Behind the Japanese Mask . . .: How to understand the Japanese culture . . . and work successfully with it

Title from PDF title page (viewed on July 27, 2007). Behind_the_Japanese_Mask___.pdf......Page 1 Contents......Page 6 Preface......Page 10 About the Author......Page 12 Farnham Castle International Briefing and Conference Centre......Page 13 1 The Japanese Mask......Page 14 Why can't they be more like us?......Page 15 Is it worth trying to understand them?......Page 16 Uchi and soto – insiders and outsiders......Page 17 The virtue of masking true feelings......Page 18 The changing face of Japan......Page 19 The truth behind the mask......Page 23 The geography of Japan......Page 24 Volcanoes and earthquakes......Page 25 Hokkaido......Page 27 Kyushu......Page 29 Honshu......Page 30 Okinawa and other islands......Page 31 An island country......Page 32 The climate of Japan......Page 33 The mythology of Japan......Page 37 Shinto......Page 38 Buddhism......Page 41 Christianity......Page 43 Japanese moral codes......Page 44 The Japanese people......Page 45 The imperial line......Page 47 Centuries of war......Page 50 The rule of the Minamoto clan......Page 51 Japan meets the West......Page 53 The Tokugawa era......Page 56 The coming of the barbarians......Page 60 The road to war......Page 63 The aftermath of war......Page 67 Wa – the harmony of existence......Page 69 Equality versus freedom......Page 71 What Westerners have made of Japanese culture......Page 72 Analysing Japanese culture......Page 75 Leadership and the organisation......Page 85 Harmony in the workplace......Page 87 The thinking behind the words......Page 91 Reading and writing Japanese......Page 92 Don't ask why......Page 98 Pronunciation......Page 100 Levels of politeness......Page 101 Yes and no: no and yes......Page 102 Body language......Page 106 The post-war years......Page 109 Quality circles......Page 110 Keiretsu and zaibatsu......Page 111 The Golden Recession......Page 116 Invest in Japan......Page 120 The Japanese working woman......Page 122 Basic values......Page 125 Typical management systems......Page 128 Business etiquette......Page 135 Business cards......Page 137 Gifts given and received......Page 139 Loss of face......Page 141 Establishing a relationship......Page 143 Binding the roots......Page 146 Ringi......Page 150 Decisiveness is a sin......Page 151 The legal position......Page 153 Your agenda or mine......Page 154 Harmony and the group......Page 156 Leisure time......Page 157 Pinball wizards......Page 158 Sports......Page 159 Drinking to forget......Page 160 Karaoke......Page 162 The Japanese way......Page 163 Don't be surprised......Page 164 Hiragana and Katakana: the Japanese Phonetic Syllabaries......Page 166 Bibliography......Page 168 C......Page 172 H......Page 173 K......Page 174 P......Page 175 S......Page 176 Z......Page 177 This title concerns the Farnham Castle Centre for International Briefing, widely acknowledged as the world's leading provider of intercultural management training and briefing. It has an unmatched reputation for helping individuals, partners and their families to prepare to live and work effectively anywhere in the world.