Something that I have learned over my many years in Japan is that introducing yourself the wrong way is often times the kiss of death to a meeting, business or otherwise. Explaining who you are is much more important and much more challenging than many would suspect. Generally speaking, I am not sure if there is even a singular connotation to the word “you” – anata, in Japanese. In Japanese, a self-introduction starts big (as in what part of the country you come from, then which school/university you attended, then your company, then your club activity, then your family name, and lastly your first name) and then gets more and more personal. As most speakers of English would not start to introduce themselves with their nationality, this probably accounts for the thousands of times I (or any other non-Japanese) have been asked where I am from. Even having become integrated into the culture, I can’t do it. But, I am not an idiot either. I do mention my employer, my martial art experience and dan – degree of expertise, and various other “markers” when meeting someone for the first time. For in a way, Japanese are much more aware of social classes than non-Japanese are. All of those markers I mention above also give the Japanese speaker reference points in which to try to find a connection to relate to the speaker. This is often the real reason for the need for so much information when introducing onesself. So, what are the ramifications? Well, even if someone comes to Japan, speaking fluent Japanese, but has no one (or nothing) covering your back, so to say, then the Japanese will see no reason to treat your requests or questions seriously. In my field, I know hundreds of non-Japanese who have been ignored simply because they thought being themselves would be enough. It is probably the single most damaging assumption that a non-Japanese could make when dealing with people in Japan. Take for example Motorola. The company has been in Japan for years, but I will never forget how they got shut out of the mobile phone market way back in 1992. I had a friend working for them and he was saying how NTT (the Japanese phone monopoly at the time) couldn’t compete with the Motorola technology. Whether that is true or not, I don’t know. What I do know is that NTT had the connections in the Japanese government (in other words someone had their back) to stop Motorola’s requests and now all you see is NTT (and a few other Japanese competitors). As for Motorola, the average person in Japan has no idea who they are. They just couldn’t get taken seriously because no one had their back when they were meeting with the powers–that-be in the Japanese government.
In short, when meeting people in Japan, be ready to drop relevant names (places and companies as well as people) and hope that you are seen for who you are and not who you are. You know what I mean?
Oh, and obvious best case scenario? You don’t even introduce yourself. Someone highly respected in the situation/conversation (preferably an older man) does it for you! In which case Japanese ability isn’t even necessary! Go figure.
Thanks for reading,
GBUJ
