Seven Keys to Communicating in Japan

The key to professional success in Japan is understanding Japanese people. The authors, seasoned cross-cultural trainers for businesspeople, provide a practical set of guidelines for understanding Japanese people and culture through David A. Victor's LESCANT approach of evaluating a culture's language, environment, social organization, context, authority, nonverbal communication, and time conception. Each chapter addresses one of these topics and shows effective strategies to overcoming cultural barriers and demonstrates how to evaluate the differences between Japan and North America to help avoid common communication mistakes. The book is generously peppered with photographs to provide visual examples. Exploring language and communication topics, international relations, and the business community, this book is an excellent intercultural overview for anyone traveling to or working in Japan.

A nuanced, vividly illustrated set of practical recommendations . . . a must read for scholars and students in intercultural communication, sociology, language and social interaction, and linguistics.

Haru Yamada is the author of Different Games, Different Rules: Why Americans and Japanese Misunderstand Each Other, is a contributing editor to L'Echo, and consults on various communications issues. Orlando R. Kelm is associate professor at the University of Texas-Austin, where he focuses mainly on business language and the cultural aspects of international business communication. He also serves as the Associate Director of Business Language Education at the UT Center for Global Business. He is coauthor of The Seven Keys to Communicating in Brazil: An Intercultural Approach. David A. Victor is professor and director of International Business Programs at Eastern Michigan University, where he focuses on cross-cultural business communication and international differences in organizational structure. He is the author of Conflict Management: A Communication Skills Approach and coauthor of The Seven Keys to Communicating in Brazil: An Intercultural Approach.