How Does International Misunderstanding Happen?

There are stereotype actions when a Japanese businessperson arrives in the United States of America. The first step he needs to take is to go to Japanese consulate office and submit "Arrival Notice" and register as a resident in their covering area. The second item is to take driving license examination in Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) in the state where he starts to live. In 1980's, there were lot of Japanese people sent to US. The most of them carried "International Driving License". Their companies and authorities, however, instructed Japanese living in the US to take local driving license.

The period was Japanese overseas' investment rush, backed by high Japanese Yen evaluation. Japanese staff was sent to open their offices, facilities, and factories. Since a variety of people must have been involved in establishing operation of their business, many people came to the US. Factory manufacturing workers were sent. Middle age management people were went for production management and administration. Senior management also stationed in the US at that time for the company start-up, management, and supervising.

Despite of their variation of the company or social hierarchy, to which they belong in Japan, they all needed to take an examination for driving license. There was no exception. All of them needed to do so. They went to US Department of Motor Vehicle (DMV) and took the exam. Among the ones who passed the examination, this Japanese gentleman, Mr. Minoru Shiraishi, was in the waiting room for receiving his first US driving license. He was age of middle fifties, white hair, and the president, newly established American subsidiary company of Japanese electronics firm.

He did not seem unreasonable or stubborn person as some of Japanese managers. He was patiently waiting for his name called. A young female DMV staff came. She started to gave new licenses to the people waiting there. She started to call the names. She called this Japanese gentleman's name. Because she was not certain how to pronounce Mr. Shiraishi's name, he did not react to her first call. Since he did not respond to her call several times, she started to raise her voice. She called his last name only without "Mr.". "Shiraishi!" "Shiraishi!" This gentleman finally noticed that his name was called. When she called his name last time, he looked upset. He stood up, walked toward her, and snatched his license. He stared at her without a word for five to six seconds. He walked away.

There was nothing wrong in this staff's attitude. She did not know that calling senior Japanese people's name without their titles, such as "Mr." or "Dr." was terribly rude in Japanese culture. Mr. Shiraishi did not know it is not particularly rude or unusual to call someone's last name without title like this occasion in DMV.



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Enjoyment of Business

Being in business is like living itself. When one is in business, one encounters many things, including a few moments of enjoyment, pleasure, or happiness. Many times there is devastation, panic, desperation, or confusion. The majority of business consists of not-so-exciting, repetitive, and half-pleasant daily experiences. Some people become successful in business. They become rich because business is mostly about making money. These successful businesspeople have basic and common ground. When asked how and why they became successful, they always answer that they are lucky.

Of course, they were not just lucky. They put a tremendous amount of effort into studying, researching, and experimenting. They reached the point where they had gone through thick and thin. They all had embarrassing failures. They all share in common that when they failed, they did not give up, and they did not run away and disappear. Instead, they thought, analyzed, and built the next step.

There seems to be a pattern or cycle in business experience. It consists of three realms. The first and bottom is the "Lower Ground." The second located above "Lower Ground" is "Water." The top of the structure above "Water" is the "Higher Space." The structure is shown below:

Higher Space (Solutions and Experience)
Water (Devastation and Desperation)
Lower Ground (Problems and Suffering)

Someone starting a business stands on the "Lower Ground" at the bottom. He has lots of problems. He is suffering. He does his best to address and solve problems, but his situation does not improve. He goes up to the "Water" process, where his problem gets worse. He is devastated and desperate because he cannot breathe. He feels like he could suffocate to death.

Most people give up at this stage, therefore, they cannot be successful. Only one who has continued to maintain effort and struggle to survive will find himself in Higher Space. Oddly, this happens suddenly. This person finds himself breathing normally and no longer suffocating. He finds himself with solutions and experience.

After one has reached this stage, there is only one process left. It is analysis. The individual needs to consider, analyze, list, and record the successful process in a business journal or personal article. This also must occur when a person fails. He needs to know exactly why and how he succeeded. If one does not run this analysis process, he will go down to the Lower Ground, just like one loses all his skills if he had not practiced his favorite sport for a long time.



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Strength of Emptiness

If one practices a form of martial arts, such as karate, kung fu, tae kwan do, or judo, or otherwise, he will have learned that the must have heard about ultimate status of one's mind in martial arts is "emptiness". The literal translation of word karate is empty hand. They always talk about "emptiness". Why is the emptiness the critical state of mind so crucial for martial artists arts as their ultimate status of mind? Why is it not using a vigorous fighting spirit to defeat one's opponent? All martial arts place importance on natural reaction and emptiness. The masters of martial arts tell trainees to not think too much about fighting, winning, or losing. They teach us to be natural, be stable, and be empty.

