Bottom line - its about Communication

[leehljp]

"Tokyo (CNN) -- A power company apologized Saturday and said the exposure of three workers at the Fukushima Daiichi power plant to highly radioactive water might have been avoided with better communication."

Basically, this is what I have been saying all along. And Communication problems, Japanese style, is at the heart of their culture. Direct to the point engineering talk, even in life an death situations is RUDE. Japanese avoid it at all cost in situations with superiors, government officials and news. But on the other side of the coin, polite and correct Japanese is vague, (and culturally, "vague" is intentional.)

For a person who does not "live" in this situation for a few years, this is inconceivable at worst and very difficult to comprehend at best.

As I learned the language and prepared messages that my Sensei corrected (on paper), and then preached them, I also saw very faint facial expressions and body language that the receivers did not understand what I was saying. Then one day in a heated discussion with my Japanese language Sensei, and an illustration, a light bulb went off in his head and he said, "Oh I see, you wish to "communicate" more than speak good Japanese in lecture form."

After that, I had discussions up the line with the head "sensei" that correct, proper and respectful Japanese does not communicate well, which was at the heart of what we, or at least I wished to do. This is making a long story about my personal experiences short. But it points to the heart of the Japanese communication problem. I have heard it said several times by Japanese - If Japanese want to communicate correctly, they would do better to use English or another language because direct communication in another language is not considered rude and it is not vague. Japanese Christians who know English say how much better the English bible communicates than the Japanese bibles.

I have read in the Japanese news papers numerous times over the years about the communication difficulties in the language among the Japanese themselves. Here is where the problem is:
• The highest form of Japanese is intentionally vague (Keigo) and is super polite. This is used to address government officials or people high up in a company.
• The polite form (Masu) which is the most used by news casters and among acquaintances is also vague. (Messages for sermons generally use a major part of Masu but some Keigo). The Masu form is also used between supervisors and subordinates. It still is vague rather than specific.
• The third form is the plain form and it is direct, but considered confrontative, condescending or insubordinate, depending on the context and situation and who is talking to whom. Many foreigners who learn this form never realize how this works, but Japanese will allow foreigners to get away with it. However, within Japanese community context, it is rude outside of family and friend circles or the company beer party after work each day.
• There is a fourth form but most Japanese deny it - the in-the-house family language that is used only then. Extremely rude and crude when used outside of the home, or even in the home in the presence of visitors/guests.

Business people outside of Japan cannot fathom the depth of this communication problem in how it goes straight into life and death situations, but this is how that culture works. To put it another way: Engineering specs and Engineering language are specific, but good Japanese language is the antithesis of this. So how do you render Engineering specs in Japanese language? - Use foreign words such as word from the English language or German etc. There is no word that means "commitment" in Japanese as it does in English or Greek, so what is usually used? - "Ko-mitto-minnto". On and on we go with foreign words to convey direct meaning in Japanese. But most Japanese will not use this foreign form to other Japanese . . . and we then have a problem that stems from communication.

This is also why it is my opinion that Foreigners need to be in the mix over there on every level, so direct communication can be utilized.

[LinuxRandal]

To the point, what form does law enforcement use with criminals?

Maybe that is the form that should be used in situations such as this.

[leehljp]

To the point, what form does law enforcement use with criminals?

Maybe that is the form that should be used in situations such as this.

They use plain form - direct. Bosses and supervisors use plain form when talking down to subordinates of the bottom rung, but masu (indirect) if the subordinates hold some key information that the supervisor does not know .

Usually in the event of managers to engineers, there is a vague line of who is in control. The engineers who know, or the business management supervisor, who is answering to the CEO. In samurai fashion, the middle man takes the fall for the emperor or high up supervisor. The engineers or even mid to high level management must be very careful about presenting bad news, even if he has to commit suicide for the mistakes of the top boss or top level management. So, the full truth is not passed up the line and the ones in the know - knowingly put themselves at risk for the sake of the company/country.

There is another aspect to this in that Japanese, in times of trouble have middle men as go-betweens. We have been asked to do this before and seen it done many times. This avoids the dirty work of direct confrontation and direct blame. This is what is happening at the moment. Deciding who is going to get the blame. It is ashamed that this far more often than not overshadows the problem solving of the emergency.

