DiscussWorldIssues - Socio-Economic Religion and Political Uncensored Debate - View Single Post - Wow, I would not do well in a Japanese business meeting!

**Natashasuw** · 04-30-2010, 03:10 PM

Good link!

http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/reso...-profiles.html

This article clarified something for me. I knew that many cultures did not approve of children looking adults in the eye, but I suppose I never considered that staring into someone's eyes, especially a senior, would be disrespectful in traditional Japan.
A hachidan was giving me advice through an interpreter last year and I remember that something seemed awkward about our interaction. It was my understanding that when an interpreter is translating you should be focused on the original speaker rather than the translator (at least this is how it is with ASL situations). I made sure to look at the hachidan directly during his explanations. However, I could tell that something was amiss.

Does anyone have any suggestions for handling this sort of situation in the future?

04-30-2010, 03:10 PM	#6
Natashasuw Join Date Oct 2005 Posts 525 Senior Member	Good link! http://www.kwintessential.co.uk/reso...-profiles.html This article clarified something for me. I knew that many cultures did not approve of children looking adults in the eye, but I suppose I never considered that staring into someone's eyes, especially a senior, would be disrespectful in traditional Japan. A hachidan was giving me advice through an interpreter last year and I remember that something seemed awkward about our interaction. It was my understanding that when an interpreter is translating you should be focused on the original speaker rather than the translator (at least this is how it is with ASL situations). I made sure to look at the hachidan directly during his explanations. However, I could tell that something was amiss. Does anyone have any suggestions for handling this sort of situation in the future?
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