue where one person inhales the first sound of a Buddhist incantation, “a,” and another knows to exhale and respond with the last sound, “un.” Continuing in iterations of perfect synergy, such a romanticized ancient worldview features people who know each other so well that words are human-made trivia that could even be deceptive and therefore potentially divisive. From the Japanese perspective, silent communication unites.”
― Haru Yamada, The Seven Keys to Communicating in Japan: An Intercultural Approach