[radhak]

Hank, you are offering us a peek into a culture that we might not get elsewhere (unless we live there), thanks!

So, not to be nosy or intrusive, but just to get a better idea of this, can you give us an example of one such communication?

E.g., what exactly might have been conveyed that ended up with the three workers put at risk? How would it have been done in the US?

I presume that you may not have seen the exact message, but maybe you might guess?

[jackellis]

This is also why it is my opinion that Foreigners need to be in the mix over there on every level, so direct communication can be utilized.

Insurance companies started requiring at least westerner to be in the cockpit of certain Asian airlines for exactly this reason. In the US and Europe, captains are expected to engage other crew members as part of a team, whereas in Japan and Korea, it was considered rude to contradict the captain or even offer suggestions.

There are some things about Japanese culture that are very admirable, and in fact they are cited in a recent New York Times article - patience, civility, and caring for others. There's been no looting, no violence and little animosity reported in the press. Unfortunately, some of those qualities can be problematic when dealing with a crisis.

[Tom Slick]

Very interesting peek into the Japanese culture, thank you.

I read/studied a book about Toyota's production system. It discussed many situations/interactions that I believe only work because of Japanese culture, such as taking the fall or self-punishment, and would not be effective in American manufacturing.

[LCHIEN]

I've been reading between the lines on the Nuclear problems all along, as you suggest I would have to.

The news reports from TEPCO the first week did not mention working in dark with no instruments.
At the end of the first week they talked about how they were almost done stringing new power wiring to the plant to reactivate the cooling. Nowhere did they mention that wire to the plant would only turn the ligths on, but the pumps would still have to be checked, the internal wiring checked and the plumbing checked. This was evident to me because we had hard the buildings exploded and pictures showed debris all around the reactor buildings.
It's apparent to me that the method of TEPCO and apparently the Japanese as a whole is to avoid telling bad news and emphasize the good while minimizing the downsides of the good even.

In the topic of vessel breach, all the circumstantial evidence points to it but TEPCO keeps reiterating we have no concrete evidence of a breach. well they won't get any because its too **** radioactive for anyone to get in there and confirm. Duh, where is all the radioactivity coming from? It's like the landlord who keeps saying theres no leak in the ceiling because he can't see where its dripping. Why not? because there's 4 inches of water on the floor on rainy days and he can't get inside. On dry days there's no water on the floor and he doesn't see any dripping.

The other thing is, if you don't tell anyone your plan, you don't look so bad when it fails. Does anyone know what the plan is? Seems like they're still reacting to events rather than making concrete steps toward carrying out any plan. Not sure they have one (shudder).
Wonder what they do with the highly radioactive water they are pumping out... into the ocean? How many gallons? Into pump trucks to be placed where??? Anyone remember Dr. Suess (may he rest in peace) Cat in the hat? Is radiation like a pink bathtub ring? Contaminates everything it touches.

In the US we have a phrase called "good news, bad news" and the only thing to debate is the order. In Japan, its "good news, no news". The word stable apparently refers to a state of constantly changing situation.
That's why I still have a really bad feeling about the things going on there.

[leehljp]

Hank, you are offering us a peek into a culture that we might not get elsewhere (unless we live there), thanks!

So, not to be nosy or intrusive, but just to get a better idea of this, can you give us an example of one such communication?

E.g., what exactly might have been conveyed that ended up with the three workers put at risk? How would it have been done in the US?

I presume that you may not have seen the exact message, but maybe you might guess?

Jack gave a great example.

I will give a scenario that is typical:

Leadership to High Level Supervisors: "You know what to do, so go do it and get it done." Under pressure, the HL Supervisor takes this to mean "go in at all cost and get the pumps going." It wasn't said the way the supervisor took it, but it is this kind of conversations that are vague and imply a wide meaning. It is this wide meaning and cultural mentality that drives people to "take the fall" to get the job done.

In the background of their mind, the thee workers know that there are dangers, and that there are specific regulations as to how each person should suit up. However, with world pressure as well as Japan pressure, the High Level supervisors tell them: "Time is running out. Go in now or ASAYGD. (As soon as you get dressed). It must be done now. "

The workers know this fact: (We don't have the exact prescribed protective suiting - [as was noted by one having different boots than the other two].) So, it was evident that the proper suiting was not there.

