Japan has the world's third-largest economy. Business Japanese requires mastery of keigo, the formal speech system that is entirely separate from conversational Japanese. Incorrect keigo signals professional inexperience even when your Japanese content is correct. Lucy OS1 gives you daily AI speaking practice in keigo and professional Japanese at the level Japan's corporate culture requires.
Keigo (honorific language) is a distinct speech system within Japanese that all professional Japanese speakers must master. It has three main levels: teineigo (polite language, the everyday formal register), sonkeigo (respectful language, used to elevate the actions of superiors and clients), and kenjogo (humble language, used to lower your own actions relative to superiors and clients). Incorrect keigo usage, such as using humble language about a client's actions or respectful language about your own, signals a fundamental lack of professional preparation. Common keigo phrases in Japanese business include itadakimasu (humble: to receive), gozaimasu (polite copula), irasshaimasu (respectful: to be present), and osewani natte orimasu (I am in your care, said at the start of many business phone calls). The meishi (business card) exchange ritual, conducted with both hands and a slight bow before reviewing the card carefully before pocketing it, is a physical extension of keigo's respect system.
Toyota, Honda, Nissan, Denso, and the automotive supply chain conduct operations in Japanese with English used for international engineering collaboration. Sony, Panasonic, Hitachi, Fujitsu, Sharp, and the electronics sector use Japanese internally. Japan's sogo shosha (general trading companies): Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsui, Sumitomo, Itochu, and Marubeni are among the most internationally active Japanese companies and use Japanese as the internal working language despite their global operations. Japanese banks (MUFG, SMBC, Mizuho) and insurance companies (Tokio Marine, Nippon Life) operate in Japanese. Dentsu, Hakuhodo, and the Japanese advertising industry operate in Japanese. NTT, Softbank, and the Japanese technology sector use Japanese internally. Each of these sectors has distinct professional vocabulary that requires specific practice.
Japanese business decisions are made through nemawashi (literally going around the roots), a process of consulting all relevant stakeholders before a formal meeting to build consensus before the meeting happens. This means formal meetings in Japan rarely produce surprise decisions: the decision has already been reached through nemawashi. Ringi is the formal written approval process where a proposal circulates for sequential approval. In meetings, direct disagreement is uncommon: the Japanese expression mu (nothing) or a sharp intake of breath (saa) signals discomfort or disagreement more reliably than explicit refusal. The ability to read these signals in Japanese, and to conduct nemawashi in Japanese, is the professional skill that distinguishes a Japanese-language business professional from a translator-dependent one.
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