Introduction to Japanese Business Culture

Introduction to Japanese Business Culture 4/5

• Level: 4 and 5

• Language of Instruction: Japanese

• Quota: max. 10 students

• Class: once a week (90 mins x 15 weeks)

• Equivalent to 2 KUIS credits

• Instructor: Yumi Wakamatsu

Taking up common situations such as part-time jobs, the Introduction to Japanese Business Culture 4･5 course aims to help students understand business communication patterns which may be required during interactions with Japanese in the context of corporate or other employment situations. This course is intended to familiarize students with the Japanese expressions and communication patterns in business situations while also heightening awareness of how these communication styles differ from the patterns in their native languages.

Aimed students

Japanese level 4・5

This course is for those who are interested in Japanese communication in business situations.

Class Objectives

1) Language competence

Learn the basic expressions of business Japanese and become able to actually use them.

2) Sociolinguistic competence

Understand the appropriate politeness of language when working with Japanese people in a Japanese-speaking workplace.

3) Social and cultural competence

• While practicing with short skits in business situations, students understand the social culture required for Japanese work situations, such as job hunting.

• When considering future career paths, think about how to acquire Japanese social culture hereafter.

Course structure

<Flow of each class> * Taking the first half term as an example

• Before class, students read the materials distributed in advance and do your own preparation tasks.

• Students will discuss their thoughts and opinions about the reading material in class.

• In the first class, students will practice writing simple business emails. In later classes, students will keep practicing writing emails during telephone answering and job interviews session.

• In business email session, students submit the email they wrote as an assignment. In addition, telephone calls and interviews are recorded and submitted as assignments.

Course schedule

• 1st-5th class

How to write business emails, answer phone calls, receive part-time jobs and job interviews (introductory level)

• 6th-10th class

Honorifics (use of “Uchi (in-groups)” and “Soto (out-groups)” properly), business etiquette (introductory level)

• 11th to 15th class

Presentation in business situations (introductory level)

(How to make a presentation, create slides, practice presentations, make presentations) * Presentation is the final task

Teaching materials / reference materials

Teaching materials will be distributed and introduced in the class.

Evaluation Criteria

• Class participation

• Assignment for each topic

• Final assignment (presentation)

Introduction to Japanese Business Culture 6/7

• Level: 6 and 7

• Language of Instruction: Japanese

• Quota: max. 10 students

• Class: once a week (90 mins x 15 weeks)

• Equivalent to 2 KUIS credits

• Instructor: Masako Manabe

The Introduction to Japanese Business Culture 6･7 course aims to help students understand business communication patterns which may be required during interactions with Japanese in the context of corporate or other employment situations. The course is intended to familiarize students with the Japanese expressions and communication patterns in business and formal situations while also heightening awareness of how these communication styles differ from the patterns in their native languages.

Aimed students

This is for Japanese level 6 and 7 students who are interested in Japanese communication in business situations and who want to work for a Japanese company.

Class Objectives

• Communicate appropriately in formal situations such as interviews and business situations.

• Discover and solve problems that occur in different cultures of business and formal situations.

• Learn about Japanese business customs and culture and apply it to communication.

• Understand written interactions in business and formal situations.

Course structure

Each time, students discover problems in cases in different cultures and discuss solutions (case-based learning). Before class, students read the materials for each case, think about what you would do, and write them down on a worksheet (preparatory homework). Learn about customs, culture, and expressions of Japanese communication in business situations necessary for problem solving.

In the first half of the course, students will have a self-analysis for employment and a mock interview online.

In the second half of the course, students will learn about written interactions such as business emails written in Japanese. Also, students will actually write it ourselves.

Teaching materials / reference materials

Teaching materials will be distributed and introduced in the class.

Evaluation Criteria

• Reflection 20%: Write and submit after class

• Quiz 10%: Confirmation of understanding of what students learned in class

• Homework 20%: Case-based study Worksheet

• Assignment 20%: Submissions of worksheets used for mock interviews (performance) and class.

• Final task 30%: Submit a report on Case-based learning

Precautions for registration

• The quiz does not have a make-up.

• If the submission is delayed, points will be deducted by 50%. Make sure to submit before the deadline.

• Evaluation is not based on Japanese language ability.

• This is a discussion-based class, active participation is required.