Suppose one is participating in a martial arts tournament as a representative of his area or school. He would train harder than usual. He would have been under a tremendous amount of pressure for a long time. He would not be able to relax the night before the tournament. He would have spent several sleepless nights. He might have thought about his skill, his strength, or his responsibility. He would think about his opponents. Would they be big? Would they be fast? Would they be skillful?

At the tournament's location, he saw his opponent for the first game. He looked stable. He seemed skillful. He appeared to be confident. Under this much pressure, he could never maintain his stability of mind. He had lost long before he began to fight.

Even a game taking place in peaceful times puts people under much pressure. It is beyond ordinary expectation how high the pressure would be in the case of a real war or duel. One may lose his life, an eye, an arm, or a leg the next day. People living in a peaceful society would never be able to imagine how tense it can be. It must be experienced their bodies stiff, brains locked, and eyes fogged.

Now, think of someone walking down a street. He was skillful in martial arts, almost at a master level. He noticed that there was someone walking behind him. That person suddenly attacked him. He avoided the person's first strike, but he was in a fight with that person. Because he was undamaged from the first strike, he was able to use the full extent of his strength and skill in martial arts during the sudden attack. Do you know why? It is because he was free of any pressure, anxiety, ambition, or fear.

This example was not a perfect emptiness of his mind, but it was close to it. If one can produce this mental state of emptiness in a matter of seconds, it would become an extreme strength against an opponent who has an unstable mental condition, whether in games or real fighting.




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The Truth Is That There Is No Spoon

The movie that has impressed me the most in recent years is "The Matrix." While the movie has many profound meanings, I specifically remember the scene where Neo met Oracle for the first time. He is ready to meet Oracle and is waiting for him. He sees several children practicing supernatural abilities. One of them is holding a spoon in his hand. The boy looks at his spoon and bends his head. The head of the spoon bends without being touched. Neo asks him how he did it. The boy answers, "Do not try to bend the spoon. Instead, try to look at the truth." Neo asks, "What truth?" The boy answers, "The truth that there is no spoon." Interpretation may vary. I recognize that the important message is "try to take a look at the truth." In other words, "look at the real nature of things so that you will not misunderstand them."

In the 17th century, there was a Zen priest, Ikkyu, who was famous for his knowledge in Japan. In his temple's backyard, there was a pine tree with branches that were all twisted and curved. One day, Ikkyu gathered his pupils and asked them if they could see the pine tree straight. All of Ikkyu's pupils told him that the tree was twisted and curved. They said they could not see it straight. Ikkyu repeated, "See it straight; can you not understand?" His pupils were all puzzled. Ikkyu told them to go to his friend Rennyo who was a priest, and ask him how to see the pine tree straight.

The pupils went to Rennyo. They asked him how he could see the tree straight. Rennyo replied that it bends. The pupils were confused. They repeated the same question to Rennyo and told him that their master had said that there was a way to see it straight.

Rennyo answered Ikkyu's pupils and said that he was telling them that it bent. They began to somewhat panic. Finally, they went back to Ikkyu without understanding. They said to Ikkyu that Rennyo had told them that the tree was not straight. Ikkyu pointed out that Rennyo did not say that it was not straight. He said it was bent. Ikkyu explained that Rennyo was seeing the true nature of the tree straight and thus had said that it bends. Rennyo was explaining to Ikkyu's pupils the true nature of the tree.

It sounds like a play on words. Some may call it sophistry. This story is effective, however, in teaching people to take a look at the nature of things. The tree may be simple. In the real world where we live, there are things full of outside decoration. These confuse our eyes and we forget to take a look at the world's true nature.





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The Result Will Be 180 Degrees Different Depending on Your Approach

Any religion refers to both the bright and dark sides of human nature. A poisonous snake is spoken of in Buddhist doctrine, and people keep that story in their minds. Buddha, however, did not necessarily deny the existence of the poisonous snake. Rather, Buddhism teaches people that they should manage and control the snake. The Zen sect of the religion says that everyone keeps one poisonous snake in his mind. He needs to control it. In order for him to control his snake, he needs to train himself. Religious principle can train him. There are some people who state that they do not have religion. From a religious viewpoint, they are saying that they drive cars without brakes. It is meaningful statement.

Here is another story about the snake. It is about Buddha himself.

