For example a colleague or even a friend how much they're earning is a big taboo
now japan has struggling with the issue of credentialism
Mr Tanaka. There is no paper!
Hey guys and gals on Ask Japanese it's Cathy Cat! You would like to work in the
business world of Japan?? Great! However there are five taboos you
need to know before you go and start working in Japanese businesses
But don't worry i got you covered let's talk about them today
The Japanese business world might already be quite different to the
business world in your country generally when there are contracts for
example between people or between companies people usually aim for the
future, meaning if things go well let's work again together in the future
so those businessmen who only look for their
profit for short-term high profit might
actually not do so well. Yes, you might get what you want but
they'll never call you again and sometimes especially
in Japanese countries' and in Japanese business environments...
If you really mess it up with one person big time, you don't get that chance again
so not short-term single profit but long-term
"all of us will be happy" type of profit is a bit more appreciated.
Number 1 is salary! Of course in the business world it's all about
money however money is also a very sensitive topic
so asking for example a colleague or even a friend
how much they're earning is a big taboo. If you go onto a job interview and
you're right at the job interview also asking for your salary then......
is apparently a taboo!! And once you enter the company
finding out from your colleagues how much you're they're earning in
comparison to you again: taboo! You don't do that.
They will very reluctantly reply, if at all.
Now when you can you actually ask about your salary?
Generally you have to wait for the company to get back to you
and tell you a certain amount and then you can maybe in a meeting or a similar thing
discuss whether you like that amount or not.
But generally straight out asking people is a NO! You don't do that
That's also again because working in the Japanese business industry
can be tied to: Money, Gender and Hierarchy
Hierarchy is a real big one
It's not a secret that Japan is a man's world, meaning generally all CEO positions
are occupied by men. Not all, but the majority.
Since Hierarchy is so important, which is generally tied to age..
It means that the average CEO in Japan is around 62 years old.
Which makes them older than the average CEO in other countries
For example one of the youngest CEOs in japan is 42 years old
while abroad we have very young CEOS that start in their 20s
Now there's also a glass ceiling that's not even made out of glass
Often females can be told that because they're women they can't do this or the other they have to
marry and get kids and things like that. So the business world is still
very conservative and very male dominated
despite all the changes that are currently in place
So what might happen is if you have a CEO that's quite older
all the people working under him have to also lift him up a little bit
That is tied to hierarchy meaning
Again the senpai-kouhai system that you might know from anime in school
Where the younger ones support the older one and the older one supports the younger one
that also happens in a work environment.
That can happen for example that if the boss goes for drinks, all the
other people will try and make the boss feel good: refill his drinks.
make sure they order for him, make sure to butter him up real good
while they're going out for drinks and the other workers cannot leave
until the boss wants to leave.
Things like that. Yes some of these traditions are changing
But generally is a lot about buttering up the boss
In Japan they call it "taiko mochi" like the taiko drums.
The one who's hitting the taiko drum the most for the boss will definitely stand out in a positive way
so yeah that is still a thing and again
the older you get, the more salary generally tend to get.
That brings us back to the topic of salary and hierarchy again
The longer some person stays in their job, the more important they will get in
the company and the more they will earn.
Number two Educational background. Now actually that's a topic you
shouldn't be asking too much about. I know some Japanese people love asking about these kind of things
but some people can feel very uncomfortable
Now Japan is struggling with the issue of credentialism
credentialism credentialism credentialism credentialism
(I am not a native English speaker sorry)
Credentialism is very important in Japan, meaning what university did you get to?
It can even start as early as: what elementary school did you go to,
did it help to a better middle school? To a better prestigious high school?
To then get into a prestigious university? These kind of things are very important
still in Japan. So for example TODAI, the Japanese university here Tokyo university is seen as a very
as a very high standard university. So if your child gets into that university
you are prestigious, your family is prestigious, you made it
it's kind of one of those things and some people
actually have a educational background complex. Some people actually have a
kakureki complex, meaning they didn't make it into the right university or the
right school and it kind of hangs back later to them in life
because they didn't make it in those kind of environments
So asking too much about someone's educational background
could also end up hurting them for example
Some people will for several years just
apply to get into the right university. So for example in order to
get into TODAI the Tokyo University, some people will spend one year two
years three years or even more just trying to pass the really harsh
entrance exams. Because if you have that certificate in your
hand saying "you made it to TODAI" that means it opens a lot of doors in
your future career for you. So it's not so much what you do after university
It's often quite a lot in japan that which university you went to decides your future career
What really surprised me in Japan is just how many Japanese people
decide to go to university. Almost anyone i know went to university or at
least some kind of college after school again
that ties into your salary in the future. If you make it into higher education in the future
you will also earn better and if you don't have higher education
people might almost feel like you dropped out a little bit.
So meaning "just" having a high school degree shows that
"why didn't you continue studying?" people will ask you this! You can also get
made feel very uncomfortable if you did not go to university.
First time i came to japan same thing, people were like why did you not to go
to university and i was like... "not everyone goes to university..."
But then later on when i went to university, people would speak totally different with me
when they knew i've made it at a university in the UK and got two master's degrees
They were then like: "oh great wonderful!" So it does make a big change if you've
been to university and if you're a foreigner who wants to come and work in Japan:
definitely get that degree, definitely get it.
I mean some people are nowadays managing to sometimes
somehow make it in Japan without degrees but it will affect
if you get a visa how long you get a visa. And in the future as well,
if a company will keep you, on all of this will definitely affect your future.
