Do not stare at your interpreter with suspicion

How to start a day with a good laugh? Read this piece : How to succeed when doing business in Japan, over Smart Business.

Japanese language has several levels of honorary expressions. As described by the common saying ‘Treat your customers like god,’ people will use a very high level of honorary language with their business counterparts. The higher the level of respect, the longer the expression may become. For example, after a long, long greeting speech made by a Japanese business partner, the interpreter may simply say, ‘Welcome to our company.’ Do not stare at your interpreter with suspicion. She is not hiding anything from you or trying to trick you. Instead, slightly bow (nod your head) with a nice smile and show your appreciation to such a polite and respectful greeting.

And this snippet too : "Although Japan does not have laws that allow gender discrimination ...", gender discrimination is the norm, unless you are an interpreter, a massively female occupation. 


The key point to remember for business people is indeed to keep a tamed attitude, in voice tone and body language. The rest is largely the competence of the interpreter to usher you in the communication loop.