Comments by "Yo2" (@yo2trader539) on "Why Japan Will Disappoint You" video.

  1. They're probably not "rumors." It sounds likely an assessment by your colleagues which was asked by management and reported up the chain. Hotels, department stores, airlines, financial institutions, etc require the highest level of service-grade Japanese, which is basically the highest-level of KEIGO. Otherwise, Japanese customers will find it extremely distasteful. Basically, we would see them as uneducated, uncultured, and unsophisticated if they cannot speak proper KEIGO, especially for high-end places. Full-time employees who join the service sector out of school would usually receive proper KEIGO training as part of new employee training. People who go into hotels as full-time employees are often graduates of special vocation/technical schools too, so they walk, talk, and dress like hotel staff before they join large chains. I do remember a British TV series on airlines, in which British Airways was saying they require "Premium English" for their flight attendants. I'm not a native English speaker, so I don't really know if they were referring to the accent, choice of words and expressions, or it was implying socio-economic class, but it's very similar situation in Japanese sector as well. We can hear class, education, and upbringing in the way somebody speaks Japanese. Service sector is the extreme opposite of casual speaking. So if your short-coming is insufficient understanding of Japanese language, culture, mannerism, etiquette, etc....I don't know if any one at the hotel can train you in a short period of time. Let me put it this way. I was in Seoul on a business trip, waiting for my colleagues in the lobby of one of the famous hotels. Within 10 minutes, 2 Korean customers approached me and started asking me something in Korean language. I had to apologize that I don't speak Korean...and they looked at me in shock because they simply assumed I was a hotel staff working the lobby. If you are fluent in Japanese or Korean cultural norms, you would understand it means that I was dressed properly, standing straight, and looked immaculate. "Attitude" is everything. You're judged by anything and everything. From your shoes to hair-style to the tones you use in speech. I can only say that carefully observe your colleagues and mimic them, if you wish to succeed in any industry.
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