Business e‐mail for Japanese and their language habits

Japanese business people face a unique situation in figuring out if and how to incorporate the use of e‐mail in their business practices. While e‐mail has many advantages as a tool or corporate communication, Japanese people seem not to fully enjoy such advantages because of their language habits. E‐mail was born and developed in the US, and when we look into the reason, we can see why it collides with Japanese business customs and the language habits of Japanese. In e‐mail no immediate response from the receiver is expected, as it is in speech. In order to write effective e‐mail, one should put oneself in the shoes of the recipient.