ENKAI ! – How to Party Japanese Style!

TOKYO – Until the last couple of decades the Japanese had a reputation of being workaholics, not given to letting their hair down and having a good time. The Japanese were indeed hard workers, but the impression that they didn’t go in for parties and other forms of entertainment was way off the mark.

One of the earliest anecdotes in Japan’s creation myth is about a party held by one of the gods that became so boisterous he was kicked out of the pantheon as punishment. He didn’t give up partying, however, and apparently passed on his predilections for a good time to the human progeny of the gods. In any event, entertainment of various kinds has been a significant part of Japanese culture since ancient times.

As in virtually all societies, singing, dancing and drinking were major entertainment activities in early Japan, with copious references to them in historical records. And rather than decrease with the passing of time, entertainment has grown in volume and variety to the point that since the mid-1950s it has been one of Japan’s largest industries—if not the largest.

One of the most characteristically Japanese forms of entertainment today is subsumed in the word enkai (inn-kigh), which is usually translated as “Japanese style banquet” and is a kind of generic term that refers to a gathering where food and drinks are served, and which serves several purposes.

The first enkai of record occurred in the 7th century at the imperial court on New Year’s Day and on other auspicious occasions during the year. In 1873 the celebration was renamed Shinnen Enkai (sheen-nane inn-kigh), or New Year’s Banquet, and was held on January 5th.

This was discontinued as an imperial court event after World War II, and was later picked up by the general public as a way of celebrating special occasions any time of the year, including New Years and at the end of the year, when it was called Bonen Kai (boh-nane kigh), or “Party to Forget the Year” just ending.

Shinnen Kai and Bonen Kai are still held annually by the thousands throughout Japan, but there are dozens of thousands more that are held to celebrate promotions, company events, farewell parties, assignments abroad, political rallies, family gatherings, welcoming parties (for new company or club members), etc.

In earlier times the locations for enkai were almost always restaurants or halls that had Japanese style rooms with tatami (tah-tah-me) reed-mat floors, but now many, especially large ones, are also held in hotel banquet halls that are Western style, with tables and chairs.

The importance of the enkai to Japanese can hardly be overstated. They are one of the primary ways the Japanese bond with each other in both formal and informal ways during the proceedings, which generally include a number of short speeches, a great deal of toasting and hand-clapping, and often singing and dancing performances by individuals or groups.

For the Japanese the enkai are an institutionalized and ritualized way for them to express and nurture their Japaneseness, to shore up their psyche and energy, and strengthen their bonds with each other and their guests.

Foreign business people can get a lot of cultural mileage out of sponsoring enkai for their Japanese affiliations, as well as by attending (when invited) those staged by the Japanese side.

Dinners (and sometimes lunches) arranged for large tourist groups in resort hotels and inns are typically done enkai style, with the participants wearing yukata robes, sitting on tatami floors at low tables, and being called upon to participate in some kind of entertainment.

Visitors in Japan, for business or pleasure, should make an effort to attend at least one enkai. They are a marvelous way to physically, emotionally and spiritually experience the traditional culture. [See my book, JAPAN UNMASKED -- The Character & Culture of the Japanese.

Copyright © 2007 by Boye Lafayette De Mente
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Boye Lafayette De Mente has been involved with Japan, Korea, China and Mexico since the late 1940s as a member of a U.S. intelligence agency, student, journalist, and editor. He is the author of more than 50 books on these countries, including the first books ever on the Japanese way of doing business: Japanese Etiquette & Ethics in Business, first published in 1959 and still in print, and How to Do Business in Japan, published in 1961.

To see a complete list of his titles [each one linked to Amazon.com’s buy page], go to his personal website: http://www.phoenixbookspublishers.com/.