) Has Proposed 3 Measures to Deal with This Information Exploitation Tactic of the Japanese Side:

2. “Yes” or “no” in a vague and ambiguous way

“yes” or “no” )

3. Silence

4. Counterquestion

5. Tangential responses

6. Leaving the negotiating table (exiting)

7. Lying

8. Criticizing the question itself

9. Refusing the question

12. Delaying responses (e.g. “we will send you a written response” )

13. Say “no” but mean “yes” (internally “yes” , externally “no” )

14. Saying “yes” but meaning “no” (internally “no” , externally “yes” )

15. Apology

16. Use words that are close in meaning to the English word “no” (not used in dialogue, only used in written communication) (the equivalent of the English “no” )

In addition to the 16 common ways above, the Japanese also avoid saying “no” by changing the subject, or letting lower-level members of the negotiating team make the refusal in informal meetings. Compared to businessmen from other countries, the Japanese have the lowest frequency of saying “no” , on average they say “no” less than twice every 30 minutes, while Americans say “no” up to 5 times, Koreans 7 times, Brazilians 42 times. This is a characteristic of the direct negotiation activities of Japanese businessmen, which is influenced by culture.

Japan is a culture that values ​​etiquette, politeness, maintaining harmony and avoiding conflict.

Third: Haragei and information signals from gestures and non-verbal language

In Japanese society, due to its high homogeneity, geographical isolation and tradition of building and maintaining long-term relationships between people, in social and business communication, the Japanese attach great importance to subtle and thoughtful communication. They avoid speaking directly to the point, but instead speak in a roundabout way, but the listener can still intuitively understand the speaker's true intention. The Japanese call this phenomenon "haragei" - roughly translated as "stomach language" . Jane A. Corddry, a researcher on Japan, explained haragei as follows: "The Japanese consider haragei to be the pinnacle of the art of interpersonal communication. When a person has a problem that needs to be solved or wants to make a request, they often express their wishes in a discreet and subtle way. The listener does not need to ask the speaker to say everything out loud, but can still understand the speaker's intention intuitively. Because they share the same history, language, culture, and society, the Japanese have developed haragei into “the art of communicating with the heart, using as few words as possible” (“how to do business with the Japanese” – Mark Zimmerman – page 107)

Of course, in international trade negotiations, the Japanese do not always communicate in the haragei style, but the haragei phenomenon still appears very commonly, making it difficult for foreign partners to grasp the information that the Japanese side wants to convey. Below are some examples of haragei that foreign businessmen should pay attention to when negotiating with Japanese businesses:

• “Yes, that's right”: means “yes, I'm listening to you” , meaning that the Japanese side is actively listening and encouraging the partner to continue presenting.

• “Agreed!”: this is a positive attitude and promises the possibility that the Japanese side may accept, which shows that the negotiator's argument is developing in a convincing direction.

• “Yes” or “understood” : also means “yes, that's right” , should not be understood as the Japanese side being completely convinced and completely agreeing.

Unlike Americans, the Japanese do not put all the information they want to convey into words. For them, words are not the only means of communication. The process of conveying information in Japanese negotiations is often done through non-verbal communication channels such as: voice, eye contact, body language, smile, etc. The more important the information is, the more it is often conveyed through non-verbal communication channels. However, decoding the signals from Japanese gestures and non-verbal language is not easy for foreign businessmen, especially those who are establishing business relationships with Japanese companies for the first time. This makes partners from other cultures find it very difficult to understand the true intentions of the Japanese side and have the impression of Japanese negotiators as "difficult people". During the negotiation process, of course there will be issues that require clear verbal presentation such as: delivery date, order quantity, unit price, etc. If non-verbal communication plays such an important role for the Japanese, how can they express their opinions on specific issues like the above without using words? The above question can be explained satisfactorily if we pay attention to another more important issue, which is the issue of trust. For Japanese businessmen, the most important information in business negotiations is not the specific content of the negotiation but the quality of the business relationship between the parties that is being built, maintained and developed through the direct negotiation process. The parties' specific negotiation of the negotiation contents, for the Japanese, is also the process of the parties cultivating trust and cooperation with each other. If the Japanese side does not trust the partner or they do not see any benefits from building a long-term business relationship with the partner, it is very difficult to reach a final agreement and the contract is difficult to sign. In other words, without trust between the parties, there will be no sales contract. Information about the trust between the parties and the prospects for the development of long-term business relationships is rarely

expressed through words, but mainly conveyed through gestures and behavior, these are the signals that indicate whether the negotiation has the prospect of success or not.