The conversation may have been like this: "The proper suiting procedure is not available."
HL Supervisor, do what you can with substitutes and now. So they go.

Or more likely they said nothing and at the prompting; they made a makeshift set of boots going against normal regulation and went in.


The bottom line for this is that the communication problem was between the top and the HL supervisors. The three workers had little or no choice but to act.

Japan is trying at all stops to save face, but the problem is always a couple of steps ahead of them because of communication problems and cultural "face".


I think I mentioned this somewhere else in another post:
The reporting of a minor problem that has NOT been fixed often means it is about to get dangerous. If it was a minor problem in the nuclear industry, it would have been fixed before letting the news know. IF you ask a Japanese on the street, they will deny there is a problem until the PM or company president says there is a problem. However, if you are a friend, in private they will say that they are worried.

When Emperor Hirohito was gravely ill and close to death, the principal of major school for internationals (I had two daughters there) called local Japanese schools and asked what the proper procedure to prepare in case he died. (Such as will there be a few days of mourning or a week of mourning and schools closed.) ALL Japanese school principals denied that he was ill. He died two days later. On the surface, they will deny the obvious when it comes to national problems until it happens. A similar incident happened on two other occasions with high level royalty. Deny it until after the fact has proven itself. Crisis is usually the same way.

[leehljp]

Their strengths:

As Jack mentioned above, they have some great and admirable traits. If you know how to use groups working together, they do GREAT jobs. One of the things that I admired was this. They may not have the best way of doing something but when they work as a group, they can make it work well. As a country, they pull together as well as I remember Americans back after WWII and the Korean War up into the 60s. Americans were Americans and we all pulled together at the drop of a hat. They do that.


Their group mentality is the antithesis of Individuality and it permeates their society. The word for "enthusiasm [nesshin]" is closely associated with "individual" and has a negative connotation among older Japanese. For the first year of my Japanese language study, I received consistent remarks of "Nesshin". After a year of being constantly harassed by the teachers, one finally told me that Nesshin was negative. It was perceived by the teachers that I was constantly trying to get ahead of the group. And the nail that sticks up, gets hammered down. Everyone goes together - Japanese do that.

Group work does wonders on "tug or war". Everyone pulling together in the same direction accomplishes much! Listen to news casts and you will often hear interviews starting off "We Japanese . . ." One of the greatest insults one Japanese can give another is to tell one that he or she is not a "real Japanese". That means you have been excluded from our group.



They are loyal. If you make friends, they will go out of their way to show appreciation. They don't think in terms of individuals being friends, but that two or more make a "group". "Strength in numbers". "We."


Everything is fairly well predetermined. Lists, instructions, orderly. BUT for something outside of that, chaos comes quick. They are not good at the unexpected.

[leehljp]

US VS JPN Cultural Communicative Values

I have been attempting for a while to put a chart of Japanese/US communicative values in with some of the posts. I hope it works now. It takes a few minutes to figure out but it basically shows what is a positive US value in communication but is basically negative in Japanese. And it shows what is Positive in Japanese that is considered negative in the US. This chart was put together by an American who grew up in Japan in the '60s and '70s and noticed these traits. I was told by my language supervisor some years ago that he used these as a basis for PHD work.

Click on the charts to make the larger. You can read them MUCH better.

An example of how this works, look down at the third group: Direct vs Indirect.
Direct has a positive value in the US and below are some of the attributes of directness in the US . . . which happen to have a negative cultural value or perception in Japan.

Next look across at the Indirectness (in communicating) and see the positive values that it has in Japan but in contrast the negative values for US form of communicating.

Interesting!

[Tom Slick]

So how do the Japanese view the way English speakers communicate behave? Do they believe we are rude and crude when interacting with each other?

[LCHIEN]

so who can explain how the normally cautious Japanese announced a figure of 10 million times normal radiation levels in the basement of the reactor pool and then retracted it saying it was in error. Was that to make the actual figure of 100,000 times radioactive than usual more palatable?

