Japan's Cultural Code Words – 233 Key Terms That Explain the Attitudes & Behavior of the Japanese, by Boyé Lafayette De Mente.

May 7, 2004 -- Culturally Pregnant Words Explain The Attitudes & Behavior of the Japanese. In 1959 Japan-based trade journalist Boyé Lafayette De Mente published a book entitled Japanese Etiquette & Ethics in Business, the first writing ever on the Japanese way of doing business, in an attempt to help Westerners understand and deal with Japanese manufacturers and exporters.
    
The book became a bestseller everywhere except in the United States, which De Mente explains by saying that Americans businessmen of that time had not yet discovered Japan.
    
De Mente has since published over 30 books on Japan, ranging from Bachelor's Japan and Japanese Secrets of Graceful Living to Nihonka Suru Amerika (The Japanization of America), and, in the words of fellow author Alex Kerr (Dogs & Demons – The Fall of Modern Japan, etc.) "is a legend among writers on Japan."
    
De Mente first became involved with Japan in the late 1940s as a member of a U.S. intelligence agency during the Occupation years, then as a student, as an employee of Japanese companies, as a journalist, and lastly as an editor and consultant.
    
He learned early that key words in the Japanese language were pregnant with cultural meanings, and provided quick and easy access to why they thought and behaved the way they did.
    
He subsequently became the first to introduce such famous Japanese business-related terms as kaizen (kigh-zen), or "continuous improvement," nemawashi (nay-mah-wah-she), behind-the-scenes discussions that take place before decisions are made, and haragei (ha-rah-gay-e), or "the art of the stomach," to the Western business world.
    
De Mente has now taken the "key word" approach to understanding and dealing effectively with the Japanese to its maximum with a new book, Japan's Cultural Code Words – 233 Key Terms That Explain the Attitudes & Behavior of the Japanese.
    
Again quoting Alex Kerr: "This book offers keen insights into the Japanese character and more practical advice on dealing with the Japanese than dozens of other business books on Japan combined—and it reads like a bestseller!"
    
The key words in the book are arranged in alphabetical order, beginning with Ageashi (Ah-gay-ah-she), "Tripping on Your Own Tongue," and Age Tsurau (Ah-gay T'sue-rah-oh), Finding Endless Fault," and ending with Zenrei (Zen-ray-ee), "Breaking the Molds of the Past."
    
Published by the Tuttle Publishing imprint of the Periplus-Berkeley Group in Singapore, Japan's Cultural Code Words is available worldwide through Amazon.com, Barnesandnoble.com, numerous other web sites, and major bookstores.

By Richard Crownover



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