Wednesday: “Silence is golden” and “banana-sale” offers

During direct negotiations, there are times when we encounter the Japanese side suddenly sitting still, not saying anything, leaning back in their chair, eyes closed for a long time. If not prepared in advance, the foreign partner will be very confused, not knowing how to act or trying to find a way to break the silence. In fact, the Japanese silence during negotiations also has its reasons. In Japan, "silence is golden", "the mouth is the root of all trouble" are two very familiar sayings that show the value of silence that the Japanese highly value. Keeping silent will help us avoid unnecessary trouble due to slips of the tongue or hastily giving clumsy answers. Therefore, when receiving a question, the Japanese never rush to answer immediately, even if it is an easy question. Instead, they often take the time to think and consider carefully before answering because if they answer and then correct the answer, the Japanese consider it a sign of insincerity. In addition, the second reason for silence during negotiations may be that the Japanese side is seriously pondering the issue being negotiated. At such times, foreign negotiators should not be too impatient, urging the Japanese side to respond or finding ways to break the silence, but should wait patiently. Although doing so will take a long time, it is necessary to ensure that the negotiation process goes in a favorable direction.

The Japanese only use high-price offers as a negotiating tactic when they engage in international trade if they have to negotiate with completely new customers who “do not know what to expect from them and it is safer to make high offers so that they can use their tricks in direct negotiations” (Negotiation-readings, exercises and cases- Roy J. Lewicki-page 545).

Persuasion phase

In fact, the Japanese do not distinguish too clearly between the information exchange stage and the persuasion stage, but they spend more time on the information exchange stage, so the process of persuading each other in negotiations with Japanese companies rarely lasts too long or is too tense, and therefore conflicts or arguments between the parties rarely occur. Below are the two most basic persuasion tactics and conflict resolution methods that Japanese businessmen often use in direct international trade negotiations.

First: Naniwabushi

Naniwabushi originated from popular Japanese ballads dating back to the 17th century, which told stories about righteous bandits and the ups and downs of major Japanese families. These ballads consisted of three main parts: the opening part called kikkake , which described the general developments of the story as well as the thoughts and feelings of the people involved, the second part called seme , which told about the events that were happening, and the third part called urei , which expressed feelings of despair and pain in the face of those events. A more specific explanation of naniwabushi applied in direct negotiations is as follows: suppose you want to negotiate with a seller about changing the payment terms in a contract because your company is facing financial difficulties. To convince the seller to agree, you start your strategy by explaining to the seller how your long-term business relationship has developed well, how you have strictly followed the contract in the past, as well as about previous deals that you have not done well in.

That is, you have never been late with a payment, what specific benefits have you brought to the seller, etc., etc. That is kikkake . Next comes the s eme , you explain to the seller how bad the financial difficulties your company is facing have become, and the only way to help you now is if the seller agrees to extend your contract payment for another half year. Finally, the urei , you explain to the seller that if they do not agree to the proposal, the consequences for your company will be dire.

The sequence of the naniwabushi tactic starts with very long but reasonable and convincing explanations, and ends with a proposal made at the end. This tactic seems to be roundabout, and a bit “tragic”, but it is very effective when applied to long-term partners. For the Japanese, applying naniwabushi is also an art, sometimes it has many calculating elements hidden behind the rather lengthy explanations. The Japanese do not often persuade their partners with words, arguments, logical and scientific arguments, but are rigid, they never use threats or intimidation in negotiations, unlike Americans who often persuade in the style of “You should…” , but the Japanese persuade in the style of “We need…” . This is a very polite and gentle persuasion style, and makes the partner feel appreciated and respected.

Second: nemawashi

The word nemawashi translates into English as “preparing the roots”, meaning that if you take good care of a tree from the roots, it will grow quickly and healthily. The figurative meaning of this word is that when the Japanese have entered the formal negotiation table, and when they have moved to the stage of persuasion, it means that all issues have been agreed upon beforehand through many formal and informal exchanges between the parties. For Japanese businessmen, the direct negotiation table is not a place where the parties can persuade each other to change their positions, goals and views, in other words, direct persuasion tactics at the negotiation table will not be effective for the Japanese. Because the Japanese are more interested in reaching an agreement by building trust, strengthening business relationships.