This month I have a BIG DISCOVERY to report. I have noticed recently that some Israeli clients do not understand Japanese business manners. And all this time I thought that we Israelis excelled in politeness...

Of course one does not need a doctorate in social anthropology to know that this is one dimension on which Israelis and Japanese are diametrically opposed. I mean, take a look at some prominent examples of indelicacy - Ezer Weizmann, Ariel Sharon, and Ehud Barak, to mention just a few whom Ms. Bavli never touched. In fact, implicit in many Israeli entrepreneurs' belief systems is the belief that GOOD manners are BAD for business. Bad (or at least, naughty) boys make better businessmen. This belief becomes a major irritant in Japan.

In Japanese society in general social norms are stronger, have a narrower latitude of acceptance, and have more social sanctions associated with norm-deviance (these are concepts I studied in my previous life as a social psychologist, sorry). Manners are important. You know, on Japanese cell phones there is a button called the "MANNER BUTTON" (spelled "manna" in Japanese) - one press of the button turns off the ringer and leaves the handset on vibration mode only.

In business society, the principles are the same - deviance from the unwritten rules of business behavior is followed by sanctions. In business the most serious sanction is not buying your product. In short, business manners are important.

So here are just a few juicy tips (of course, a handbook for business behavior would be too long). Following these guidelines will not make you weak, will not put you at a disadvantage in negotiating, will not make you a "friar".

1. CC-ing emails - it is a sign of politeness to cc other people in emails. Not cc-ing to them may be considered an insult, so when in doubt, cc to all the people present in a given meeting. Then take your cues from whoever responds to you. Remember - group decision making is the norm in Japan, and the distribution list for emails is a surrogate for a group decision process.

2. Manners in conversation - as our Triangle Technologies Japan president Suzuki says, treat conversations as a non-competitive tennis game - get into the swing of the conversation, into the rhythm. Make sure your counterpart is with you, returning your "strokes". His observation is that some of our Israeli clients speak in order to be heard, but don't sample the other side's reactions to see that he is tracking, involved. Spend a lot more time making sure that this kind of interpersonal calibration takes place.

3. Not pushing too much - for citizens of the land in which people push into the elevator before people can get out, thus slowing things down for THEMSELVES, this is a HUGE problem. I already addressed it - the bottom line is that you should never be perceived as pushing while you are being pushy! Find excuses to talk to the person. Never call or e-mail just to nudge. (I can't begin to do justice to this big problem here.... But I'll give you one real example. If a person is on a business trip for a week, don't call him at 0900 Monday morning of his arrival at his desk...)

4. Bypassing contact people - also a BIG cross cultural problem! In Israel "dugri" is a compliment. Not so in Japan, where it is often considered to be rude. Respect intermediaries whoever they are. Cc them in e-mail correspondence. Use intermediaries to deal with conflict and disagreement. One client (VP level) recently contacted the CEO of a company only after one meeting, no cc to anyone else of course. Unheard of! Of course the CEO immediately contacted the intermediary (Triangle in this case) in puzzlement and confusion, feeling somewhat awkward about how he should respond.

5. Apologize - even in criminal cases, the criminal who says "gomen-nasai" (I am sorry) will get a lighter sentence than the one who does not. The act of saying gomen-nasai is one of the most difficult acts for Israelis to perform because, to paraphrase Erich Segal ("Love Story"), "being Israeli means never having to say you're sorry!"

Remember - it won't feel comfortable for you to do many of these things, because we are from a different culture, but good business manners will help you make money in Japan.

Dan

***BUSINESS NEWS***

+JAPAN'S MOBILE PHONE USERS HIT ALMOST 80 MILLION

Japan's Telecommunications Carriers Association (TCA) announced that Japan's mobile phone users amounted to 79.34 million as of the end of January. The total breaks down to 73.90 million for cell phones and 5.53 million for PHS users.

+J-PHONE SHA-MAIL WIRELESS HANDSETS TOP 8 MILLION

J-PHONE announced that as of January 2003, "Sha-mail" picture messaging enabled handsets exceeded the 8 million mark - an increase of 1 million in approximately three months, bringing the number of Sha-mail users to 60% of J- PHONE's total subscriber base. The rapid growth of Sha-mail can be attributed to the spread of Sha-mail communications, the extensive lineup of Sha-mail handsets, and the launch of Movie Sha-mail.

+JAPAN'S BROADBAND SUBSCRIBERS CLIMB TO 7.8 MILLION

Japan's broadband subscribers numbered 7.8 million as of the end of December 2002, the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications. The ministry already announced the number of xDSL service subscribers in January to be 5.65 million - a monthly increase of about 520,000 subscribers. FTTH service subscribers are 206,189, posting a net growth of 33,845 for the month of December. Cable Internet service subscribers amounted to 1.95 million, showing an increase of 53,000 during December.

+IP PHONES TO REACH 3.6 MILLION IN 2003

IP telephony services have been on the rise in Japan over the past two years. According to Yano Research Institute (YRI), the number of IP phone subscribers increased from 304,000 to 1.58 million in 2001. YRI estimate the number to reach 2.42 million in 2002 and 3.64 million in 2003.