In his younger days, as he was struggling to achieve enlightenment, Buddha traveled. One evening, when Buddha needed a place to sleep, he visited the home of a stranger. The owner of the home allowed Buddha to stay. However he brought Buddha to a tent in the back yard of his house instead of giving him a room inside the house. Buddha still thanked him and went into the tent. The owner of the house was a nasty person, however, and threw a poisonous snake into Buddha's tent. He wanted to surprise Buddha and see him run out of the tent.

After a while, when nothing happened inside Buddha's tent, the owner of the home wondered if Buddha had been bitten and killed by the snake. He went into the tent and found Buddha sitting in the tent, awake. Puzzled, he asked Buddha what had happened to the snake. Buddha pointed to the corner of his tent, to a bowl he carried with him. The owner looked into the bowl and found the poisonous snake sleeping inside!

Even a poisonous snake could not attack Buddha, who extended his love to it. If Buddha had been surprised and had tried to kill the snake, the snake would have attacked Buddha and bitten him. This is significant because we may experience a similar situation in our daily lives or in the world of business. If someone has an angry customer and responds to that customer with anger, the customer will surely become even angrier, and perhaps even violent! If we approach an angry customer with rhyme and reason, however, calmly explaining our own position and hope, the customer will listen to us, and the result will not be violent or devastating. We should remember that it is not others who make us angry or upset; it is we who make others angry or upset.








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A Rope Is Made With Twisted Threads

All languages have proverbs. Most of them come from old historical facts, and many originated from the wisdom of ancient people. The similarity of proverbs in different languages, such as English and Japanese, is interesting For example, a Japanese proverb states: "Life is like a rope. As it was made with many twisted threads, sadness and gladness succeed each other." When someone looks at a rope from a distance, it appears to be one straight line. However, it is actually a gathering of numerous twisted threads. Looking at a rope from the side shows how the twisted threads go around the surface to the back and then return from the back to the surface. This composite structure makes a rope durable. It is no wonder that ancient people see lives as represented by ropes. Although English has many expressions that describe the cycle of happiness and sorrow in people's lives, it is not easy to find one that matches the exact meaning of this Japanese proverb. The English proverb closest in meaning is: "Every cloud has a silver lining."

Liz was a sales manager in an electronics company. She found a small company as a partner, client and helped it grow through financial and other support. This once-small company became a very good customer which ordered at least one million dollars worth of her products every month. Her sales record soared, and her bonus increased because of this customer. She eventually became a sales director. She was proud of her evaluation because she was the one who had carefully supported this customer when nobody else would.

This company grew too fast. One day, an offshore company offered a tendered amount to take it over. Liz and her company support team played the role of the white knight for their customers and tried to save the company from this hostile take-over action. Unfortunately, Liz's company was not big enough to effectively defend their competitor's attack. Her small company was taken over by a foreign business, a direct competitor. She lost one million dollars per month value order with this customer. She thought, however, "Well, every cloud has a silver lining. I will find the next one and grow it."

Even if a rope looks solid and durable, if it is partially broken in one or two pieces, with small and thin threads hanging off, the result may be a chain reaction of many broken threads. This can happen in a matter of minutes, just as how our lives can be turned upside down very quickly.








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What Is Your Interpretation of the Proverb, A Rolling Stone Gathers No Moss?

This is a controversial proverb. Generally it means that the people who change their occupations often do not obtain a particular professional skill. The other interpretation is that people who pursue new challenges never get old and dull, but stay young and fresh. We have never known a proverb that has such different interpretations. The Japanese version of this proverb, in its negative form, is same as the English version. Most likely, the Japanese version was translated from the original English. The version with a positive meaning in Japanese is, "When the stream of a river is fast, the water does not go bad."

Hanako was a dreamer. She had many dreams. She wanted to be a window decorator. She hoped to have a job in a Web creation business. Sometimes she thought simply marrying a person whom she loved would not be a bad idea. She graduated from college and started working as a secretary for an executive in an electronics company. She liked her job, but she could not give up her dream of having a creative job. To this end, she attended design school after work.

Hanako had a friend named Minori. She did not consider herself clever. After finishing her study of English literature, Minori continued to study English, and became an English-Japanese translator. Her translation speed was not fast, but she worked with attention to detail and made few mistakes. She did not take more work than she could handle, but for the jobs she did take, her translations were detailed and thorough. She gradually became popular. She began getting offers for jobs in the academic translation field.

As a one of the leading professionals of the age, Minori was interviewed by a TV program. Hanako watched Minori receive VIP treatment in the program and envied her. Hanako had been unable to get a creative job. She had changed her job several times. She found herself lacking professionalism in many things. Well, she thought, if nothing works, I will find a partner and marry him.

