I lived in Japan for 20 years and saw business there change in 7 big ways that we'd be remiss to ignore
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Shutterstock/f11photo Business is booming in Japan.
I first stepped off the plane into Japan back in 1994 into Osaka airport, back when Kansai International Airport was still being built. I had no idea what to expect. I didn't speak the language and while I'd lived in other Asian countries before, this was the first one I was entering alone. Who knew that a 6-month study abroad program would forever change my life?
After finishing college, I returned to Japan to start my career not knowing where it would take me. All I knew was that I enjoyed teaching English, and Japan was looking for teachers. Now it's 21 years later, and I'm still here. While some things haven't changed, a lot has and I've been witness to it all.One of the biggest changes in recent years has been the surge in tourism. Long ago, I remember walking down the arcade in Shinsaibashi in Osaka, and I was the lone blond-haired person in a sea of black. Today, that's no longer the case. Tourism has exploded in recent years with visitors from China, Korea, India, Australia, American and many more dominating the landscape. So much so that restaurants have started offering menus in different languages to cater to their clientele. The numbers say it all; in 2017, Japan welcomed 28.7 million tourists - up from 10.4 million just three years earlier, blasting through the government's target of achieving 20 million foreign visitors by 2020.
Courtesy of Adrian Shepherd
Adrian Shepherd.
Someone once told me that the Japanese approach work differently. In the West, family comes first. We love our family so we work. Here it used to be - we work, so we can have a family. That trend has all but disappeared with the current generation. Besides a few holdovers from the old days, today more and more Japanese people are putting their family first and it's something companies are still struggling to adapt to.
This was introduced back in 2005 as a means to reduce electricity consumption by limiting the use of air conditioning. It was quite controversial when it started as companies in Japan had been all about suits. It started out as the summer dress code for government workers, but has since spread to the private sector. Slowly, more and more companies are introducing casual Fridays.
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