Secrets of Japanese Business Etiquette: Business Meetings

In Japan, face to face business meetings are the life-blood of business relationships. Japanese society is often concerned with relative status in social relationships. Obviously, higher-ranking employees are considered higher status, but so are guests, those with more experience and those who are simply older.

The diagram below shows the proper place for each one to sit, with the entrance at the bottom left and the leader of the meeting or gicho (議長) in the centre. As you can see there are different rules for different room layouts as well as for trains and taxis, but generally, the person with the highest status (No. 1) is next to the meeting leader.

sitting arrangement japanese business