AJBA Language Corner |
Updated Mar 08, 2008
Introducing Yourself
(Mar 08, 2008)
Building on our first two lessons, let’s look at how you might introduce
yourself in a business setting in Japan. Here’s how it might go:
Ms. Smith: Hajimemashite, watashi wa Smith to moshimasu. (“How do you do. My
name is Smith.”)
Mr. Yamada: Hajimemashite, Yamada desu. Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. (“How do you
do. I’m Yamada. I look forward to doing business with you.”)
Ms. Smith: Yoroshiku onegaishimasu. (“I look forward to doing business you,
too.”)
New words:
Hajimemashite – How do you do?
Watashi – I
to moshimasu – am called (meaning, “My name is ….”)
For the meaning of yoroshiku onegaishimasu, see our previous lesson,
“Expressions for Business Meetings Vol. 1.” As we saw there, it is tough to
translate. What we have here is one possible version, but no translation really
does the term justice. Note also the use of surname’s only. See “What’s in a
Name.”
Notes:
wa – The easiest way to think of the Japanese word “wa” is as a place marker,
which serves to indicate the subject (in this case “I”).
to moshimasu – This is one way to give your name. Because it is in “humble”
form, use it only when referring to yourself.
desu – The polite form of da, which is used to link subject with predicate. It
is more easily understood as serving as a kind of verb “to be,” i.e. “something
is something,” although note that Japanese does have its own “to be” verbs
(“iru” and “aru”), which serve different purposes.
Pronounce your name slowly and clearly so your interlocutor can render it into
Japanese phonetic equivalent. If your name is “Ralph Lauren,” you may have to
say it a couple of times.
During the spoken introduction, you’ll usually be exchanging name cards, or
meishi. This can be quite an art, and company juniors often receive lessons in
it. As a visitor you’ll be forgiven if you don’t get it exactly right, but it
is important to observe a few simple rules.
1. Always have your name cards with you. It is an unforgivable faux pas to
attend a meeting in Japan without one. And have a card holder as well.
2. If at all possible, have a card with English on one side and Japanese on the
other. When you hand over your card to your Japanese associate, do so Japanese
side up. You can get bilingual cards printed through many Japanese hotels.
3. Grip the card lightly at each top corner between thumb and forefinger and
present it to the other person so that they won’t have to turn it around to
look at it.
4. Give a slight bow as you do so, varying the depth depending on the seniority
and significance to you of the person to whom you are bowing. You don’t need to
bow as deeply as the Japanese will, but a noticeable forward movement of the
shoulders is recommended.
5. When you have presented your card, the other person will present theirs.
Take it respectfully in both hands, between thumb and forefinger on the bottom
corners, and bow slightly again.
6. DON’T immediately put the card in your pocket without a glance. That is
equivalent to dismissing the giver as completely irrelevant to you. Look at it
for a short but noticeable beat, and take note of the person’s job title. Then
place it on the desk or table in front of you, nice and neatly. If this is a
standup meeting, then after a couple of beats, place the card carefully in your
card holder.
One final note, while “managing director” may denote the top person in an
Australian company, it has a different meaning in Japan: still a senior
director, but not the top dog. In Japan, the senior company executive is
usually called the “president,” or recently sometimes the “CEO.” If you are
getting your managing director’s title translated, the best bet is to translate
it as president, which in Japanese is daihyou-torishimariyaku-shachou
(代表取締役社長), which is literally “president and representative director” and is
often shortened to just “president” or “shachou” (社長).
What’s In a Name?
(Jan 29, 2008)
Japanese personal naming conventions can be a little difficult to get right for
first-time visitors. Let’s try and unravel some of the mysteries.
Japanese have two names: first names and family names. When communicating the
entire name in Japanese, the family name is given first and the first name
last. So where we would say in English “Kenji Yamada,” in Japanese it would be
“Yamada Kenji.” After some exposure to Japan, you do get sufficiently familiar
with Japanese names to tell what the surname is, but in the early days there
can be confusion, not helped by disagreement among English-language
publications as to what order to use.
Japanese surnames often refer to geographical features. The common name
“Nakajima” for instance, means “middle island.” First names often convey
aspirational characteristics, such as beauty or courage. Female names very
often end in “-ko,” the character for “child.” Think “Yoko.” Another common
ending for female names is “-mi,” the character for “beauty.” An example is
“Naomi.” Male names tend to be a little more diverse.
