No bonding in English

"Meetings with at least one non-Japanese in attendance are all to be conducted in English, and internal reports will need to be written in the language. "

If I had any talent at drawing, I would draw a caricature illustrating the above sentence with a view onto a meeting room at Rakuten showing a meeting where it is clear that all attendees less one are Japanese. The non-Japanese would be clearly identified as a Chinese national. Other nationalities could apply where English is not Globish.

The above sentence comes from yet another report on the subject from the Japan Times. It tells how journalism runs so law that it does dare having any opinion, and the opinion reported is cautious enough not to dare call stupid the King CEOs of religious sects like large companies that happen to make money and gulp down entities abroad. 

A regular client of mine - French speaking country - would often switch during intense sessions of presentations and training between French and English, because he says he is so used to deliver this or that presentation more often in English. That flexibility between the key and the global language is a very positive point. It soothes the mind of the client to be able to speak his own natural language, and it is very valuable during breaks where chatting in native mode help build up bonding and the feeling that "it was a good idea and investment to hire that interpreter".

You don't need to be a deep thinker to forecast that the obsession for English is a boon for the big but failing industry here in Japan. As a collateral effect, it is a terrible blow to whatever other language, except Chinese. It is now a long tradition that French is for wine and cheese, elegance and you name it, Spanish for hot tempered people prompt to start dancing right away, and Italian for Italian lovers. It's a blow and it shows. No serious French for business course offering. Replace French by any minor language. No Italian for tech and industry course, no Spanish for management. The culinary courses make the most money and attendances. But in the field of liaison interpreting, managing globish, the partner's lingo and the client's natural language is a necessary mix for more than pure interpretation skills.