How Japanese-Style Business Culture Applies to Today’s New “Business Normal”

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The pandemic has changed the way people conduct business. And even as cities open up, there still remains a new “business normal” whether working from home or in the office. Attendees will not only receive insights into Japanese culture through the lens of business communications and how Japanese etiquette practices can benefit today’s increasingly prevalent virtual meetings, but they can also interact with the hosts and ask their own questions.

The discussion features Yuko Kaifu, president of JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles and a former foreign services officer, who honed her Japanese etiquette skills and knowledge through her work as an official interpreter for the Japanese Imperial Family, Prime Minister and Foreign Minister for their meetings with foreign dignitaries, including President Ronald Reagan and President George H.W. Bush. Event moderator Mark Frauenfelder, prolific writer and Wired.com founding editor, has extensive experience working with and for Japanese companies.

Discussion topics include how Japanese-style ways of doing business might apply to today’s virtual meetings – especially international meetings – including the best ways to convey controversial information, the importance of verbal agreements, and how to bow during an in-person meeting as well as a video conference call.

The live, online Q&A discussion on “How Japanese-Style Business Culture Applies to Today’s New ‘Business Normal’” was held on July 17, 2020. The interactive discussion is a part of a series of virtual webinars offered by JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles during its temporary closure.

*To watch the video in full screen, please click on the image above, then click on the YouTube icon on the lower right-hand corner.
 

Recording Available

The recording can be viewed within this event page or on the official JAPAN HOUSE Los Angeles YouTube channel.

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Speaker Profiles

Mark Frauenfelder
Mark Frauenfelder is a research director at the Silicon Valley think tank, Institute for the Future (IFTF), and is the founder of the technology and culture website, Boing Boing. He was the founding editor-in-chief of Make magazine and Wired.com. He designed Billy Idol's CD covers and has written for The New York Times Magazine, The Atlantic, Popular Science, Business Week, The Hollywood Reporter, Wired, and other national publications.

Yuko Kaifu
Yuko Kaifu is the President of Japan House in Los Angeles. She started her career at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan. Her assignments include the Embassy of Japan in Canada and the Ministry’s headquarters in Tokyo. During her service in Tokyo, she was also appointed an official interpreter for dignitaries including Her Majesty the Empress, Foreign Minister, and Prime Minister of Japan. In 2001, she was appointed a Consul at the Consulate General of Japan in Los Angeles. In 2007, she left the government to work at the Japanese American National Museum as the Vice President, and then at MUFG Union Bank as a Managing Director of Corporate Communications from 2009 to 2016. She joined Japan House Los Angeles in January 2016 to launch the project. She serves on the boards of US-Japan Council, Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, and UCLA Terasaki Center for Japanese Studies. She graduated from Nara Women’s University and received M.A. in Sociology from Queen’s University in Canada.