Business manners sure are hard to grasp. In Japan, courtesy and formality are valued.
Business Manners In Japan
Japanese people are very formal in their ways and appreciate deeply the use of polite manners. Show your respect by following the strict business etiquettes.
Bowing and greeting are considered important as business manners. Shaking hands is not very common.
You should pay attention to the position to sit at meetings and dinners. If you do not understand order of precedence, let ask your colleagues.
Meishi
If you have a business meeting at first time, start the reunion with the “meishi”, or card exchange among the participants. Be sure that your cards have your information written down in Japanese on one of the sides of the card.
For the meishi, all the participants must be standing, and must receive the cards with both hands, after that the cards will be placed over the desk or table until the reunion reaches the end.
Japanese Honorifics
Always address to your Japanese colleagues as Mr. or Ms. ; when they feel more comfortable about you, they will let you use the suffix “San” after their surnames.
There are other ways of saying, but “San” is the most common in conversation. However, in the case of e-mail, we may also use a position name. The rules are different depending on the company, ask your colleagues.Would you like to exchange more information? Join the Facebook group.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/394886220868049/
