Honored Guest Syndrome Makes Japanese Great Hosts

TOKYO – There is a tradition of hospitality in the Orient that flies in the face of the historical circumstances of the vast majority of the people of Asia. From the dawn of their history until recent times, some 90 percent of all Asians lived at, or only slightly above, bare survival levels.

And it seems that in those countries in which the economies provided the least in the way of food and other amenities, the traditions of hospitality to guests and strangers were the strongest.

Mongolians, whose lifestyle on the barren, wind-swept plains of central Asia was always rigorous and frequently life-threatening, have traditionally been among the most hospitable of all people, and today they remain famous for readily and happily sharing what they have with visitors.

In countries that are in the Buddhist sphere of Asia, the poor and the affluent alike were taught that generosity and giving was both a religious duty and a way of building up divine merit—and much of this legacy remains today.

From the dawn of their own history, the Japanese were first influenced to believe in and practice hospitality by Shintoism, their indigenous religion, and by their subsistence-level lifestyle, and then for the last a millennium and a half, by the doctrines of Buddhism.

There were other immediate factors that helped make hospitality to guests a key part of the Japanese lifestyle and mindset. These factors, based on customs first practiced in the Imperial Court in Kyoto, then in the Court of the Shoguns in Edo (Tokyo) and finally in the Courts of the fief lords, included highly stylized ways of welcoming, seating and treating guests with special care that, over the centuries, became deeply embedded in the culture.

But there appears to be another element in the Japanese view and practice of hospitality toward visitors, Westerners in particular. This element, which they share with both Koreans the Chinese, seems to derive from pride in their race and in their country -- a pride that typically compels them to go above and beyond a degree of hospitality that would be more than sufficient.

The desire and efforts of the typical Japanese to make a good impression on visitors is sincere, and their enthusiasm to do so often seems to be unbounded. Japanese contacts and friends --sometimes even strangers -- will often pay restaurant and transportation bills when by all rights it should be the foreign side that pays.

When these situations occur and the foreigner protests, the Japanese will say such things as “When you are in Japan you are our guest.”

The legacy of all these influences to extend hospitality to guests remains strong in Japan, and when it is combined with the traditional Japanese commitment to service, which borders on a social if not a cultural imperative, it becomes a valuable asset, not only for the travel industry but for the country as a whole.

Japan’s combination of hospitality and service was honed to virtual perfection during the last Shogunate era (Tokugawa, 1603-1867), and is especially conspicuous today in the hotel, inn and restaurant industries -- areas that are on the frontline of tourism.

Leaders in Japan’s tourism industry have recently experienced a kind of epiphany insofar as the value of the hospitality and service traditions are concerned. Recognizing that these cultural attitudes and practices need to be taught to each new generation, they are encouraging new and more comprehensive training of industry employees.

Hotels, inns and restaurants that have successfully instituted training programs based on traditional attitudes and behavior stand out the moment one enters. The more this “return to the past” is emphasized, the more successful Japan’s tourism industry is likely to be in the future. See my book: JAPAN MADE EASY -- Everything You Need to Know to Enjoy Japan!

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 published in 1959, 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/.