Minori did not look very pretty on TV. She was wearing a dark-colored suit like a man would wear. Her suit was dark gray and did not match her shirt. Her hair was not well styled; it was just tied back on her head. Hanako thought herself more attractive than Minori.

Which woman do you find more attractive? The bottom line is that everybody is different and everybody is attractive, as long as they live their lives to the full extent.





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Can Passion Overcome Talent?

People often talk about talent. Someone can be talented in many areas, such as business, design, language, math, martial arts, writing, or negotiation. However, it appears that people do not talk about passion as much as talent. We tend to categorize anyone who is successful as talented and ignore his passion and effort. However, both effort and passion are key factors for success. Which is more important, passion or talent? In other words, what is the most critical factor for success?

Minoru has a friend named Takuro. Minoru and Takuro met while attending junior high school in downtown Tokyo. They lived in the same neighborhood and became very good friends. They walked to school together, played together, and studied together. Soon, Minoru discovered that Takuro was talented in many areas. Takuro received high scores on examinations in almost every subject. He was also a good athlete who could run fast, swim fast, and jump high. In addition, Takuro was good at many kinds of ball games, such as baseball, basketball, volleyball, or football.

Minoru's academic achievements were not poor. However, he needed to study hard in order to get a score above average or higher. He was not very good at sports and played poorly in all ball games. He hated running, because he was always last. In contrast, Takuro did not seem to need any extra preparation or hard work to attain high scores. Minoru had never seen Takuro practice the skills or techniques of ball games. He thought Takuro was simply talented. No matter how hard Minoru tried, he could not perform better than Takuro.

Minoru, however, liked English. He was not so good at grammar and his vocabulary was still poor, but he loved watching American movies. He tried to copy the expressions used in the movies. His pronunciation was terrible, but he tried to use his new idioms with foreigners whom he happened to meet on the street. In junior high, Takuro's score in English was higher than Minoru's. It was the end of their senior high school days; Minoru's grade started to pick up slowly but steadily. By the end of senior high, Minoru was one of a few who could use English to communicate with foreigners. Minoru and Takuro graduated from the same high school and entered the same university.

Minoru majored in academic debate in English. Although he had lost many matches earlier, he would win second prize in the All Japan English Debate tournament during his last year at the university. Takuro would no longer be superior to Minoru in English. Takuro needed Minoru's help for his English exam. There were few who could compete against Minoru's English at his university any more. Looking back, Minoru thought that he could do it not because he was talented in English, but because he was passionate about the language. He even thought that he would not be able to achieve it if he were merely talented.






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Is There Justifiable Anger?

Anger does not help solve problems. Throughout my life, I have heard my father, my mother, my teacher, and my mentor tell me this many times. I agree with them and believe it is true. I have talked, taught, discussed, and written about it. However, I still get angry sometimes. It is not easy to manage one's emotions, especially anger, which arises instantly. Some people are angry for no reason. Other people get angry because of misunderstandings. Some people become angry because others do something to make them angry.

Suppose you are walking down a street alone in the middle of the night. If someone steals your wallet from behind and runs away, you will be angry at first. There are some people who have lost family members through accidents, war, murder, or as a result of terrorism. These people must be terribly angry. A long time ago, I had a discussion with my friend about whether or not there is such a thing as justifiable anger. My answer had always been, "Yes, there is." However, recently, there was an occurrence that made me reconsider my stance. As a result, my conclusion today is that there is no such thing as justifiable anger, no matter what wrongs have been done.

Carlos was a happy-go-lucky person. He was friendly, open-minded, and joyful. However, he had a problem. As many cheerful persons are, he was emotional. When he got angry, no one would be able to calm him down. Unfortunately for him, his wife was even more emotional than him when she became furious. Whenever they had an argument, the situation would become out of control. There were often broken cups, dishes, glasses, or saucers to pick up after the fight.

One day they started arguing over their difference of opinion. However, afterwards they both did not remember what the cause of their argument was. The arguing increased, and they were shouting at each other. Carlos' wife broke several dishes and he was upset about it. His wife said that she was tired of fighting and she wanted a divorce. Still extremely angry, Carlos accepted his wife's request. His wife was still resentful the next morning. She drove to the local court and filed a divorce claim. By that time, Carlos had calmed down and regretted what had happened. He was no longer able to stop his wife. He could not handle the situation properly, simply because he was angry. He was not sure why they needed to divorce.

Why is there no justifiable anger? It is because anger makes one confused, uncontrollable, unreasonable, and illogical. Anger locks one's brain, fogs one's eyes, and deprives one of the ability to think reasonably. People cannot properly handle situations when they are angry. When I last had an argument with my wife, it cost me my favorite mug and a hole in our wall.



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