Business Japanese by Hajime TakamizawaReview by: Yuki JohnsonThe Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese, Vol. 32, No. 2 (Oct., 1998), pp. 77-80Published by: American Association of Teachers of JapaneseStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/489583 .

Accessed: 15/06/2014 19:38

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.

.

American Association of Teachers of Japanese is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extendaccess to The Journal of the Association of Teachers of Japanese.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 19:38:15 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF JAPANESE 1 77

literature review chapters, the papers are primarily empirical, and there are numbers and statistics which might not be comprehensible. For teachers of

Japanese, the chapters on second language acquisition are strongly recommended.

BUSINESS JAPANESE, by Hajime Takamizawa. Tokyo: Japan Times, 1998. xv, 141 pp. Y1,200.

Reviewed by Yuki Johnson

As a financial crisis falls over Asia, Japanese companies are facing serious

challenges in terms of marketing and sales strategies and globalization of business. It has become clear that Japan's economy no longer enjoys the

prosperous environment of ten years ago; the heyday of Japanese economic

power has, at least for the moment, passed. In spite of such instabilities in the economy, the foreign workforce in

Japan has, perhaps surprisingly, shown continued growth. According to Shimada Megumi and Aki Shibukawa (1998), the number of foreign workers in Japan increased by 60% between 1993 and 1996. Also, the number of construction workers decreased, while the number employed in

professional, technical, and management-level positions increased. These

phenomena suggest that a change of roles played by foreign workers as well as the diversity of the Japanese language as a communication strategy can be identified. Therefore, even in the face of economic hardship in Japan, opportunities for students of Japanese business remain. Although the number of schools offering content-specific courses such as "Business

Japanese" and the like may be limited, learners who are well prepared to survive in today's business environment are still in demand.

Business Japanese, written by Hajime Takamizawa, is targeted toward advanced-level learners of Japanese who intend to work with/for Japanese companies or toward people already actively participating in the Japanese business world who seek additional, vigorous practical and cultural training. It is not, however, a textbook that most educators would use regularly in class; rather it is a pocket-sized, supplemental handbook with lists of various business-world expressions and useful terminology.

This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 19:38:15 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

78 1 VOLUME 32, NUMBER 2

Takamizawa's book is comprised of two chapters with an appendix. Chapter 1 collects 100 varieties of essential business expressions and is divided into seven sections. These sections cover expressions used in: basic business contexts; the office environment; negotiations; business trips; personnel affairs; social remarks; and presentations. Each section lists six to

twenty-one expressions, using one expression per page. Each expression is

accompanied by an English explanation as well as several example sentences that include the expression in question or related expressions in Japanese with romanization and an English equivalent. Also, footnotes appear at the bottom of most pages to provide additional remarks and brief grammatical explanations.

Chapter 2 introduces 50 key terms relevant to Japanese business culture

together with brief English explanations. The appendix includes noteworthy English business terms in alphabetical order. Each accompanies its Japanese equivalent in both romanization and Chinese compounds. Business Japanese thus introduces an abundance of expressions and vocabulary with which

language educators may not be familiar, or at least which are not commonly taught in regular language courses.

Business Japanese is a straightforward, casual text with a clear-cut listing of contents that introduces expressions at a glance. As mentioned, this book is probably inappropriate as the main text for a course in business Japanese, but it does provide a useful, pocket-sized supplement for advanced learners within or beyond the classroom. Such use of the book is likewise implied by the author; as he states, "If you study only the expressions without

understanding Japanese business culture you may not become a very good communicator (p. 11)." In order for the reader to more fully understand their use, further context for each expression needs to be provided, since mere memorization of the expressions cannot prepare the learner for untailored, real-world situations.

