Japan is known for being risk-averse, so it might seem surprising that the startup scene in Tokyo is thriving. These changes will have an impact on your future dealings with Japanese companies so it's good to pay attention to them.

In the context of Japanese corporate culture, the term "nomunication"—a blend of "nomu" (to drink) and "communication"—refers to the practice of building relationships over drinks, typically after work hours.

Last week I wrote about the drinking part of the story, this week it’s all about data security! Why oh why would someone have a USB stick (or laptop) with accessible confidential data on it with them? Let's not even consider going out on the town, why not have that information in a secure cloud environment?

This mantra (if you plan on having alcohol, don't carry your laptop with you) was drilled into me when I first joined the Big-4 consulting company I would spend 3 years at in 2015. This training as well as the accompanying article shows that although after-work drinking culture has started changing recently, these types of accidents still happen. This week I'll concentrate on the drinking part of the story, come back next week to read more about safe data management!

Japan has long continued its traditional employment practices, particularly the lifelong employment system or what we sometimes call the 'escalator system' (as in moving up in your career based on seniority rather than merit). However, as the global economy evolves, Japan is increasingly trying to move towards merit-based performance reviews, reflecting a significant cultural and economic shift.

Participants in our cross-cultural communication sessions remark that it's hard to get their Japanese co-workers to speak up about accomplishments, or just to speak up period! Some of this has to do with English skill levels (see last week's post) but even more than that especially humbleness is a cultural trait you need to take into account.