The Unspoken Way: Haragei: The Way of Japanese Business

In this book, Michihiro Matsumoto, a seasoned simultaneous interpreter, gives perspicacious insights on the esoteric fundamentals of Japnese communication. Arguably many a foreigner gets perplexed or discombobulated at the mysterious ways of Japenese communication. This book 'haragei' is meant to help those non-Japanese novices in Japanese communication to get the gist of traditional Japanese communication, which is a bit too difficult for non-Japanese to absorb by osmosis. Therefore you would best read this book. This is a must-read book for foreign professionals aspiring to get savvy about the Japanese ways of communication. It's high time Harvard Business School started using Matsumoto-sensei's Haragei as a cross-cultural business negotiation textbook. This book will make a world of difference to your communication abilities in Japan.

This book is an absolutely facinating confirmation of many phenomena that anyone who has had deep exposure to Japanese society has come to appreciate mentally but did not know the words with which to describe. The book can only truly be appreciated by those who have lived and worked in Japan through the Japanese language and as such it will never be a huge bestseller. However, for those who understand its contents, it is breathtakingly revealing.The book describes aspects of what makes up the Japanese psyche that took me years of direct exposure to even begin to appreciate, and which no Japanese would ever describe in person to a foreignor.