Different Games, Different Rules: Why Americans and Japanese Misunderstand Each Other

by Haru Yamada

Book Overview

Japan and the United States are in closer contact politically and economically than ever before, yet in many ways our nations are as far from mutual understanding as ever. Misconceptions and miscommunications between East and West continue to plague this important relationship, frustrating the best efforts of both cultures to work together. Stereotypes abound: Americans see Japanese as evasive and inscrutable, while Japanese see Americans as pushy...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0195094883
• ISBN13: 9780195094886
• Release Date: April 1997
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
• Length: 192 Pages
• Weight: 1.05 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 6.3" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Lost in translation: Know what you don't know and what to do about it

This book is more than ever relevant as Japan remains and will remain for a long time an economic superpower. As a regular traveller to Japan, this book goes deeper than the traditional self-help "5 tips to get by in Japan" which failed to communicate the true sources of cultural differences. It is critical that businessmen and women read this book to, at a minimum, know what they don't know. Importantly you will come away understanding differences and also with communication pointers to adjust for these differences when negotiating, running meetings, presenting, etc. Although it is obviously completly wrong to assume that America is the same as other Western cultures or that what is true for Japan is true for China (and vice-versa), some differences (between Japan and western cultures) are applicable in China with different degrees. However, the way to adjust for them might be different. This book is only for those who really want to understand....

Enlightening

If anyone is qualified to write about the subject of US-Japanese communication, it is Yamada. She is truly bi-cultural and bi-lingual, having significant experience in both the United States and Japan (her father's employment required the family to move in three year cycles between the United States and Japan, and she attended schools and universities in both countries). She adds to this experience sociolinguistic research credentials acquired under Deborah Tannen at Georgetown, which she puts to use in conducting a solid reseach study of US and Japanese business communication patterns. Yamada draws on this unique expertise to illustrate her points in a particularly clear and engaging way.

One of the few good "understanding the Japanese" books

My dissertation is on US-Japan relations, so I've had to read a lot of these types of books. Its a shame more of them aren't like this. Granted, its not perfect, but if you had time to read only one book on the Japanese before jumping on a plane to negotiate your company's deal, I would hope this might be one of the books on the Airport bookstore's shelf... which it probably isn't.

Interesting for Americans and Japanese alike

Different Games, Different Rules sheds new light on common communication challenges encountered by Japanese and Americans. Yamada gives interesting, enlightening examples and explains cultural meanings behind common linguistical expressions. This book is expecially interesting for American students studying Japanese or working with Japanese people. Very easy to read!

A very "readable" text on a complex subject.

Ms Yamada has written an excellent reference book. It has a very clear style and a 'warm' voice . It was a joy to read this book!