+DIGITAL CONTENT ASSOCIATION: 40% OF JAPANESE WEB USERS PAY FOR CONTENT

The Digital Content Association of Japan (DCAJ) announced the results of an online survey of 3,311 Japanese and 1,000 Korean web users about the use of paid content. According to the survey, 41.1% of Japanese users and 73.7% of Korean users pay for content. Among Japanese users, online databases are the most popular, followed by e-zines and e-books. 23.4% of Japanese respondents use paid cellular content, ring melodies and screen savers being the most popular paid content in this medium.

+WIDER WIRELESS LAN ACCESS EXPECTED

The Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications intends to increase the number of "hot spots" to enter wireless LANs, meaning more access to high-speed broadband networks without a wired connection. Legislation to amend the Telecommunications Business Law was put before the Diet in late January.

+67% OF DRIVERS WANT TO USE 'TELEMATICS' SYSTEM ON CARS

More than 67% of car owners are interested in using an automotive information or "telematics" system, according to results of an Internet survey by two research firms NTT-X and the Mitsubishi Research Institute in January. Around 69% of the users said they consider caution and emergency message services as most important, while 68% said automatic message services when cars are stolen are most important.

+POLICE FACED 58,000 ATTEMPTS BY HACKERS OCT-DEC

The National Police Agency (NPA) said there were about 58,000 attempts by hackers to break into Japan's police computer systems from October to December, up 7,000 from the previous three-month period. The NPA's Cyber Force unit, which was set up to monitor and combat so-called "Net-based terrorism" in the form of computer hacking, said that - you guessed it - Israel accounted for 40.4% of cyber attacks against Japan's police computer systems. The United States followed at 20.8%, with Japan at 9.0%, South Korea at 7.2%, and Italy at 3.8%.

***GENERAL TECHNOLOGY NEWS***

+SONY GROUP TO LAUNCH MVNO IN JAPAN

Sony Communication Network (SCN), a subsidiary of Sony Corporation, is going to launch PHS packet services and W-LAN services in February, the firm announced. According to SCN, the Sony firm will launch a flat-rate PHS service as a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) using DDI Pocket's PHS networks in Japan.

+OKAYAMA CITY LAUNCHES 'E-GOVERNMENT' TRIAL SERVICE

The Okayama City government in western Japan launched a new "e-government" trial service to allow local residents to apply for and receive some official forms via the Internet. This is the first time a local government has issued official certificates via the Internet. The city's move is in line with the central government's "e- project," in which Japan aims to become the most advanced country in terms of information technology by 2005.

+DOCOMO DEVELOPING HIGH SPEED PACKET TRANSFER TECHNOLOGY FOR FOMA

NTT DoCoMo has begun to develop terminals designed for High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), a technology to speed up downstream packet data transmission of W-CDMA, DoCoMo's 3G mobile communication system. The carrier already has started producing HSDPA-compatible prototypes in collaboration with two or more mobile phone makers, with the intention of launching test transmissions through the terminals from the autumn of 2003 at the earliest. Positioning HSDPA as a higher-speed version of FOMA, DoCoMo will have further discussions on the frequency band to be allocated for HSDPA in parallel with the development of terminals.

+HITACHI PROTOTYPES WORLD'S SMALLEST NON-CONTACT IC CHIP

Hitachi announced that it had successfully operated the world's smallest IC chip, which measures 0.3x0.3mm. The "mu-chip" is a non-contact chip capable of wirelessly transmitting a 128bit fixed number. The data is written on the chip's ROM in the production process.

+TOSHIBA, MATSUSHITA KOBOBUKI TIE UP FOR PRODUCTION OF SMALL HDDS

Toshiba Corp and Matsushita Kotobuki Electronics Industries announced cooperation in the production of 1.8-inch and 2.5-inch HDDs. Toshiba will make available specifications of these small HDDs to Matsushita Kotobuki, and Matsushita Kotobuki plans to manufacture HDDs for Toshiba at its Indonesian subsidiary in April this year.

+MATSUSHITA-TOSHIBA CRT JOINT VENTURE TO START APRIL 1

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co and Toshiba Corp said they would integrate their overseas cathode-ray tube (CRT) operations in a joint company to be formed in April. Based on a basic agreement between Matsushita and Toshiba last September, the joint company, Matsushita Toshiba Picture Display, will integrate the two companies' CRT operations ranging from research and development programs to manufacturing and sales.

+SKYPERFECT TO START IPV6-BASED SATELLITE COMM SERVICES

SkyPerfect Communications is set to start satellite communications services for corporate customers in April, using IPv6 next-generation Internet technology. This will be the first IPv6-based satellite communications service in Japan. The company aims to nurture the business into one of its main revenue sources, along with its communications satellite broadcasting operations.

+NTT AIMS TO SPARK DEMAND FOR FIBER-OPTIC INTERNET SERVICES

NTT President Norio Wada said he hopes the firm's newly launched personal computer sales services will spark demand for fiber- optic Internet access services. Speaking at a press conference, Wada also said he hopes the firm's recently announced plan to shorten the lead time between customer registration and the start of service will boost subscriptions.