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I heard anecdotaly from someone who worked at Rakuten that the shift to English caused issues in meetings, not because of language problems but because English

I heard anecdotaly from someone who worked at Rakuten that the shift to English caused issues in meetings, not because of language problems but because English doesn't designate social structure like Japanese. In Japanese, you conjugate verbs differently depending on if the person is more or less senior than you, as well as other language changes. Apparently when they switched to English it caused people to take offense that lower people were being rude. Also, people also struggled to identify who was at what level, something that is super easy listening in to a Japanese conversation. Not sure how involved the person I heard this from was, but it makes a good story!

globalise83 3y ago
That sounds like a feature, not a bug
- mensetmanusman 3y ago
  American science and technology development is unique in its flatness. Post World War II and Manhattan project, the culture learned that hierarchy creates an energy barrier for information transfer. It was interesting for me working with professors at the bench in The United States. When I was studying in Germany, professors seemed more aloof/ivory tower-ish, at least where I was in east Germany MOF 2000s.
decafninja 3y ago
Not a Japanese company, but similar. I started my career working for a Korean conglomerate. Korean has similar honorifics as Japanese, as well an obsession for titles (even more so than Japan a I would say). When I, as a Korean American, got promoted into a managerial role with direct reports, I tried to foster a more casual working environment and told my new minions they could call me by name. My manager chewed me out for that - my reports were to always refer to me as Team Leader John, not John (not my real name). I quit that job, and got into my first Western (British) company. I ask how I should be addressing my managers and superiors, and the answer is “oh just call them by their first name, whether it’s your line manager or the CEO”. Culture shock.
- jaipilot747 3y ago
  Did your manager share a reasoning for why they shouldn't call you John?
- solarmist 3y ago
  Korea tends to be a bit more strict and hierarchical than Japan. People are just more aware of the Japanese work style.

globalise83 3y ago

That sounds like a feature, not a bug

mensetmanusman 3y ago
American science and technology development is unique in its flatness. Post World War II and Manhattan project, the culture learned that hierarchy creates an energy barrier for information transfer. It was interesting for me working with professors at the bench in The United States. When I was studying in Germany, professors seemed more aloof/ivory tower-ish, at least where I was in east Germany MOF 2000s.

decafninja 3y ago

Not a Japanese company, but similar. I started my career working for a Korean conglomerate. Korean has similar honorifics as Japanese, as well an obsession for titles (even more so than Japan a I would say). When I, as a Korean American, got promoted into a managerial role with direct reports, I tried to foster a more casual working environment and told my new minions they could call me by name. My manager chewed me out for that - my reports were to always refer to me as Team Leader John, not John (not my real name). I quit that job, and got into my first Western (British) company. I ask how I should be addressing my managers and superiors, and the answer is “oh just call them by their first name, whether it’s your line manager or the CEO”. Culture shock.

jaipilot747 3y ago
Did your manager share a reasoning for why they shouldn't call you John?
solarmist 3y ago
Korea tends to be a bit more strict and hierarchical than Japan. People are just more aware of the Japanese work style.