BusinessEtiquette #TeaServing #CulturalDifferences
Hey there! So, here’s the situation – I’ve been tasked with serving tea to some important Japanese business guests next month, and I have zero experience when it comes to brewing and serving tea in a traditional manner. 😬
Here are my quick thoughts on this:
-
Research and Practice: Take some time to research Japanese tea serving etiquette and maybe even practice with a friend or family member to get the hang of it.
-
Ask for Help: Reach out to someone who may have experience with tea ceremonies or cultural traditions to get some tips and guidance.
- Stay Calm: Remember, everyone makes mistakes and the most important thing is to show respect and willingness to learn.
Any thoughts or suggestions on how to tackle this challenge? I’m all ears! Let’s exchange ideas and insights for a successful tea-serving experience. 🍵🤝
Ideally you have a secretary or someone on the client’s side that you can talk with to plan this visit. Just because someone is from Japan doesn’t mean that the like tea or want it when they visit the US. For example, it would be like if an American went to Japan and they got you McDonald’s. Sure it’s a nice gesture but it doesn’t mean that you want to eat fast food on your trip to Japan.
Best thing to do is to talk to someone on the client’s side.
On a side note, take them to karaoke and you have made friends for life.
“How to make Japanese Tea”:
Oof. Good luck. Practice making the tea 🙂
Make sure you have alternatives at hand 🙂
What are they seeking to do with it? Is it showing respect? Or are they looking at it as helping build a strong bond between the participants/companies? Do they think is a need/desired service?
If it is showing respect, a Japanese Tea service [ceremony] is going to be way overboard. Asking everybody in the company to participate and how to have their tea is distasteful at a minimum.
If it is an attempt to have fresh brewed tea in their preferred style, having somebody doing it without experience is likely to fail – particularly as there are a wide variety of teas and preparations available.
If it is an attempt to build a relationship and bond, asking somebody who hasn’t studied Japan and the ceremonies involved to do even a ‘light’ version of that is going to be offensive, not helpful.
If they want to just have a drink offering that will be familiar, bottled teas can be found and pretty easily imported.
I’m pretty sure getting shit faced drunk with them is the proper way of starting business with the Japanese.
Edit: that’s not because of direct experience but one of the things I remember from an intercultural business communications course.
This is a bad idea OP. Don’t try to make tea for Japanese business men. Take them out for drinks. Your boss is an idiot if he thinks this is a remotely good idea.
Not only sexist but grounds for immense misunderstanding. This is not within your remit to play maid, and not the boss’s best idea. Best you can do is tell him to bugger off and instead just find excellent finely ground green tea, and loose leaf tea cakes that he can figure out how to brew himself. Buy a 200$ or more aged tea cake, 100 bucks of a 200g or less green tea grounds, charge it to the company and see the lot of racist, sexist pigs scrabblr about trying to figure out how to turn twigs, leaves and powder into tea without the proper tea set, etiquette or finesse. Don’t even get a tea whisk, it’ll be hilarious. Unless you are thehospitality staff this sort of mini assignment is horseshit and demeaning. Not even in Japan or Asia in general do women exclusively serve in tea ceremonies. It is like balls or black tie events in that they are so rare as to not be experienced by anyone under the age of 30. I’dbe glad to give actual advice if you are still set on obliging your stupid boss, but my opinion is not to engage with the insipid request.
This sounds like a clusterfuck-in-waiting straight out of The Office. Trying to serve tea in a manner you think is correct for them, not doing what the culture you know and understand does and instead trying to mimic a tradition or behavior you have no idea about, doing something you’ve never done before, etc. reminds me of when I went to Japan for a business event and they made a big deal of serving us Americans McDonalds at a formal meal with a bunch of high powered people. They all at Japanese food and we were served a silver tray of cold McDonalds French fries and paper wrapped shitty (and also cold) burgers.
I live in Japan and deal with this sort of situation regularly. Whatever you do will be appreciated. If you do serve green tea, a small Japanese style cup (even a dainty English style tea set) would be preferred. You don’t ask what they want, you just serve the tea (no cream, sugar etc). A glass and bottled water would also go down well.
The most important thing you can do is learn how to give and receive business cards- treat each card with respect, don’t write anything on it and make sure the ones you give them are also handed over with respect – use both hands if you can. Don’t try and respond to their bows – it looks silly, just a nod of the head is fine.
Good luck, they will be more nervous than you.
What are the Japanese products you’re going to import?
I suppose “dress like a Geisha and help them “relax” ” has already been ruled out….. ; 0
Forget the Steak House and take them to a local izakaya in your city.
Beer and sake.
Then karaoke to seal the deal.
If possible give them something that is handmade with your company logo.
Why don’t you check the YouTube on how to make Japanese tea once you get the tea leaves and the tea pot… or check the YouTube first and the order accordingly…
“Serving tea” could mean a bunch of things so I just want to clarify before commenting on this odd/offensive request:
Is the expectation for something like a “tea ceremony” where the focus is the tea, or is it just an incidental beverage at some time? Using a Japanese traditional-styled tea pot seems like overkill for an incidental beverage — and probably out of place at a business meeting. In the other hand even a very limited tea ceremony hosted by a novice would be strange and embarrassing, so I’m not sure what the boss is thinking. (Maybe the boss just wants an excuse to expense some Japanese cookware.)
Are you participating in the content of the meeting at the time the tea is to be served or are you just attending to help with the beverages? If you are participating in the meeting, I don’t see how you could be asked to prepare and brew tea during the meeting. Perhaps the boss would want a bunch of tea brewed in advance?
Are you supposed to bring and brew the tea at the steakhouse?
Is this for an after-dinner event?
Is it an incidental beverage service during the meeting during the day? Or perhaps during a break in the meeting?
Is the plan for matcha tea, green tea, barley tea, black tea, or something else?