North Star Language Services Co., Ltd.

When Two Worlds Collide – Cultural Differences and Etiquette

These pages contain some personal observations of differences between Japanese and Western cultures. The information here is not meant to be a definitive guide to understanding Japanese culture, but I hope that the examples and information included give you more of a idea how cultural misunderstandings can come about, and how to avoid such problems in the future.

“Hai”, “Eeh”, “Un” – Why are you interrupting?


One of the first things that confused me about the Japanese language when I first came to Japan was the use of “Eeh”, “hai”, and sometimes even “un” when someone else is talking.

To westerners, it is important for us to show we are listening to someone by looking directly at them, keeping a good level of eye contact, and using facial expressions to reflect that we understand or empathise with what they are saying. Looking down, away, or making any other sounds while someone else is talking are all cultural no-nos.

I can remember going into various stores in my first years in Japan, trying to ask the salesman for some advice in rather shaky Japanese, and finding it completely irritating and off-putting that instead of listening to the end of my sentence, he kept his gaze fixed intently on the product in question, and insisted on saying “Eeh” and “hai” every time I paused to think of what to say next.

I eventually realised that the “hai” and “Eeh” sounds were actually the salesman showing me that he was listening, and being helpful, and that he wasn’t just doing it because my Japanese wasn’t so good yet! You see, in Japan it is good manners to punctuate the speakers sentences with short expressions such as “Hai”, “Eeh” and “Un” to show that you are listening and understanding what they are saying. Not to do so can give the impression that you are not actually listening, or that you do not understand all of what is being said, and could possibly lead to the speaker coming away with a slightly worse impression of you than they should.

So the next step was to try and “hai” and “Eeh” myself. Not as easy as it looks, though. Well-timed “hai” and “Eeh” should come at the points where the Japanese sentence naturally pauses. Mis-timings, I found, caused further confusion as the speaker thought I was about to talk over them! Thankfully, after a little practice, I managed to get the hang of the basic “hai” and “Eeh”, and after a while began to realise the further subtle differences between the polite “hai” and “Eeh”, and the more informal “Un”.

Levels of Politeness  


As with the different levels of politeness in the Japanese language, I also found there are different levels of politeness with the “I’m listening” utterances too. Quite simply, “Hai” and “Eeh” are the polite forms, and would be used for example between colleagues of the same rank, or to superiors in the workplace. Other common uses are from sales staff to customers, or telephone call center staff to people making inquiries. The “Un” form however, is used when the other person is a friend, family member, child, or someone that you do not need to use polite levels of language with.

However, I would advise caution in which form of the expression you use. As Miyuki Kasahara, NSLS’s chief coordinator puts it; “It really winds me up when a sales person in a store says “Un” to me when I am talking. In Japan, the customer is very important and should be treated with respect. So if a sales person says “Un” to me, it sounds like they are being disrespectful, that they don’t think the customer is very important. I guess some people don’t really care about that, but I would say most Japanese people are sensitive to this expression, and would be offended with an inappropriately used “Un”.
Miyuki goes on to warn, “If the person I am talking to doesn’t have the sensitivity to get this right, it makes me doubt I can trust that person, and therefore gives me a bad image of the company they represent”.

Telephone “Hai” – More important than face to face


With a face-to-face conversation, it is possible to use body language and facial expressions to show you are paying attention. However, in telephone conversations, these little things play a far greater roll in the impression you are giving to the person on the other end of the line.

The telephone conversation expression requires good timing to ensure that you don’t interrupt the speaker’s flow. Even more important in the business setting is to make sure no “Un”s get through, and to make your “Hai”s sound cheerful, alert and attentive. Each “Hai” or “Eeh” sends the important message of “I am listening”, “I understand”, and “you have my full attention” to the speaker. When I talk on the phone to a Japanese client, I take care to make sure I have a smile on my face (as it is well known that you can “hear” the person smiling on the other end of the phone) and that my “Hai”s are clear, crisp, and attentive, in order to send the right signals to the client. The impact of a mistaken “Un” or lazy “Hai” could mean losing a client’s trust.

Many good Japanese speakers of English seem to find the reverse culture unnerving, and still find themselves saying, “Yes”, “I see”, “Uh-huh”, and other such phrases while someone else is speaking to them in English. It’s almost a spontaneous reaction to a polite situation, which could be mistaken as being rude if the English speaker didn’t realise why it was happening. So, if you find yourself talking to a Japanese person in English and they are saying such expressions when you speak, please do not worry. It is because they are trying to illustrate that they are listening, in effect saying, “I am listening, you have my undivided attention”.
 
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