Tips for Effective Emailing with Japanese Businesspeople

Japanese people are fond of beginning email and letters with words of greeting, followed by topics that are irrelevant to the main point of the correspondence. Common irrelevant topics include the beauty of the season, the weather, and concerns for the recipient's health. In Japanese business culture, writing email and letters is a delicate process of etiquette and social warmth. On the other hand, many American's tend to focus on the specific business points, as well as often omitting titles such as; Mr., Mrs., or Miss before the recipient's name.

The following is an example of a business email exchange between an American businessperson and a Japanese businessperson:

American:

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Shintaro,

I want to see you around noon tomorrow at La Quinta Hotel, where you are staying, in order to discuss our future business.

Please let me know if it is convenient for you.

James

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A typical Japanese businessperson may respond to this email as follows:

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Dear James-san,

I thank you very much for your email, which I received this evening when I returned to the hotel. I am really enjoying my stay here in Portland. Thanks to your help, I am gaining confidence to develop business together with your company. I am also very thankful to your company staff members, who have been very kind to me.

With regard to the meeting with you around noon at my hotel, I will be pleased to let you know that I will be available to see you as per your suggestion in your email. I do look forward to seeing you tomorrow. Please drive carefully on the way to my hotel.

Sincerely yours,

Shintaro Tominaga

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This example shows the difference in writing styles between the two business cultures. The Japanese's friendly and emotionally expressive writing style is customary and desirable to create familiar and comfortable business dealings. Japanese need to create and maintain amicable relations before doing business with others, irrespective of nationality.

It is to be expected that Japanese and Americans will communicate differently in written correspondences and therefore, each side should practice patience when dealing with diverse writing styles and make efforts to be as clear as possible.