The Japanese also have a strong sense of gratitude and obligation to those who do favors for them. .
Understanding religion is also essential to understanding culture in Japan. Religions include Shinto, Buddhism, Taoism, and Christianity. Confucianism is a philosophy that is profoundly practiced. Although it is not a religion, it is adhered to with high regard. Confucianism can be summarized as:.
. .a practical code of conduct to follow in everyday life [and] a manual for managing human relationships harmoniously. One core rule acknowledges that there are superiors and inferiors and states that superiors must act with virtue and inferiors must obey their superiors. One should be dutiful towards one's parents and elders, reciprocal in one's obligations, respectful of human dignity, and fair towards all. Confucianism inculcates servility, frugality, abstinence, and diligence. It recognizes hard work, patriarchal leadership, entrepreneurial spirit, and familial devotion (Irwin 45).
This quote most accurately summarizes the Japanese culture. As you can already tell, a culture with devotion such as this is bound to be fruitful in business. The Japanese pride themselves on their uniqueness. This is a culture to be admired and respected. Later we will see how all of these cultural aspects affect business communications in Japan.
We will be going into more depth on Japanese business etiquette later but an under-standing of general etiquette will be necessary for all visits you may make to Japan. Since humility is a very important virtue to the Japanese, you should expect that when you compliment someone, they will often times not say anything in return. This is the Japanese way of showing that they may be unworthy of such praise. Conversations may seem awkward in Japan. You should rarely ever initiate a conversation. It is best to wait for someone to speak to you first. You may also be surprised by some of the questions the Japanese ask.