Internship at IKEA - Last impression of Japan

Even though the school has been very busy the latest weeks because of the final exams, I took some time to do internship at IKEA Osaka. I have been working on the Communication and Interior design department on IKEA in Sweden so I though it would be very interesting to see how they work here, if there are any differences even if it is a Swedish company and to meet Japanese people in the working environment. I went to IKEA this Wednesday and Thursday. For you who doesn’t know Com&in department, they work with all the commercial areas in the store to make attractive and inspirational homes and to display the products in a commercial and attractive way. I was lucky, this week the team worked to finish an apartment, built after the Japanese house standards to fit the Japanese needs and wants in the house. It is a huge project and the first "Japanese" house they built in an IKEA store in Japan. I actually thought that even if it is exactly the same products all over the world, that the rooms was designed to match the costumers needs in a specific country, but it’s not...IKEA is IKEA where ever you are. I was an assistant to one of the first interior designers and I did a lot of different things for examples, rigged lamps, sew curtains and furnished a Tatami room. A Japanese traditional house does not have a designed utility for each room aside from the entrance area, kitchen, bathroom and toilet. Every room is a multifunctional room where they can do many different things to save space. The family who "lives" in this house we designed for a family consists of mother, father and two small children. The challenge of this project was to have much storage space in each room. The children share on room, the parents have a bedroom and then they have a big living room with open kitchen area. The Tatami room is an extra room for play area for the children and for guests when they come to visit the family. A Tatami room is a Japanese home decor, Yori who is an interior designer at IKEA described that the Tatami add simplicity, style and elegance to the home. She also mentioned that the rug accommodates to the temperature, in the summer the rug is cooler and that it’s gets warmer in the winter. Japanese houses always seems to have the toilets separately, it must have to do with their obsession of cleanness. To separate the dirt from the bathrooms cleanness. Other interesting things that I noticed was the slippers had their specific place and that they needed storage in the hallway for baseball racks.

In the afternoon the Com&in chief who is Swedish buy the way, took some time to talk to be about IKEA and about the challenges to work in Japan. She said that the biggest challenge have been the whole IKEA team, seems everyone was new when IKEA opened in Osaka one year ago. With no IKEA experience and some of them did not even had experience with interior design. Everyday is a day of teaching and learning, but the Japanese people have some difficultness with learning by doing, and prefer to have classrooms teaching. Helena also mentioned that their view of time is different from ours. Everything they do take ages to finishes. Then she closed the meeting with saying that it is very interesting to work with people from other cultures and the Japanese people improving everyday on work. I am so glad that I took the opportunity to work at IKEA for two days, it is a work experience and it was very interesting to see cultural differences in the working environment. My last impression of Japan is wonderful, it’s always when you finally fit in and feel happy in the new culture that you have to leave. The Japanese people are really one of a kind, there can be some difficultness’s while communicating with them, but over all the Japanese people are wonderful people and I would like to go back to work in Japan.

Please visit Youtube for funny IKEA videos

A way to avoid conflicts

The Japanese country is very hierarchical organized with individuals knowing their position within a group and in the society. The article “doing business in Japan” writes that status is determined by factors such as age, employment, company and family background. Japan is a collective culture and it is the sense of belonging to a group that gives Japanese companies their strength and purpose. The picture is from CIE office and as wee can see does the Japanese people sit in an open landscape in the offices. This means that information and communication flow and interact everyone at the office. I think this can be a factor, or a good way to work to avoid conflicts. Edward T Hall writes in his book “hidden differences” that even though Japan is a very hierarchical country the Japanese people value to build good relationships with everyone at work, not only the ones with higher status and that everyone’s opinion is very important while making decisions. I did some research about how the furniture’s is arrange at the CIE office what the furniture arrangement means. The employees with the highest status sits in the back row, then the status is gradually becoming lower, the people in the front row have the lowest status and are often the people who started to work at CIE at last, but as Edward T Hall wrote, it can also be determinate of age and other factors.

