Different Games, Different Rules: Why Americans and Japanese Misunderstand Each Other

by Haru Yamada, Deborah Tannen (Foreword by)

PJapan and the United States are in closer contact politically and economically than ever before, yet in many ways our nations are as far from mutual understanding as ever. Misconceptions and miscommunications between East and West continue to plague this important relationship, frustrating the best efforts of both cultures to work together. Stereotypes abound#58; Americans see Japanese as evasive and inscrutable, while Japanese see Americans as pushy and selfish. What causes these persistent misunderstandings, and what can be done to avoid them?br Fluent in both languages and at home in both cultures, Haru Yamada brings an insiders perspective and a linguists training to this difficult question, illuminating the many reasons why Americans and Japanese misunderstand one another. Social organization, she explains, shapes the way we talk. Because American and Japanese cultures value different kinds of social relationships, they play different language games with different sets of rules. In America, for instance, Aesop's fable about the grasshopper and the ants ends with the ants scorning the foolhardy grasshopper. In Japan, however, the story has a very different ending#58; the ants invite the grasshopper in to share their winter meal, as they appreciate how his singing spurred them on during their summer labors. In the difference between these two endings, argues Yamada, lies an important lesson#58; Americans, because of their unique political history, value independence and individuality, while Japanese value mutual dependency and interconnectedness. The language of both cultures is designed to display and reinforce these values so that words, phrases and expressions in one language can have completely different connotations in another, leading to all manner of misunderstanding. Yamada provides numerous examples. In Japan, for instance, silence is valued and halting speech is considered more honest and thoughtful than fluid speech, while in America forthright, polished speech is valued. Likewise, the Japanese use word order to express emphasis, while Americans use vocal stress#58; a listener unaware of this difference may easily misunderstand the import of a sentence. In a lucid and insightful discussion, Yamada outlines the basic differences between Japanese and American English and analyzes a number of real-life business and social interactions in which these differences led to miscommunication. By understanding how and why each culture speaks in the way that it does, Yamada shows, we can learn to avoid frustrating and damaging failures of communication. br bDifferent Games, Different Rules/b is essential reading for anyone who travels to or communicates regularly with Japan, whether they are scientists, scholars, tourists, or business executives. But as Deborah Tannen notes in her Foreword to the book, even those who will never travel to Japan, do business with a Japanese company, or talk to a person from that part of the world, will find the insights of this book illuminating and helpful, because the greatest benefit that comes of understanding another culture is a better and deeper understanding of one's own.


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From book cover

"Different Games, Different Rules is an insightful analysis of why Japanese and Americans, despite the best of intentions, often misunderstand each other. In easy-to-understand prose and with clear examples, Dr. Haru Yamada illustrates the mutual assumptions, the unconscious strategies, as well as the different mechanics of the two languages that form the barriers to better communication. In showing us ways to improve understanding ourselves. Informative and immediately useful for any person involved in Japanese-U.S. dealings."
-- Norio Ohga, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Sony Corporation

"Yamada makes clear the close connection between a country's culture and its language and how cultural differences can create misunderstanding and mistrust during negotiations between companies and countries. This insightful and very useful book should be required reading for government officials and corporate executives in both Japan and the United States."
-- Tatsuro Toyoda, former President, and current senior Advisor, Member of the Board, Toyota Motor Corporation

"A penetrating study of the root causes of ongoing tensions in U.S.-Japanese relations. Many others have offered analysis, opinion, and advice on this complex subject, but none have shed more light."
-- Walter G. Hoadley, Executive Vice President, Bank of America.

"Dr. Yamada offers an engaging analysis of the differences between American and Japanese communication styles. Rich in insights on navigating the minefield of cross-cultural communication."
-- Y. Kobayashi, Chairman, Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd.

"It is marvelously well written. It is witty, engaging, academic, and at the same time, very personal."
-- Seiichi Makino, Journal of Japanese Studies<...

Genres: Japan, Nonfiction

166 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

About the author

Haru Yamada is a sociolinguistics researcher and writer with a PhD from Georgetown University. A distinction of her doctoral dissertation on conversational analysis of bankers’ meetings led to the publication of American and Japanese Business Discourse, where she introduced the idea of speaker- and listener-led conversations. Developing her concept of listener-led conversations in a publication with Oxford University Press, she published Different Games, Different Rules with a foreword by New York Times best-selling author Deborah Tannen. She regularly talks at academic conferences.

Haru’s life mission is to champion listening, in many ways enforced by a serious accident which left her nearly deaf and with a lifelong hearing disability. While hearing loss isn’t ideal in someone who spends their time listening, this personal challenge bolsters much of her everyday life and informs the book, making listening a thoughtful part of daily practice, drawing from skills she acquired from over seven international moves before attending university, and further moves as a working adult. She currently lives in London with her French partner, two multilingual, biracial, multicultural children in a hybrid working, bigenerational home.

Reviews

[Keith Alverson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read the first chapter. I was surprised this was written by an academic, it seems like one long hackneyed cliche. Maybe I'll go back to it at some point, but probably not. The trivial American pop culture references that seem to be placed there to bolster the author's obviously very weak "American" bonafides were particularly annoying.

[Crystal Messing · Rating 4 out of 5]

Educational for sure. A good insight into the differences between US and Japan's business practices, and excellent insight into the ways of the Japanese people in relation to their history and culture.

[Alex · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have not gotten very far in this book. Mostly because I have to get over the author believing she's All-American when she isn't. I'll pick it back up when I have rebuilt up my patience to analyze an analysisthat it scewed, written by a person who believes themself to be unbiased. (Yes, I see the irony in that last statement.)
Some good cultural insight were made in part of what I read, such that I realized I was most deffinately an American by birth, though I could see some of the cross-cultural points. The tale of work ethic in the opening is a good example of a paradigm shift happening while reading. Never-the-less I can no longer wholeheartly recommend this book. We'll see what I think when I pick it back up.

[Yuka Matsugu · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great book for people who face to any cultural miscommunication whether it's between English-Japanese or not. This book was written by a well-trained linguist, so the points are very objective and clear. Unlike many other linguistics books, however, the author wrote it for non-linguists. So it is very easy to follow without having any linguistics background.

[Rebecca Radnor · Rating 5 out of 5]

My dissertation is on US-Japan relations, so I've had to read a lot of these types of books. Its a shame more of them aren't like this. Granted, its not perfect, but if you had time to read only one book on the Japanese before jumping on a plane to negotiate your company's deal, I would hope this might be one of the books on the Airport bookstore's shelf... which it probably isn't.