Doing Business with the New Japan

The recent focus on China's boom has obscured the fact that Japan is once again on the rise. How do we manage our growing, and crucial, interdependence? The answer lies in the legions of Japanese and American managers and officials involved in the day-to-day and face-to-face negotiations that drive commerce. Opportunities for U.S. companies in Japan remain strong if businesspeople can learn to conduct successful business negotiations with their counterparts. Yet a cultural misstep or tactical error in negotiating easily can mean the loss of an important contract or the potential for future business.

In this invaluable book, three leading experts pool their decades of experience to provide a pragmatic guide for Westerners doing business in Japan. Using up-to-the-minute case studies, the authors explain Japanese culture and negotiating techniques and provide practical advice on conducting effective meetings with Japanese clients. Representing a unique combination of perspectives developed through international business practice, high-level diplomatic experience, and sophisticated academic research, the authors offer both Japanese and American perspectives to help readers cross the wide cultural gap that can unnecessarily divide businesspeople from both countries.

James Day Hodgson was U.S. Ambassador to Japan from 1974 to 1977 and U.S. Secretary of Labor from 1970 to 1973. He has been corporate director and consultant to companies such as Hewlett-Packard and Toyota.

Yoshihiro Sano is president of Pacific Alliance Group, a consulting firm specializing in cross-border mergers and investments.

John L. Graham is professor of international business and marketing at the graduate school of management at the University of California, Irvine. He has been a consultant to Toyota, the Foreign Service Institute, Hyundai, Ford, AT&T, Prudential, Intel, and Rockwell International.