The Japanese spend a lot of time at work to do their job and since Japan is a collective culture, the employees work very hard to not let their team down. Edward T Hall writes that it is the sense of belonging to a group that gives the Japanese company’s their strengths and purpose. Another thing I noticed is that the Japanese people value to build very good relationships with their clients and colleges. This mean that they don’t only spend a lot of time together at work talking about everything, they also spend time together after work to get to know each other more personally. The Japanese people often see themselves as a company representative then an individual. The Japanese people are very committed to work and I think it means very much to know, respect each other at work and while doing business.

Doing business in Japan

Today people around the world are more connected to each other then ever before and money and information flow more quickly then ever. Products and services produced in one part of the world are gradually becoming more and more available all across the globe. The main reason for this is the globalization of companies and businesses. I have a big interest in doing business across boarders and I would like to work abroad in the future. I thought about how often you refer to international companies, makes phone calls to another country to do businesses and when I worked for IKEA and a design agency called Bas Brand Identity, Japan always came up as an innovative and inspirational country.

A few weeks ago I did a presentation in my Intercultural communication class about doing businesses with Swedish people to learn about my own culture and to find out strengths and weaknesses in the Swedish business environment. As the time pass by I have been doing some research for companies I work for in Sweden about interior design and packaging design. During this time I have been curious and interested to do a research about doing business with the Japanese people. By being in Japan now for half a year I am also very interested to come back to Japan to work and with the Japanese peoples high taste of foreign products and companies I will probably face Japan in different ways when I work in Sweden as well. But by doing international business also mean dealing with differences and misunderstandings. According to anthropologist Edward T hall business starts with a relationship and by watching his movie “Doing international businesses” I learned that the Japanese people wants to get to know their clients very well before doing business. This means that they wants to spend very much time together with their clients both at work and after work to get to know them well. According to Edwards T Halls book “Hidden differences, doing business with the Japanese” the Japanese people pay much attention to detail information. You should be well prepared with a lot of background information and you should also be prepared for many questions and be able to answer them. In the negotiations, remain humble, indirect and not threatening, Edward T Hall writes that, you should not put people in the spot and do not disagree openly. The Japanese professionals are well educated in doing business with the west and will try to modify their behaviors to accommodate you. Since international business means dealing with cultural differences, which can result in misunderstanding through language, behavior and communication styles you should study the language and the culture of the country you plan to do business with.

As I wrote before I have while I have been in Japan done some research for the companies I work for in Sweden which include trends in stores, interior design and packaging design. The agency do a lot of businesses with Japan and I had a short conversation with one of them some days ago to talk about what they thought about doing business with the Japanese people. The first thing that came up was that the Japanese people are very friendly, we in Sweden share a devotion to long-term business relationships and so do Japan therefore we work very well together. She mentions that their friendly attitude can sometimes be too much. It is difficult to do businesses with people who says yes and means now. After all those years we have been in business I have start to understand that the Japanese people does not prefer to use the word no, but this can be very complicated when we should make decisions. Before we end up the phonecall she say's that Japan is a very interesting country to do business with because the Japanese culture is very very different from ours!

Resources: International Business of John J. Wild, Kenneth L. Wild, Jerry C.Y Han.

Edward T Halls movie “Doing international businesses”

Edward T Halls book: Hidden differences. Doing business with the Japanese.