In business, the convention is to introduce yourself with your last name only.
So, on meeting a business contact for the first time, our Kenji Yamada above
would introduce himself very politely as “Watashi wa, Yamada to moshimasu.”
(“My name is Yamada.”) or somewhat less politely as “Watashi wa, Yamada desu.”
(“I am Yamada.”) or quite informally as “Yamada desu.” (“I’m Yamada.)
You, however, would not call him just “Yamada.” That would be both rude and
sound odd. Rather, you would add the all-purpose “san” (meaning “Mr.,” “Mrs.”
or “Ms.”) as a suffix to his name, making “Yamada-san.” Then, unless your
relationship takes an especially intimate course, you’d call him “Yamada-san”
on every occasion. First names in Japan are only normally used among family
members, children or close friends who knew each other as young people. So you
can have very long-standing business relationships with your Japanese
colleagues, with 3 a.m. karaoke sessions and the works, and never use or even
remember their first names.
Several other suffixes are added to names, including “-chan” for young children
or loved ones and “-kun” for younger male colleagues and friends, neither of
which a visiting businessperson would likely need to use. However, you may hear
the suffix “-sama,” which is a very polite honorific used especially in the
service/hospitality industries. You may very well hear yourself referred to
this at your hotel. You would not usually need to employ “-sama” yourself with
anybody’s names, even if they are important customers, although if you wanted
to impress a particularly critical client, you could refer to them as
“Okyakusama” (something like “honored customer”) and sound very polite.
Finally, if your interlocutor is a doctor or professor, you would swap the
“-san” for “-sensei” (a word usually translated as “teacher” but with a more
general meaning of a person with expertise in some field). So if Taro Yamashita
was a university professor, he would be called “Yamashita-sensei.”
Another feature of Japanese honorifics is that the “-san” is often replaced by
job title, especially by colleagues within a company. So if our Tanaka-san was
in fact a section manager at a Japanese company, he would often be called
“Tanaka-kacho” by his colleagues. And in fact, job titles often replace the
entire name, so you can quite correctly refer to your taxi driver as
“Untensha-san” or “Mr. Driver.”
Expressions for Business Meetings - Vol.1
(Jan 10, 2008)
Attend a meeting with a customer, partner or supplier in Japan and you will
invariably hear the following two expressions:
“Itsumo osewa ni natte orimasu.”-- いつもお世話になっております。
“Yoroshiku onegaishimasu.” -- よろしくお願いします。
It is hard to find an exact equivalent for these expressions for English. The
first one, “Itsumo osewa ni natte orimasu” literally means, “You are always
taking care of me.” A better translation might be “I’m always grateful.” It is
said at the outset of an encounter with someone who you have been doing
business with: supplier, customer, partner, it doesn’t matter. It is a way of
expressing gratitude for their consideration. When used in a letter to a
customer, it can mean something like “Thank you for your patronage” or “Thank
you for choosing our products.” There expression has various levels of
formality, including the less formal “Osewa ni narimasu” (おせわになります).
The second of the expressions, “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu” is perhaps even more
widely used. It literally means “Please do well by me.” It’s use is almost as a
bookend to “Itsumo osewa ni natte orimasu,” in that it is said when an
encounter with a supplier, customer, partner or other associate is concluded,
and you’re planning to deal with them going forward. It expresses a desire for
goodwill and best efforts by both parties. A much more informal version is
just, “Yoroshiku,” which might normally be reserved for use with subordinates
or people one knows very well.
So “Itsumo osewa ni natte orimasu” thanks your interlocutor for their good
offices to date, and “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu” asks them for their kind
consideration going forward.
You will hear these expressions used in every conceivable business situation,
and like a lot of daily expressions, they may even be used in situations where
they don't strictly make sense. For instance, people trying to be polite may
say “Itsumo osewa ni natte orimasu” to a person they haven't really had
anything to do with before, and may say “Yoroshiku onegaishimasu” when the
meeting hasn't really produced any specific plan of action. But the expressions
are still used as a means of conveying general goodwill in the meeting.
The expressions are used in both written and verbal communication.
Roll these out at your next business meeting, and you will be sure to impress
your Japanese counterpart.