Humanities & Social Sciences
September 2015
They value appearance over practicality. The concept of "reading the atmosphere" does not exist. Business is determined by likes and dislikes. From fashion to cars, Italians have created first-class products with their unique sense and philosophy, and this book poignantly analyzes their views on life and work and their ecology.Among the readers who appreciated the book were those who had experienced hardships with Italians. It seemed that the more difficulties they had experienced with Italians, the more strongly they sympathized with me. The most gratifying comment was, "After reading this book, I am no longer angry with Italians. Once you understand the laws that govern different cultures, you will no longer be frustrated. I also began to verbalize and recognize the "laws of Italians," which I had intuitively learned until then. It is common for shallow people to want to use these laws once they have them, and I am no exception to this rule. Whenever I accompany Japanese staff members on a visit to Italy, we all have fun using the "Laws of Italians" to predict their behavior.We all enjoy anticipating the following: "This producer is frowning and discussing petty wine philosophy, but he will soon receive a phone call from Mamma," or "This driver arrived unusually ahead of time and waited for us, but he will stop at a gas station somewhere and let us wait for him to fill up his car," or "We have already requested a bottle of wine for the photo shoot several times, but this person is sure to make a mistake." When I do this, what would normally have been an outburst of frustration and anger, "Why didn't you do what I requested? But in many cases, the situation is resolved with a laugh. Putting things into words has a magical effect to exorcise various kinds of friction. Recently, the number of Italians visiting Japan has been increasing, and now I have more opportunities to teach them the "Laws of the Japanese. It is natural for Italians to be annoyed and irritated by the behavior of Japanese people. That is why I have to tell them in advance, "This dinner starts at 7:00 p.m., but for some reason we are supposed to meet at 6:00 p.m. We will probably only have a 5-minute meeting at 6:00 p.m., and then there will be nothing to do for the next 55 minutes. Since Italy is just about the time the office opens, please go ahead and make some business calls," or "The customer sitting in front of you will probably start dozing off after about three glasses of wine, not because your talk is boring, but because most Japanese people do not have alcohol-dissolving enzymes." Warning them in advance. Then, instead of saying, "That's rude!" rather than, "That's how it is in Japan. Where there is laughter, there is no conflict. Be prepared and you will be fine.What I have introduced in this book are my own "laws of Italians," but they are far from complete, and I am constantly updating them. However, I feel that if we can know the laws of other cultures, anticipate their behavior, and laugh at them when we come into contact with them, we will be able to avoid various conflicts.The author is the only Japanese undercover investigator for Gambero Rosso, the "Michelin of Italy," and was awarded the Order of the Star by the President of Italy in 2014.