I still say they're losing it. They're just in public denial. They don't have a place to put all the water they will have to pump out. Its leaking underground into the ocean and maybe into the local water table. They just said radiation outside the containment buildings is now exceeds the 1 sievert level which is fatal with just 4 hours exposure. Pretty soon they won't be able to stay in the control room and man the pumping equipment and they'll have to walk away and then it will do a complete meltdown or 2 or 3. They don't even know which of the four reactors 1-4 is leaking worst. There's no plan B except to drop huge amounts of sand and concrete on it at the risk of frying the pilots. Just like they did at Chernobyl.

[radhak]

Fascinating, Hank, thanks! At least now I can see the other side...

I am trying to imagine myself fitting in that environment, and fail. Most probably my parents would have had to suffer the ignominy of a rude and insensitive child all their lives. Or maybe, by being brought up there, I might have been a model Japanese, and would think of the current 'me' as an abhorrence !

I have to admit, for all those 'differences', they have really done better as a society than any other we know. So maybe there's something in the notion of the 'greater good'. After all, they have seen the worst of times in the past and gloriously left it behind. While they may not be geared to deal with crises with what we call 'decisive action', they seem to be superb in dealing with the aftermath.

I still have hopes that the current scene will resolve much better than Chernobyl, in the long run.

[JimD]

There is really no reasonable way to equate the nuclear incident in Japan to Chernobyl. In the latter, we had the nuclear fuel inside a graphite moderator that was on fire. All of this was open to the atmosphere - only "containment" at Chernobyl was like the secondary containment in Japan and looked similar (it was a mess). So you had graphite burning with nuclear fuel inside of it. The burning graphite distributed the fuel into the atmosphere.

In Japan, you have spent fuel in a pit with less than the 10 to 20 feet of water that normally covers it but it is certainly not burning, there is no graphite to burn, and it gets more water periodically. The water level seems to have gotten below the top of the fuel, at least at Unit 4, but should be back above it now. Uncovering the fuel lets more radiation leak (the water is a shield) but it is not anything like what happens when a fire is spewing things out.

The rest of the special nuclear material is still inside of the primary containment. TEPCO knows whether the containment is intact if they instruments are working. The pressure should still be well above atmospheric if it is intact. If it has fallen to atmospheric, they have a major leak. But it is not open to the atmosphere like the core was at Chernobyl.

The better comparison is to Three Mile Island where part of the core melted. The spent fuel pit issue was not present at TMI, however.

[leehljp]

So how do the Japanese view the way English speakers communicate behave? Do they believe we are rude and crude when interacting with each other?

In a word, yes. But . . .

It depends on where you are: In another country when interacting, or in Japan. Japanese themselves can be like Americans, Canadians, Brits, Aussies in the respective countries, and think little of the direct and loud (as crude) communication. However, in Japan, they become Japanese again and will consider it very crude.

On US soil, they can be and are direct and to the point in business conversations and negotiations. But in Japan, it has to be subtle, indirect and then leading up to direct. And in honesty, they have "allowances" for the Westerner to be of western culture, but far more gains can be had by respecting their cultural traits.

And, It also depends on who holds the upper hand as to putting up with these cultural differences.

They do allow foreigners to be more direct than they do Japanese, on a surface level. They will respect the foreigner's ignorance and individuality for a short while. Then they will withdraw from the presence of the foreigner politely without letting him know that he has committed a cultural offense in their country. Very Few will confront the foreigner for being loud, crude, abrupt or direct.

They generally like subtle and dislike things that bring attention (in public) to themselves. I never will forget a moment in my first few months in Japan. A middle aged lady entered the train at a stop. I stood and offered her my seat. She turned red and moved to another car. Don't bring undue attention to self, or others.

In contrast to this Japanese trait, Koreans and Chinese alike can be very individualistic, much like Americans. I used to spend time waiting for friends at train stations or malls watching people. Oh, that person is Chinese, that person is Korean, that person is Aussie. Those two are definitely German.

Different cultures present different traits - clothes, demeanor, the way they walk, tone and loudness, gestures etc. It is all subtle but having been around international schools, and meeting foreigners quite often, it didn't take long to notice consistences in differences.