Shichigosan

Last weekend when me and my Swedish friends who was here on vacation walked down Kyoto’s beautiful streets we walked right into a shrine. It was crowded with people, mostly young children. The girl’s was dressed in beautiful kimonos with dangling decorations and flowers. Some boy’s wore traditional Japanese clothes while some wore suits. It was hard for us to figure out what was going on but it looked like a big happening. The children stayed close to their families. Many of them took pictures, both with the child alone and together with different family members. Stalls closed to the shrine sold souvenirs and my friend Martin bought colorful candy and got it in a beautiful bag. This week when I discussed religion and tradition with my Japanese friends one of them mentioned Shichigosan. I think it’s quite fun that the first topic they mention had an explanation which matched perfect with my last weekends experience at the shrine in Kyoto. I went to the library and read about Shichigosan festival in the book Picorial encyclopedia of Japanese life and events written by Nakayama Kaneyoshi. The writer explains Shichigosan as a festival when boy’s and girl’s go to the shrine to give thanks for their good healthy growth so far and to pray for a safe and healthy future. Shichigosan literally means seven, five and tree and represent the children’s age and how old they are when they celebrate Shichigosan. In the article Shichigosan in The Japan Times the writer describes how parents ask the shrines to perform an “oharai” purification rite and ricite a “norito” Shinto prayer for their children’s good health. Stalls sell souvenirs such as good-luck talismans and it is customary after the visit to buy pink and white Chitose-ame ("thousand-year candy"). The festival is celebrated from October to November, the official day is November the 15. The boy’s and girl’s are dressed up in their finest formal clothing. The article Shichigosan in The Japan Times writes that now day most parents are renting instead of buying kimono to their children. The price varies depending on quality but a Shichigosan kimono set ranges from 19.800 – 98.000 yen for tree year old girls. I talked to my neighbor to find out more about Shichigosan and to let her describe her experiences and feelings about this tradition. She says that girls celebrate when they become tree and seven years and boys celebrate when they become tree and five. I ask her why they celebrate at this specific ages and she can’t remember exactly why. According to the article Shichigosan in The Japan Times Shichigosan is celebrated at tree years because the parents let their children’s hair grow to celebrate their growth. When boys turns five years they are allowed to wear their first “Hakama” pleated traditional trousers. When girls turned seven parents celebrate that their doughters went from using straps to secure their kimono to wear obi. My neighbor who is 19 years old tells me that the day she celebrated Shichigosan she went to the photo studio early in the morning, before that the hairdresser have styled her and her mother had helped her with her clothes. When she turned tree she wore her own kimono and when she turned seven they rented a kimono. She also tells me something new interesting that I couldn’t find in my secondary sources, that they also celebrate when they turn twenty to thanks for their healthy life and to pray for the future. Next year when she turns twenty she is going to wear her mothers kimono.

Colorful Chitose-ame ("thousand-year candy")

Who are these people?

Picture borrowed from www.bryanboy.com

Have you ever heard of Japans ”Herbivore" men? I haven’t heard of them until a Japanese girl in my Intercultural communication class mention Herbivorous men on her presentation last week. Who are these people? What characteristics do they have? The author and pop culture columnist Maki Fukasawa describe in his article Japans "Herbivore men" less interested in sex and money that Herbivore men is a young generation of male people, most of them in the age of 20-30. They have a big interest in fashion and personal appearance. They are not likely to work and spend much time alone. He mentions that the most important thing to remember about Herbivorous men is that they believe in friendship without sex and that they are not looking for a girlfriend. In the article Japans "Herbivore" men shun corporate life, sex the author Yumi Otagaki writes that Herbivorous men identify themselves as grass-eating men who’s not interested in flesh. The author also describes the Herbivorous men mindset as a reaction to the end of the Japans late 1980s "bubble economy". Their experiences through tough times have given Herbivorous men a different attitude about consumption. All though they have a big interesting in fashion and shopping they don’t buy thing to show off, and of course one reason of that is that they can’t afford it. I found this topic very difficult to do a research on because I didn’t wanted to point out guys on the streets, asking them if they consider themselves as "Herbivorous" men. Instead I found it interesting to hear girl’s opinions about these guys. I talked to two Japanese students here on Kansai Gaidai University that I haven’t met before. Both girls I talked to were very familiar with "Herbivorous" men. They didn’t mention many positive thing about these guys. The first girl I talked to Yumiko, 19 years old described "Herbivorous" men as lazy guys who don't want to work. They love to stay close to their house, spending time with close friends or with their mother. They have a lot of female friends but they are not looking for a relationship. Miki 23 years old described "Herbivorous" men as guys who like to do women’s work, they like cooking, cleaning, they like to spend time with their mother and they are not interested in dating girls. She mention "Otomen" a Japanese romantic comedy manga which have become very popular the last two years in Japan. The TV drama is about Asuka Masamune who is the coolest guy on school, but he also have a secret, he loves sweets, cute things, cooking and sewing. Miki says that she thinks the popularity of the TV drama have increased the acceptance of "Herbivore" men. I ask her if she would like to be in a relationship with a "Herbivorous" men and she laugh, no, definitive not but if my boyfriend could get some of their positive characteristics like doing household work I would be very glad. I am still wondering, who are these people, how can we identify them and how do we research a sensitive topic like this? I found an interesting video with the author and pop culture columnist Maki Fukasawa who discuss "Herbivorous" men.

