Tag Archives: Japan

Exchange Business Card with Japanese


Posted by admin
Visiting Japan for business? Do remember to carry double-sided business cards in Japanese and English. The exchange of business cards, meishi, is a crucial part of Japanese business etiquette. After a person has introduced him/herself and bowed, the business card ceremony begins. This small effort establishes trust, and maximizes opportunity for excellent results.


 

To begin with, the business card will pronounce the identity and corporate association. In fact, business cards offer their owner such a degree of credibility that government officials often sign their name and the date on the back of the card to guard against fraud. The card serves the important reason of identifying a person’s position within the corporate hierarchy.

Japanese give and receive meishi with both hands demonstrating greater respect. The cards should be printed in home language on one side and Japanese on the other. It will contain the name and title along with the company name, address and telephone number of the businessman. In a business situation, business cannot begin until the meishi exchange process is complete. The customary greeting is the bow. However, some Japanese may greet with a handshake, albeit a weak one.  If a person is greeted with a bow, one should return with a bow as low as the one is received. How low a person bow determines the status of the relationship between him/her and the other individual. At the time of time bow, one should keep eyes low and palms flat next to thighs. The business card should be given after the bow.

The art of exchanging business cards, in Japan involves a strict code of etiquette. In Japan, “business cards are considered an extension of the holder’s identity”. Giving or receiving business cards in a wrong way might compromise the negotiations. In hierarchy-oriented Japan, a person must know another person’s status to treat them with the proper respect. Essential tips include bowing and handling cards with both hands.

One should make sure that rarely they give and receive a business card simultaneously, In these circumstances, holding the card with the left hand and offering it while receiving host’s card with the right hand. Once the host has accepted the card, his card should be hold  with both hands. One should never leave someone’s card on a table or forget to bring it when one leaves the room. Business card should never be inserted into pocket or otherwise this may show disinterest or neglect.

The Japanese society is very homogenous with most people sharing the similar background and habits. Non-verbal signals are strong and often escape a non-Japanese person completely. Non-verbal signals are also a potential source for terrible faux pas.


The Trustworthy Accounting Services in Japan


Posted by admin
In Japan, the Securities Exchange Act has granted the authority to set up the Japanese accounting standards and services of the public companies to the Minister of Finance formerly or the Director General of the Financial Service Agency at present. For this reason MOF or FSA formed an advisory council which is called as Business Accounting Deliberation Council (BADC which consisted of members with academic background, professional accountants, financial statements preparers and users, and ex-government officers. Accounting services in Japan are considered as one of the best accounting services in the world.

 

 

Out of all the accounting firms in Japan, there are four largest international professional services networks in accountancy and professional services which have created an oligopoly in auditing large companies are namely: PricewaterhouseCoopers; KPMG; Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu and Ernst & Young. These firms handle the vast majority of audits for publicly traded companies as well as many private companies, creating The Big Four firms in Japan.

None of the above mentioned accounting firms is a single firm. They are accounting networks. Each of the Big four’s is a network of firms, owned and managed independently. They have entered into agreements with other member firms in the network to share a common name, brand and quality standards. Each network has established an entity to co-ordinate the activities of the network. In one case (KPMG), Swiss is the co-coordinating entity, and in other three cases (Deloitte Touché Tohmatsu, PricewaterhouseCoopers and Ernst & Young) a UK limited company is the co-coordinating entity. These entities are similar to law firm networks found in the legal profession.

KPMG is a global network of professional firms which provides Audit, Tax and Advisory services. KPMG in Japan was established when it opened a network office in Japan in 1949, being the first international accounting network to do so.  “Deloitte” is the brand under which independent firms throughout the world collaborate to provide audit, consulting, risk management, financial advisory and tax services to the selected clients including multi-national enterprises and major Japanese business entities.

Ernst & Young provides global services in four main areas of Assurance, Tax*, Transactions and Advisory. It is helping clients in retaining the confidence of investors, manage risk, strengthen controls and achieve potential.

PwC is providing industry-focused assurance, tax and advisory & consulting services to build public trust and enhance value for its clients and their stakeholders.

The limiting factor on the development of additional firms is an important concern, although some of the firms in the next tier have turn out to be pretty significant, and have formed international networks, effectively all very large public companies insist on having a “Big Four” audit, so the smaller firms have no way to grow into the top end of the market.