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Article: Beyond national borders: reflections on Japan and the world.
- Article from:
- The Washington Monthly
- Article date:
- July 1, 1987
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1987 Washington Monthly Company. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Beyond National Borders: Reflections on Japan and the World.
Kenichi Ohmae. Dow Jones-Irwin, $16.95. If you've ever wondered why U.S.-Japan trade talks are so protracted, circuitous, and exasperating, consider this: In Japan, the expression "that person says things clearly' is a term of disparagement, implying that the person has gone too far. A Japanese man proposing marriage to a Japanese woman may say something like, "You know, I don't dislike you,' or, "Would you wash my briefs?'
Anecdotes like this are amusing, but as Kenichi Ohmae warns his countrymen in this slender, impassioned book, Japan's inability to communicate with the rest of the world ...