My company is going to host Yamaha Motor Corp on Sept 24th. 5 men from California and 5 men from Japan. All Quality, Purchasing, Engineering, Planning personnel. They are going to evaluate my ISO system for possible new business.

Now for the tricky part...where I need input....

We're catering in lunch. What do you recommend we serve?
What would you do?

While we're here, what are the do's and don'ts??? I really do not know the Japanese culture at all.

My company is going to host Yamaha Motor Corp on Sept 24th. 5 men from California and 5 men from Japan. All Quality, Purchasing, Engineering, Planning personnel. They are going to evaluate my ISO system for possible new business.

Now for the tricky part...where I need input....

We're catering in lunch. What do you recommend we serve?
What would you do?

How about some local specialties and some traditional Japanese dishes? It might also depend on how formal a visit this will be...

How about some local specialties and some traditional Japanese dishes? It might also depend on how formal a visit this will be...

Thought about that and they're here in America....Japanese food here is certainly not the same!

Thought about that and they're here in America....Japanese food here is certainly not the same!

Well, how about a neutral cuisine, such as seafood and salad, for example? (Or any other similar cuisine)

All 10 are Yamaha folks right?
Ask the California folks what they'd suggest, since you are going to order it in and you want to be sure everyone is happy.

It's been a while since I hosted Japanese businessmen - they were all delighted with STEAK! (but that was dinner, not lunch on the fly in the factory) I do recall they brought me a case of Suntory whiskey as a "host gift.":D

My company is going to host Yamaha Motor Corp on Sept 24th. 5 men from California and 5 men from Japan. All Quality, Purchasing, Engineering, Planning personnel. They are going to evaluate my ISO system for possible new business.

Now for the tricky part...where I need input....

We're catering in lunch. What do you recommend we serve?
What would you do?

While we're here, what are the do's and don'ts??? I really do not know the Japanese culture at all.

Crusader,

Look here: "Hosting Japanese Guests (http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=hosting+japanese+guests&btnG=Google+Search&aq=f&oq=)."

There's a few links that look promising....

Good Luck!

Stijloor.

My company is going to host Yamaha Motor Corp on Sept 24th. 5 men from California and 5 men from Japan. All Quality, Purchasing, Engineering, Planning personnel. They are going to evaluate my ISO system for possible new business. .

Forget lunch, they won't really care.

They also don't care about an ISO system. And I sure hope you are not alone to try to show this system.

The President and every member of the top team better greet them at the door to their hotel and stay for the entire visit, and supper, and drinks that night. Thats what they do for us when we visit.

You are about to meet some of the most detail oriented, competent, focused, hard working, smart people you have ever seen.

They will go to gemba and spend their time on your floor. Watch them spread out as they follow the flow, just try to lead them on a tour!

They actually laughed at our cellular manufacturing. Of which we were so extremely proud. Their thinking was decades ahead of ours.

It was hard to take. What we did with our CNC equipment they did with a simple used drill press. Our SPC system puzzled them to no end, their design was robust to variation.

We didn't even get asked to quote, again they laughed at our price.

The masters are coming, keep an open mind and open ears, it was a humbling yet excellent learning experience.

I have worked closely with Japanese companies for many years. During working hours, they will be very professional. Simple courtesies go a long way. I recommend learning a few Japanese phrases such as Good Morning/Afternoon/Evening, Thank you. Learn the Business card ceremony in Japanese if possible. Small efforts are greatly appreciated.

Lunch can be simple, but not fast food. If you have a local Japanese restaurant that does bento box lunches, go for that. Steaks usually go very well for dinners. Note: Hibachi-style is not true Japanese. Sushi bars, tempura, or traditional (if you can find one) are more typical.

An operations management presence is very important. They usually expect most of the discussion to done by the technical experts, but when I visited the Japanese company, an upper manager was always present in meetings. The higher level management usually appeared at the closing meeting. There is usually an exchange of moderate priced, tasteful gifts between the higher level participants.

Will you be using an interpreter? If you use one, provide your own, so you get a full account. If they provide one, the interpreter will censor much of what they discuss amongst themselves. Also look at the one speaking, not the interpreter, and talk to the speaker, not the interpreter.

Japanese understand English much better than they speak it, so assume they understand everything that you say.

This is a good site (http://www.business-in-asia.com/countries/japanbiztips.html) for Japanese business etiquette as well as this site (http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2195.html).

Do we have to mould ourselves according to their culture when we are there? or we can have independence to maintain our values/or social etiquette.(at least to some extent)
Don't you think that they shall respect/ observe our values when they visit our countries? Just curious :notme:

Do we have to mould ourselves according to their culture when we are there? or we can have independence to maintain our values/or social etiquette.(at least to some extent)
Don't you think that they shall respect/ observe our values when they visit our countries? Just curious :notme:

Establishing good (international) relationships takes an effort on both parties.

And I DO have experience with this.....;)

Stijloor.

Establishing good (international) relationships takes an effort on both parties. ..................... Stijloor.

Very well put! Otherwise, it boils down to the question of - do you need them?

Trust me, if you had been hosted by them before you will regret that you had not done enough the last time you hosted them.

