THE OYABUN- KOBUN RELATIONSHIP.TRANSLATED VERY LOOSELY, IT IS A MASTER-SLAVE RELATIONSHIP, PARENT-CHILD RELATIONSHIPOR HUSBAND-WIFE RELATIONSHIP. MANY OF THESE SUPERIOR-INFERIOR RELATIONSHIPS CHANGEDWITH PARTICULAR CIRCUMSTANCES SO THAT AT ONE SPECIFIC TIME, FOR EXAMPLE, ONE PERSONMIGHT DO OBEISANCE TO ANOTHER, BUT THE ROLES COULD EASILY BE REVERSED FOR THOSE SAMETWO PEOPLE UNDER DIFFERENT SETS OF CIRCUMSTANCES IN THE SAME SOCIETY. THESE RELATIONSHIPS MOST ASSUREDLY PREVAIL EVEN TODAY IN JAPAN. WHEN YOU, AS ACORPORATE REAL ESTATE OFFICER OR FACILITY PLANNER, ARE IN DISCUSSIONS WITH THE JAPANESEYOU MUST AT LEAST BE AWARE THAT THESE RELATIONSHIPS EXIST EVEN THOUGH YOU WILL NEVERBE ABLE TO FULLY APPRECIATE THEIR COMPLEXITY AND INTERWEAVING. WE ARE ALL AWARE, FOR INSTANCE, OF THE PERVASIVE JAPANESE PRACTICE OF EXCHANGING NAMECARDS. THE PRIME PURPOSE OF THIS PRACTICE IS TO ENABLE THE RECIPIENTS OF THE CARDS TOKNOW THE STATUS OF EACH OTHER SO THAT THEY MAY NOT ONLY BOW CORRECTLY, BUT ALSO USETHE PROPER FORM OF LANGUAGE. AS WESTERNERS YOU WILL NOT BE EXPECTED TO KNOW THESEPRACTICES, AND INDEED CONFUSION INVARIABLY RESULTS WHEN A WESTERNER WILL ATTEMPT TOBOW FIRST AND A JAPANESE TO EXTEND HIS HAND FOR A HANDSHAKE. THIS CONFUSION ISGENERALLY MET WITH GOOD HUMOR BY THE JAPANESE AND SHOULD NOT BE THE SUBJECT OF MUCHCONCERN BY THE WESTERNER. FAR MORE IMPORTANT, HOWEVER, IS FOR THE WESTERNER TO OFFERHIS BUSINESS CARD IMMEDIATELY SO THAT HIS STATUS WITHIN HIS OWN COMPANY CAN BEDETERMINED. THIS HIERARCHICAL SYSTEM DEVELOPED DURING THE PERIOD OF AN EXTREMELY RIGID CASTESYSTEM IN JAPAN. THERE WERE FOUR CATEGORIES OF CLASSES. ON THE TOP WERE THE SAMURAIAND FOLLOWING THEM WERE THE PEASANTS. THIRD IN THE ORDER WERE ARTISANS AND ON THEABSOLUTE BOTTOM OF THE TOTEM POLE WERE THE MERCHANT CLASSES. FOR CENTURIES ANYTHINGSMACKING OF MERCANTILISM WAS REGARDED WITH DISDAIN. SALESMEN DEFINITELY FELL IN THATCATEGORY AND, EVEN TODAY, THE SALES OR MARKETING FUNCTION I...
