Live in Japan: Japanese lifestyle and its social culture
What is Shibaku? しばく

What is Shibaku? しばく It is a Kansai dialect and it might not be used in Tokyo or Kanto region. But this expression is commonly used in Kansai especially Osaka. "Shibakku" is often used to mean similar to "to hit" or "to beat". Tokyo people will say "Naguru" instead. It is popularly used as a […]

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Japanese Job Interview
Recent Trends in Recruitment Interviews in Japan (1): Structured Interview

About 15 years ago, there was a book that was very popular among Japanese students. It was called "The Master of Job Interview" and it was very popular among students who would graduate the following year, i.e. students who were looking for a job. Students preparing for job interviews memorized all the answers written in […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
Japan’s Family, Shop, and Company Precepts (Rules) throughout History of Japan

Japanese Companies Missions and Visions and Precepts When you establish a business, it is important to also clearly establish the basic precepts that underlie the business and how you plan to conduct it. Indeed, many companies operating in today's world have clearly defined business precepts. Looking back through history, you find that the old Japanese […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
Communication Kaizen in Japanese Business

What is Kaizen? By P. Pringle After several challenging years of global recession, manufacturing is beginning to recover in the Midwest where I live. Recently, large US companies have been hiring Japanese productivity consultants to work with their factory teams on gemba kaizen (factory floor productivity) activities. The Japanese experts have had many years of […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
Japanese High-tech Hourglass Helps in Disaster Recovery

A consortium called the “SUWA plus-minus 5 Microns Team,” made up of Suwa Glass Village, Komatsu Seiki Kosakusho Co., Ltd., Hotel Beniya and others, announced the design, creation and marketing of an elegant new hourglass, the first product to be launched under the SUWA brand. SUWA is the name of a large lake and nearby […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
The TRUTH About MOM GENERATIONS in Japan

By D. McCaughan Diverse Values of Japanese Mothers Born in Between 1970-74 and 1980-84 We talked to mothers born in 1970-74 and 1980-84. Keep in mind that the latter basically don’t remember the bubble years. They are the generation that embraced the “loose sock” fashion, fell in love with purikura, a photo sticker booth, and […]

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Live in Japan: Japanese lifestyle and its social culture
New “Weekly Shonen Jump” Theme Park a World’s First

Just before 2017 summer holiday season, J-WORLD TOKYO, an indoor theme park was opened in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, featuring characters from the popular manga magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. Since its opening on July 11 and the start of summer vacation, the theme park has been visited by young children, teens, families, couples and people from abroad.  […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
Kojiki: the Oldest History Book in Japan

Read Kojiki to Understand Japan and Japanese World's Longest Dynasty: Do you know that Japan is called "the only country in the world with a single dynasty"? This refers to the fact that there have been 126 generations of emperors, up to the present emperor, with one line of succession for 2,700 years. There is […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
The Man Who Saved the Country, Japan and the World

Masao Yoshida Who Defied Company Orders to Save Japan from Fukushima Nuclear Disaster By Ryusho Kadota (journalist) and Soichiro Tahara (journalist) Securement of a Line to Deliver Seawater Was Crucial Tahara: Mr. Kadota, the book you wrote, “Shi no Fuchi wo Mita Otoko” (“The man who saw the abyss of death”, published by PHP Institute) […]

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About Japanese companies and Japanese business people
Mitsuyo Maeda (1878-1941): Promoting Judo Abroad

Mitsuyo Maeda (1878-1941): Promoting Judo Outside Japan He was undefeated in some 1,000 mixed martial arts matches --- an impeccable fighting record. A fighting match can’t avoid the influence of luck --- as is often the case in a mixed martial arts match. Yet he never lost even once. In the early 20th century, a […]

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