So if you want to make it in the business industry in Japan, if you want
to make it in business here: Get yourself that degree before you come
Now you might feel passionate about baseball and soccer but these are topics
that you need to be very careful when you're talking about those at work
in the office and similar
that is because even in Japan other people are just as passionate about their teams:
baseball and soccer are those two sports
where people will have very strong feelings towards their teams and such.
On that note, you might be going out for drinks
with your colleagues and maybe you're into another team
and maybe maybe your team is on the other side... from everyone else
and if they won it just won't look good. It just won't look good if you go like
"Yeeees i am glad my team won! Hehe"
That kind of stuff will look very bad
also if you maybe cheered halfway through for the team that your boss or your colleagues like
but you're like "that player is no good and that one wasn't good"
that might also look bad on you. So if you make other people on the table, when
you're going out for drinks, feel really bad about the team that they
still feel so passionate about...
some people had the bad experience...
that their salary has somehow changed after that
I heard that and was like "wow",
So yes ideally what i've actually heard some people are doing, when they know
what team and player their boss likes,
the Taiko Mochi remember the ones with the drums?
They're actually that clever and calculative, that they look up the
team, look up the players and watch the games
just to have better communication. "Washing each other's hands" better
communication with the higher ups, so they can talk with them about what
they are passionate about, cheer them on, or like make them feel
good about certain sport events. And that again makes you a little bit
"better" in the eyes of the boss and you might get a little bit into favor
That's why talking about sports can be a very sensitive topic,
you don't really want to say the wrong thing, or start with the wrong tone
even if it's in the casual afterwork drinks environment or maybe especially there
Because the tongues are a little bit more loose
So those kind of things watch out for that one and maybe
read up a little bit before you actually start saying something about it
Number 4 HAIR. Remember how we talked about
the older generation being in charge of most of the business in Japan?
Now you can probably see why the older male generation
might have an issue with the topic of hair....
or loss of hair.... or thinning hair ... similar things like that
Do never ever bring that topic up in the wrong way even to some of your
other colleagues who might not have that problem...
it's a topic that some people can get very touchy about
and things can get very wrong even by accident.
Even if you don't mean to because some people have just some
hair loss boldness ptsd
(for example)
"Cathy go and copy this for me!"
I understand Mr Tanaka. I will go copy it for you.
Mr Tanaka. There is no "kami" (meaning paper)
Kami can also mean "hair" in Japanese.
Number 5 harassment now with all this amount of power and hierarchy in the office
often different types of harassment are born
So there is for example "power hara" and there can also be "sekahara" which is a type of harassment
you will get for speaking up about harassment that happens in the office and such
Japan is changing and it's trying to be better by
addressing these different types of harassment and
hopefully these changes will come up and it will
be easier for people to work in the office without
these types of harassment. We actually made a video just
on different types of harassment that is on our channel
and so if you're curious about what types of harassment there are and
you might accidentally already be doing, be sure to check that one out.
The company in Japan can work like a family. Meaning you know the highest
person, the boss and stuff is also looking after the people under him
and the people under him have to show their respect for him treating them
in a certain way. But because some people can take it too
far in certain situations these new types of harassment can be
born in the office. Since people working a very close environment
together for prolonged hours there's also certain stress and
irritation that can then come up in these types of environments
like i said Japan is changing, Japan is
trying to be better address and help about these issues but
they still do exist.
So be careful about...
Speaking up about it is a thing that will have to be done and
it's good that younger people are now speaking up about certain types of harassment
but again be careful, how you talk about it, WHO you talk about it
and how you address it in the office. Maybe take it straight to
actually HR or similar things like that or
maybe talk with a senpai about it first and
so you can work through it, again that's a very sensitive topic and
generally with the very old companies the hierarchy is very
strong still, while some of the newer companies are breaking up
these rules that are in place and trying to
give the whole thing a little bit of a revolution
so more people have fun working. At this point in time there's still some
cliche or traditional things. For example even though teleworking
right now is pushed all over the world: Work from home
in Japan the old cliche is still that the boss wants to see his workers working
meaning people still have to come into the office even though
they might be able to do their work from home
just because "That's the way it's always been and we like it to continue like that"
Again, like i said changes are coming
hopefully they're coming soon so everyone has a smoother and
more fun work environment
So these were five taboos when talking in the business world here in Japan
Like I said things are changing hopefully for the better in the future of Japan
but just watch out for these topics
Maybe first see how to address the room. One thing I can really recommend you guys is:
Read the room.
Many things in Japan are spoken between the lines
you get them from very subtle reactions
So for example if you ask a colleague what their salary is and they go "HM?!"
That's not a "Hm, I didn't understand it" that's a "that's a bit inappropriate"
"and i'm just gonna pretend i didn't hear you ask this question"
So things like that be careful to watch out for your colleagues
and compared to many western societies it's a lot for the harmony of the group.
If you stand out as the one who doesn't care about the harmony of the group
it will look bad on you so watch out for that. And watch out for
what you're gonna say about the common topics that we talked about earlier.
Hopefully you get a good senpai in your company, one who's been working
in the job maybe a year longer or more who will help you through these
little traps and pitfalls, that you can get.
If you would like to know more about this topic we'd love to make another video
so let us know in the comments down below or just give us a big like
so we know this interests you
I hope you could take something useful away from this video
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And i'll catch you soon for more stuff on Ask Japanese. Bye!