:modcop: Thread moved from coffee break forum, as this appears more business professional. Feel free to move wherever.

I work for a Japanese company and we receive Japanese vistors be place their name on a welcome sign in our lobby. They seem to be pleased with the effort of this. Also for the food issue what you serve should be very easy to eat.

Don't do anything thay could cause them to lose face or you embarassment.

When in a meeting turn off the stupid cell phone!

Also remember that as guests they are the focus of your attention and attentiveness.

Forget lunch, they won't really care.

They also don't care about an ISO system. And I sure hope you are not alone to try to show this system.

The President and every member of the top team better greet them at the door to their hotel and stay for the entire visit, and supper, and drinks that night. Thats what they do for us when we visit.

You are about to meet some of the most detail oriented, competent, focused, hard working, smart people you have ever seen.

They will go to gemba and spend their time on your floor. Watch them spread out as they follow the flow, just try to lead them on a tour!

The President of our company is out of town for the next 3 weeks.
The next in line is available only for 2 hours.
The Sales staff is out of town except for 1 person who happens to be the right person.
Mfg, QA, Purchasing are available - this is who they want to see anyway.
They arrive between 9:30-10am.
No dinner. They want to leave promptly at 4pm.
They want to tour all buildings....but focusing only on 1 though.

Text from one of the Japan-hosting links........."Most Japanese are not accustomed to dealing with women in business situations. If you are a foreign woman, the Japanese may find it difficult to socialize with you on a business level. Do not take it personally."


Oh boy......I'll be polite.

Hi, Crusader -

Where did that quote come from? One of the links?

Edit - You were editing your post as I was posting this one.:)

Was that a recent site? I've been dealing with Toyoda (not Toyota) and have not had that experience with any of their representatives.

Hi, Crusader -

Where did that quote come from? One of the links?

Yes it did!
It was from this site: http://www.business-in-asia.com/countries/japanbiztips.html
Here is another site for good info: http://www.cyborlink.com/besite/japan.htm

No matter they say, you're still not much more than furniture in the business culture, just like we're barbarians. The culture is the culture and they claim 10,000 years of it. Ya gotta remember, this culture promoted ritual suicide when losing face or upon failure. The samurai state of mind isn't really dead, it just wears a nice suit now. You have to respect the success from that way of thinking and the people themselves (I do and I learned to love them and the culture after living with them for the better part of 5 years). They're great folks to work and socialize with but you have to keep it at the correct level and at the correct time.

Harrrumph. I'm wearing pants. It's just NOT appropriate in the machine shop to wear skirts/dressses as it is distracting for the workers.

I wonder if your local book store has this book you can browse through: Doing Business With Japanese Men: A Woman's Handbook (http://www.amazon.com/Doing-Business-Japanese-Men-Handbook/dp/1880656043)

I've been working for Japanese companies since 1996, during all this time we had reveived Japanese guests several times, what I noticed is they love Steak (because it's really expensive in Japan), but most of the times it's for the dinner as it was already explained by our fellow covers.

Anyway, when the guest are planning to leave early, organization offer them light steak dishes for lunch, sometimes seafood (which is very common in the Japanese cuisine), honestly speaking, here we don't offer japanese food because that's what they always eat and of course the taste is not the same, so we offer them something different, and I already mentioned, they're very pleased to eat steak because in Japan is very expensive.

Here are my :2cents: to this thread.

Good luck with your guest and don't worry about it. ;)

If you can find someone named Beaudreau or Thibedeau feed 'um Cajun. But only try Cajun if the cook talks like Justin Wilson or Paul Prudhomme........

"Here wat we be gonna did......"

If you can find someone named Beaudreau or Thibedeau feed 'um Cajun. But only try Cajun if the cook talks like Justin Wilson or Paul Prudhoome........

"Here wat we be gonna did......"

Justin Wilson (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Justin_Wilson_(chef)).

Paul Prudhomme (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Prudhomme).

Bon Appetit!

Stijloor.

I am also getting use to Japanese inspection. I have had some 15 here for three days. I found that as long as I am doing my job and respond to their question with as much detail as possible they are OK. The Business Card thing was new to me but it is OK just to bow slightly and use tow hands to issue your card to them and of receive their card and bow slightly.
The liked local pizza and salads, lots of coffee and some tea, green is better but black is good too.

:2cents:

Good ol' Justin Wilson...started as a Safety Engineer on the Gulf Coast

Paul Prudhomme...ya gotta eat at his place in New Orleans or his sisters in Lafayette (if she's still cooking)

I have cookbooks by both of them and I use their recipes.......

The Business Card thing was new to me but it is OK just to bow slightly and use tow hands to issue your card to them and of receive their card and bow slightly.
It is also a good idea to say something, like confirming their title or pronunciation of their name. It shows that you actually read the card. You should also treat the card with respect. If you put the card in your wallet, you show disrespect to the owner. If you are in a meeting, it is good practice to arrange the cards in front of you in the same seating pattern as the owner.

Just thought I'd let you know how it went down....