IKEA

I was going to IKEA last Friday to inhale Sweden for a while and enjoy the Swedish food. It was on that way I got the idea. Globalization, this week’s assignment, what could be better then referring IKEA to globalization and the other way around. The questions I wanted to get answer to in my research were how IKEA has succeeded in Japan and how the company has affected the country in both positive and negative ways. The article IKEA: The Japanese misadventure and successful re-entry writes that IKEA did several tries to open an IKEA store in Japan in the 1970 but the demand was not high enough to succeed in Japan. IKEA was not ready for Japan and the Japanese people were definitely not ready to drive it home and put it together themselves. IKEA came back to Japan in 2006 to give it a new try and according to the article IKEA’s new plan for Japan, was Japan now a much more open country for new ideas and IKEA was a much better known company in the country. I also discussed this with my speaking partner Chiaki how said that one reason why she thinks IKEA succeeded this time was because the Japanese people these days have a very good image of Sweden by associations to quality, high education and a good wealth fare system. I asked her how she thinks IKEA have affected the country and she says that by having IKEA in Japan more Japanese people can afford to buy fashionable home furnishing to good prices.

When I were at IKEA in Osaka I took the chance to talk to Kazuhiro who have been working on IKEA as a manager of the living room area for one and a half year. He said that IKEA’s positive effects of being in Japan is that more Japanese people got interested in home furnishing, especially younger people and people with less money. The negative effect is that IKEA have effected the local stores a lot. He said that he think most Japanese people would choose IKEA before other Japanese companies. A proof of this is that IKEA expended from one store in 2006 to five stores in 2009.

Japanese baseball.

Baseball have become more and more popular in Japan since it was brought into the country in 1870´s by an Amaricaborn englishteacher living in Japan. As it occures to me, baseball is not just a sport, it has a big place in the japanese culture and society. As they mention in the movie Kokoyaku, the Japanese people have taken baseball to their hearts and their homes and i read that many Japanese people says that the rising sun in the Japanese flag should be replaced with a baseball. That statement certainly define their love to the game. The love for the game is equally big when I see ten thousends of Hanshin Tigers fans at the arena as when I pass by a young Kansai Gaidai student everynight on my way home from school or when the Komatsu employees play baseball every Sunday. Baseball is a very fascinated sport to me although it dosn´t exist in Sweden. Europe in generall pays more attention to their own sports while Japan seems to be more Americanized. Of all the numbers of sports which Japan has given to the rest of the world like Judo, Karate and Sumo it is only fair that they incorporate foreign sports in return. It would be very interesting to watch both a American baseballgame and Yakyo (Japanse baseball) to see if the sport differences from country to country. According to this article the sport is similar in the basic but differs in other ways. For example how they pay attention to different thing in the sport. Baseball relies on power and physical skills while Yakyo relies on finess, speed and mental acuity. The article also describes how the audience act different at the games. I took some nice pictures while I watched the Japanese students practice at Kansai Gaidai baseball field, I will definitly spend more time there, watching this fascionated sport!