ビジネス日本語講座

If you don’t work, you don’t eat. This phrase applies well to the Japanese workplace. The Japanese are very hard on people who are lazy. I thought about this while comparing it with the Thai workplace as well.

Optimal solution is the preferred term of many Japanese businessmen. Personally, I dislike this term, but it seems to be essential for analyzing Japanese companies and Japanese society.

Seniority is one of the hallmarks of employment practices in Japanese companies. If you move from job to job, you will be regarded as a person without guts in Japanese society. When considering a career, it is better to consider the characteristics of Japanese companies as well.

Leaving a company is an important event for a businessman. There is an old saying that ‘‘it’s an ill bird that fouls its own nest’’. In this episode I discuss an amicable resignation in a Japanese company.

Unfortunately there are companies in Japan that do not respect the human rights and dignity of their employees. Some companies require new employees to perform tricks in front of other employees at banquets. Please be careful when looking for a job in Japan.

The typical Japanese middle-aged salaryman is often eager to show off his knowledge on the job. Is this phenomenon seen anywhere in the world?

When you join a Japanese company, you may be asked to clean the office during working hours. Cleaning office is not your job, so you may be confused when you receive such an order. In this episode, I explain why Japanese managers are so eager to give unreasonable work orders to their employees.

Standard business etiquette exists in Japanese cooperate society. However, this is only a standard, and in reality, each company has its own unique business etiquette. When you change jobs, you need to learn the business etiquette of a new company.

Who do you think is more capable, busy people or people with free time? In this episode, I discuss the benefits of pretending to be busy.

The Japanese language has a word for 忖度する(to consider someone’s feelings or wishes). If you master the word ‘忖度する’, it will be useful when you work for a Japanese company.

When choosing a job, you should probably consider what you want to do and your career plan. If you choose a job without thinking about it, you are wasting your life time.

I once worked part-time as a waiter in a coffee shop when I was a student. That was a great Place to learn honorifics.

Japanese companies have positions called regular positions (総合職). They have hired most new graduates for regular positions. In this episode, I will talk about the benefits of developing a career as regular positions.

Japanese companies often provide extensive training, but basically, supervisors rarely teach their subordinates how to do their jobs in hands-on, detailed manner. Verbal communication seems to be neglected. I would like to talk about how to survive in such Japanese companies.

Students-athletes are welcomed by big corporations in Japan because of their characteristics. But there are several problems.

An expert killer at middle-aged men is called “ジジ殺し” in Japanese. Jijigoroshi is good at being liked by middle-aged men at Japanese companies.

Some Japanese businessmen preach to their subordinates that the company is not like a school. In this episode, I examine the veracity of this phrase. For me, the company is a school itself.

If you continue to play the role of the person the company wants you to be, you may not be able to remove the mask before long. In this episode I talk about the problems that arise from that.

Some of you may feel that Japanese business etiquette is trivial. To get ahead In Japanese corporate society, It is helpful to have this etiquette.

Many Japanese salarymen dislike the term status quo. In some industries, the status quo may be correct. Knowing these ideas is important to avoid exhaustion from working in a Japanese company.

This topic is for those who can find job information in Japanese. If the summary section of the job posting states that アットホームな会社です, you should be careful. I will explain the reasons for this.

Office layout has to do with the ease of work for employees. It is impossible to work creatively If you are being watched 24/7 by your boss.

For Japanese Salaryman, cleaning the company may not be a very special thing. Japanese managers often believe that cleaning of the company is a way of fostering the spirit of their employees.

In Japanese companies,the scope of an individual’s duties is not clear, and work evaluation criteria are often vague. Supervisors do not properly evaluate their subordinates. Therefore, subordinates must show motivation and appeal to others that they are competent.

I am broadcasting this podcast in the hope that foreign employees working in Japan can be a positive agents of change in Japan’s corporate community. (Black ships mean a western ship coming to Japan at the end of the Edo period)