Adjustment to a new culture is always an issue for expats. Elise Krentzel investigates the unique challenges the Japanese face abroad.

A Japanese male expat — there are virtually no Japanese female employees who have been transferred from headquarters to Europe — does not need to have any cultural awareness per se, nor speak the local language, because he is taken into the womb of his company and its culture prior to arriving in the host country.

That translates into a rich resource and information network at the incoming expat's fingertips. The open communication amongst colleagues and endless stream of contacts is available to new and older Japanese expats within the company.

Local hires can find it daunting to enter this cozy circle. In some companies, the “us” vs. “them” mindset is a real issue.

A Dutchman working at Nippon Express, an airfreight forwarding company, who did not want his name mentioned wryly commented, “We do things our way and they do it their way, which causes a lot of misunderstanding and frustrations.”

Yet Bert Appeldorn, HR manager at Yamaha Motors Nederland, and Ms. Tottie Grossouw-Soeng, travel coordinator, have a completely opposite viewpoint.

Appeldorn, who has lived and worked abroad, says the Japanese are not exceptional as "insular expats". Getting information from your own group is normal, he says.

He adds that successful non-Japanese working in a Japanese environment know how the Japanese network and integrate information; they understand their process of interrelationships where people are much more important than time.

They organise meetings to clarify communications, even if it is dreadfully slow going. Grossouw-Soeng says many Japanese do take language lessons, and Yamaha supports their wives to take classes as well.

Adapting to local customs

A Japanese expat is usually transferred for a three- to five-year stint abroad, be it in Europe or the States. During this time, he will come to respect the foreign culture he is working in. If he speaks a non-Japanese language it will most likely be English with some exceptions, ie German or French.

Yet respect doesn’t always translate into adapting to local business customs. The Japanese can seem hostile because their own culture is so strong and they know they will return to Japan.

Across the board, mostly all Japanese like the European lifestyle and wish to stay on longer than their contracts. They are profoundly influenced by the long paid vacations and time allotted for their personal time including family, sports and hobbies.

Most are delighted with the largess of their living quarters compared to the way they live at home.

Some are adamant about returning and try to get assignments in Europe, but these attempts usually fail because the career path of a Japanese expat has been pre-determined.

Behavioural differences

Politeness is key to Japanese culture, and this includes never saying no directly to anyone, apologising often and keeping disagreements and quarrels to a minimum.

Yet, in my experience, the most difficult behavioural attitude for Japanese to come to grips with in Europe is taking initiative.

Europeans are generally initiators although they are more closed when it comes to sharing information. Japanese work in groups and decisions are committee driven, thus decisions tend to take longer. This can be said of the Dutch culture as well with one important difference: once the Japanese decide on strategy, their implementation time is lightning speed.

Appeldorn of Yamaha sees the corporate culture among Japanese as positive since they socialise with their colleagues much more than Northern Europeans do. Yamaha organises events several times a year so that families can mingle and employees can play team sports such as baseball with people from other Japanese companies. This helps to build team spirit among the non-Japanese as they engage in non-work activities together.

More difficulties for Japanese spouses

Michele Bar-Pereg, CEO of 4Square Relocation, works with many Japanese corporations, including Sony. She says Japanese women suffer more as expat trailing spouses than women from other countries.

Until they find their Japanese groups, explains Bar-Pereg, they have no access to local information, and when practical things go wrong, they’d rather not lose face than show their lack of control over daily issues.

Yet much sooner than later, the Japanese find their community through their husband’s company or the local Japanese school, supermarket or club. While the Japanese may seem oblivious to the land they are living in, their experience abroad will influence them for the rest of their lives.

May 2003

Elise Krentzel is an Amsterdam-based freelance writer and a Japan expert who has lived and worked in Japan for seven years and has worked with the Japanese for over 25 years.