Want to do business with Japanese? Eat Japanese food, Drink Sake, enjoy Karaoke music, and have Patience
Sake is a Japanese alcoholic drink made with fermented rice, koji (often translated as rice malt or yeast made from rice) and water. In Japanese, the word 'sake' also means alcoholic beverages in general.
EXCLUSIVE SUNDAY-SPECIAL STORY:
NEW DELHI: For the Indians planning to do business with Japanese investors, entrepreneurs and companies, here is a “world” of advice from former union minister Suresh Prabhu.
Having visited Japan on over 30 occasions, Prabhu boasts of his 36-year-old association with this ‘Country of Rising Sun’, and proudly claims he has a clear understanding of Japanese culture, both – social and corporate.
“The best way to engage with Japanese is with patience. If you have patience, you can do many things with Japan. Japanese will always be forthcoming to work with India but normally they take a good amount of time to look at a person, business potential and so many other issues, and rightly so. They take their take time. Therefore you need to be patient,” Prabhu, Indian emissary to G20 and G7, and Member of Parliament told a gathering of Indian entrepreneurs in the presence of Japanese counterparts during a webinar recently.
“They (Japanese) may take a long time to make a final decision. But once they make a decision, it is long term, and almost permanent. That is the hallmark of Japan,” he added.
As worldwide COVID-19 outbreak is all set to usher in a global New Normal, redefining bilateral trade equations amongst other drastic changes the corporate world is going to witness, many Indian entrepreneurs looking for new business avenues are planning to diversify, and strike business relations with companies from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, and other east Asian countries.
However, Japan is emerging as India’s one of the biggest ally nations and is getting closer to India in all sectors – trade, defense, infrastructure, art & culture, and others, many Indian entrepreneurs are shifting to Japan to do business with its companies.
Prabhu who had visited Japan in 1984 to attend a UN event in the year 1984, says he had also chosen Japan for a honeymoon trip with his wife. He says he loves Japanese food and quite often visits Japanese restaurants too in Mumbai.
As continued his advice on doing business with Japanese, Prabhu quipped, “If you really want my advice on how to go about it, you must learn how to eat Japanese food and drink sake. That would probably be helpful. And also put your ears to listening to good Karaoke music. That too can again help. With Japanese, we have great potential.”
Sake is a Japanese alcoholic drink made with fermented rice, koji (often translated as rice malt or yeast made from rice) and water. In Japanese, the word ‘sake’ also means alcoholic beverages in general.
It is widely known that Asian countries like Japan, South Korea, and others have successfully managed to preserve their ancient culture, which amply reflects in their corporate world as well.
Also read: After Sushi, Japanese rice wine Sake set to make a splash in India, and tickle your taste buds
Prabhu advised Indian entrepreneurs to remember one thing, and that was while doing business with Japanese, one must look at the social and overriding culture of their country.
“Whenever you are doing business with a company, you look at the corporate culture. But you must also understand the social culture, the overriding culture of their country.
Japanese employees are lifelong employees, and so are their service contracts with their employers. And the service contract is not between a company and an individual employee only, but with the family. Japanese employers will take care of the entire family. It’s a very unique culture,” he added.
Prabhu also advised the Japanese entrepreneurs during the webinar where they were being represented by Japan’s top industry and trade organizations like Japan External Trade Organisation (JETRO), Japan Chamber of Commerce and Industry in India (JCCII), and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).
“Therefore I have already suggested to my Japanese friends, we can have special economic zones (SEZs) for their Japanese companies in India, where everything is Japanese and these zones reflect the Japanese culture as these should have everything Japanese inside.”
While referring to India as a country of shining for witnessing over 300 sunny days a year, Prabhu said the country of Rising Sun (Japan) must come closer to each other and let the sun shines high for both the countries.