Togo's sandwiches, salads, chips, cookies, soft drinks, coffee, green tea, and water. ALL was perfect and they devoured what they could intake. We all sat in the conference room together and mowed down the food and had informal chats -completely off the topic and letting the guard down. It was great!!

Summary of their "new" auditing system, which we were one of the few guinea pigs to experience it: We passed with high marks / praise!! They were impressed with our ISO system and surprised that only one person manages it - Me. And, they are coming back in the near future for more in-depth collaboration/sharing, which we did not have time for yesterday. Their audit consumed the day.

They were not quite as formal as we expected. Whew!

Just thought I'd let you know how it went down....

Togo's sandwiches, salads, chips, cookies, soft drinks, coffee, green tea, and water. ALL was perfect and they devoured what they could intake. We all sat in the conference room together and mowed down the food and had informal chats -completely off the topic and letting the guard down. It was great!!

Summary of their "new" auditing system, which we were one of the few guinea pigs to experience it: We passed with high marks / praise!! They were impressed with our ISO system and surprised that only one person manages it - Me. And, they are coming back in the near future for more in-depth collaboration/sharing, which we did not have time for yesterday. Their audit consumed the day.

They were not quite as formal as we expected. Whew!

This is great news, Crusader!! :applause::applause: Well done! Thanks for the follow-up...

Good job!!:agree1:

:applause::agree1::yes:

Congraulations

The next visit, we should easily be able to go out for some Japanese food.

Just thought I'd let you know how it went down....

Togo's sandwiches, salads, chips, cookies, soft drinks, coffee, green tea, and water. ALL was perfect and they devoured what they could intake. We all sat in the conference room together and mowed down the food and had informal chats -completely off the topic and letting the guard down. It was great!!

Summary of their "new" auditing system, which we were one of the few guinea pigs to experience it: We passed with high marks / praise!! They were impressed with our ISO system and surprised that only one person manages it - Me. And, they are coming back in the near future for more in-depth collaboration/sharing, which we did not have time for yesterday. Their audit consumed the day.

They were not quite as formal as we expected. Whew!

Crusader,

Thanks for the detailed update! Glad all went well. :applause:

Now, are you going to get more business?;)

Take a rest. :yes:

Stijloor.

Crusader,

Thanks for the detailed update! Glad all went well. :applause:

Now, are you going to get more business?;)

Take a rest. :yes:

Stijloor.

More business...Definitely. They said to get their catalog and tell them what we can do for them....nice. :agree1:
Rest....Nope :( Can't. :nope: I have another registrar audit coming in 4 weeks at our other 2 facilities. It's a biggie - scope expansion / new facility.

I've been ill with a nasty, nasty sore throat/head cold/congestion-thing for the last 2 weeks (directly after the 1st half of our registrar Triennial audit) and I have to keep on truckin'...for the 2nd and final half of the Triennial audit at those 2 other sites.

I've only taken 2-1/2 sick days off...not good.

Hey, I'll be in Signal Hill next week. Maybe I could stop by and give you a hand... ;)

you can cruise on by and pop-in, but the visitors are long gone. :D

Just thought I'd let you know how it went down....

Togo's sandwiches, salads, chips, cookies, soft drinks, coffee, green tea, and water. ALL was perfect and they devoured what they could intake. We all sat in the conference room together and mowed down the food and had informal chats -completely off the topic and letting the guard down. It was great!!

Summary of their "new" auditing system, which we were one of the few guinea pigs to experience it: We passed with high marks / praise!! They were impressed with our ISO system and surprised that only one person manages it - Me. And, they are coming back in the near future for more in-depth collaboration/sharing, which we did not have time for yesterday. Their audit consumed the day.

They were not quite as formal as we expected. Whew!

Great work!!! And, no surprise.

Hope the bug figures out who it is dealing with soon.

Hope the bug figures out who it is dealing with soon.

Darn tootin'! :lol:

Darn tootin'! :lol:

Maybe some nitrous oxide?;)

Maybe some nitrous oxide?;)

R&D doesn't share! :biglaugh:

Yamaha getting your stuff is scary. I might just learn how to drive 2 wheels.

Sounds like you hit a home run, and while you are sick, no less.

Yamaha getting your stuff is scary. I might just learn how to drive 2 wheels.

Sounds like you hit a home run, and while you are sick, no less.

Pre-lim audit appears to be headed out of the park with possible bases loaded....a more lenghty audit is supposed to follow in the future. :)

:thanks: by the way.

Pre-lim audit appears to be headed out of the park with possible bases loaded....a more lenghty audit is supposed to follow in the future. :)

:thanks: by the way.

From a business standpoint, this makes a whole bunch of sense. Old rock and roll hot rodders with the high strung, high revving rice burners (not meant to be an insult). Again, scary.

Yamaha makes some great stuff. I used to play one of their horns, and have used some of their electronic equipment. I have yet to be less than satisfied.

Keep rockin'

I have a Yamaha professional tenor sax. Don't play it that much anymore.

I have a Yamaha professional tenor sax. Don't play it that much anymore.

Actually, mine was a Bb flat tuba. Sweet for about 4+ octaves. Its been a long time...