Originally Posted by
rts123
This site:
www.how-to-bow.com, is a fun way to learn a few of the basic customs.
The karaoke part is pretty funny.
I'll take your word on that, the Karaoke portion is within the part of the website you'd need to pay to see.
It goes into an awful lot of detail on many things but leaves others out entirely.
I'll mention the Nemawashi ('informal' pre-meeting) in case the OP needs to attend one of these. They can be conducted the evening before in a restaurant or other non-business setting. In the nemawashi, business concerns are often thrashed about as it gives the attendees a way to go through all the issues and questions of a meeting without the stifling formality. The surprise for some visitors is finding out that most of the next day's meeting had been decided the night before, and the attendees, who had been so animated, are now remarkably unresponsive and inert (perhaps even asleep). The 'real' meeting was the nemawashi and the scheduled meeting is merely a conclusion where the issues are tied up in a formal manner.
Please note that the above scenario is not a universal occurence or experience, but it does happen, and always remember that a verbal agreement is worth the paper it's written on.
Books on etiquette can lead you astray if you pay them too much heed (I'm of the conviction that some business men exploit foreigners perceptions of Japanese corporate culture to their advantage - a lot can be sweeped under under the 'cultural misunderstandings' carpet along with genuine cultural misunderstandings.) My advice is to go with your gut feelings.
Best of luck!