Since the book is intended for advanced learners of business Japanese, there are several parts that would have proven more useful had they provided more advanced, situationally-complex expressions. In particular, the example sentences introduced throughout Chapter 1 could better stimulate the interest of advanced learners by including more complicated structures. For example, hajimemashite - to mooshimasu is one of the first

expressions that learners of Japanese acquire, and the examples provided in

This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 19:38:15 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

JOURNAL OF THE ASSOCIATION OF TEACHERS OF JAPANESE 1 79

its context do little to expand the knowledge of an advanced learner. The

example sentences could provide more complex, situationally-relevant forms and vocabulary-for example, hajimemashite, konotabi haichitenkan tonari,

honjitsu yori honsha de osewani narukotoni narimashita -to mooshimasu- rather than forms typical of introductory Japanese language texts.

A further remark concerns the appendix. As can be readily observed of the Japanese language-especially business Japanese-a superabundance of loan words has come to be regularly employed. For example, the prevalence of katakana in an employment guide book (Nikkei Shuushoku Gaido, 1998) is obvious: PQ W )i5A9 ri-9

' 2 I~aucA"W' ", t

-W•'

/7" l /h, • b 7"f & , (p.150). In Takamizawa's

book, the emphasis is clearly placed upon gaining a familiarity with

Japanese words, and loan words seem to be somewhat purposely avoided.

Clearly, a mastery of Japanese words is requisite to competency in business

Japanese, but it is also important to recognize the prevalence of loan words and to be fluent in their use. Many of the Japanese terms listed in the

appendix are also commonly expressed by their loan-word (katakana) equivalents. Although knowledge of the equivalent Japanese term is integral to fluency, recognition that loan words are more frequently used in actual business environments is also important. Therefore, inclusion of loan-word

equivalents in katakana would have been beneficial to the appendix and the book as a whole.

Finally, minor suggestions can be made as to the use of certain Japanese terms and the accuracy of certain English translations. For example, the use of anata-gata in anata-gata gofusai o yuushoku ni omaneki shitai no desuga (p.77) may be inappropriate. Unless the relationship of two parties is clear, a surname or title may be more generally appropriate, as in kachoo gofusai o omaneki shitai no desuga. Proper use of anata is critical, especially in a hierarchical environment. Also, there are a few cases where English translations could have been double-checked, such as the equivalent of detarame being stated as "reliable" (p. 86).

Overall, this book offers ample expressions and terminology relevant to business Japanese and should be very useful to its intended audience. Furthermore, language educators may find the book valuable in considering specific examples of terms and expressions that students are likely required to know should they seek employment in the arena of Japanese business.

This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 19:38:15 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

80 j VOLUME 32, NUMBER 2

REFERENCES

Shimada, Megumi and Aki Shibukawa. 1998. Gaikokujin Bijinesu Kankeisha no Nihongo Shiyoo. Japanese Language Education around the Globe 8, 121-140.

Nikkei Shuushoku Gaido. 1998. Tokyo: DISCO Inc.

NIHON o HANASOo. 2nd Edition. By Nippon Steel Human Resources

Development Co., Ltd. and Japan College of Foreign Languages. Tokyo: The Japan Times, 1997. x+144 pp. Y 2100.

Reviewed by

J Paul Warnick

This text is intended for adult learners of Japanese at the intermediate level. The purpose of the book is to provide learners with information and

experiences which will foster an increased understanding of Japanese society and culture. The authors identify no specific language goals.

There are fifteen lessons covering a broad range of topics, including housing conditions, women's issues, the aging society, education, traditional arts, attitudes toward work, annual events, government, and

Japanese history. The text is exclusively in Japanese. The authors include technical

vocabulary related to the topics and each lesson introduces several

vocabulary items. Furigana is used with words considered to be beyond the intermediate level and appears below the given word.

The book begins with an explanation of lesson organization and

suggestions regarding how to use the book. Each lesson begins with two or three questions as advance organizers to encourage the learner to consider his or her personal experience in relation to aspects of the topic to be

presented. Each topic is introduced in a conversation format between two or more of the characters which appear in the text. The characters include a

Japanese couple, their son, and three foreigners who are boarding with them, one from the United States, one from Spain, and one from Indonesia.

Following the conversation, each lesson has up to four sets of questions. The first set focuses on the content of the conversation. The next set deals with the accompanying graphs, charts, or figures which contain data

This content downloaded from 185.44.78.31 on Sun, 15 Jun 2014 19:38:15 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions