Here are a few handy guides on gift giving practices in Japan: a list of the basics for business gifts, some ideas on good and bad gifts, and a good writeup on gift etiquette not specific to business, would be worthwhile reading for anyone doing business in Japan. There is some overlap here, but every article offers worthwhile information of its own.
If trying to keep all the do’s and don’ts straight is cause for concern, settle down and keep this is mind:
As a non-Japanese, the visiting foreigner is understood to be unfamiliar with the minutiae of Japanese cultural practices and is often granted considerable latitude.
Most of the rules apply to choosing a gift and other things that can be prepared well ahead of time. After that, just making a decent, respectful effort should do fine, even if you don’t get things exactly right.
The Japan Times reports that the 2005 International Robot Exhibition began its four-day biannual event Wednesday. The recent move of robots outside of manufacturing to various other purposes is noted, such as cleaning and security jobs. Not mentioned is the compulsion for every Japanese company to make their robots look cute — something well-demonstrated by NEC’s PapeRo robots.
Coins will depict Hello Kitty characters enjoying Paris, reports Kyodo News.
As part of their restructuring plan, according to Kyodo News.
Kyodo News reports on Frisk, a Belgian mint maker that has captured nearly 50% of the market in Japan, making for their biggest market. Though success is partially attributed to their pocketable packaging design, as this is true of many other breath mints, the bulk of the credit is probably rightfully attributed to their partnership with Kanebo Foods, which handles distribution and advertising.
Despite signs of economic recovery in recent months (foremost being the Nikkei’s strong performance), retail spending was down 0.3% from last year, with clothing one of the harder-hit retail sectors, reports the Financial Times. This is being blamed, curiously enough, on the failure of the government’s “Warm Biz” campaign — an effort to encourage warm clothing in lieu of turning up the heater at work — to create the same level of success so far as “Cool Biz” did this summer.
The National Post, hailing from Canada, has a piece taking a look at Toyota’s growth, and why they are likely to avoid the same pitfalls that have been plaguing General Motors.
An increase of 9.2% in October makes for the third straight monthly rise, reports Kyodo News.
Long-standing Japanese business practices such as lifetime employment and seniority-based promotion have been slowly changing to adopt more American-style practices in certain companies, according to a brief article in Asahi Shimbun. While largely a response to the rough economic times Japan entered in the ’90s, it is noted that changing traditional practices has often failed to produce success, and conversely, successful companies aren’t always adopting American practices.
On the tail of Sanyo’s huge losses and subsequent plans to deal with unprofitable elements of the company, Sanyo has announced a 5 percent salary cut for employees of the company and subsidiaries, according to Asahi Shimbun. About 40 executives will get hefty compensation cuts as well, and 10,000 jobs at Sanyo’s group companies will be cut by January.
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