In Japan, if someone closes their eyes while another person is speaking, this is not a sign of boredom or fatigue but if interest and concentration! If the boss falls asleep during a meeting, it is not considered bad leadership.
In fact, it indicates that he has complete confidence in this staff! The fact is, when the Japanese close their eyes in meetings, most of the time they aren’t actually asleep! Often, closed eyes are a sign that a Japanese person is listening intently.
Japanese believe that by closing their eyes, they can hear more effectively because they are screening out the
visual stimulus and focusing only on the sound.
Because the Japanese find it challenging to listen to English conversations for long stretches of time, they are especially likely to use this technique in meetings with Americans.
Unlike Americans, the Japanese don’t have the custom of maintaining eye contact with the person who is talking. So the action of closing one’s eyes, which appears to Americans to be extremely impolite, carries no such negative connotations for Japanese.
And typically Japanese are unaware that closing one’s eyes strike Americans as being rude.
In Japan, senior people will often take a sideline role in order to give younger employees a chance to shine by taking center stage. It may also be the case that the younger employees speak better Eng
lish and thus are better suited to the primary speaking role.
Also, in Japanese culture being quiet is thought to be more dignified, and thus is more appropriate for a senior person than being talkative. Of course, this is the opposite of the American custom of having the most senior person take the lead in the meeting and do the most talking.
So it’s particularly unnerving to Americans when the senior-most person appears to be sleeping – it seems like a sure sign of failure! Just be sure to temper your emotional reaction with this logical i
nformation on why this is happening.
However, this is something that is typically overlooked in Japan, because their fatigue is usually a result of legitimate activities such as staying up late for overseas conference calls or entertaining customers.
Furthermore, because in typical Japanese meetings large numbers of people are invited even if their connection to the topic is only indirect, meeting participants who are not at the center of the discussion may feel that they can safely catch a couple of winks.
It’s not considered to be as rude as it would be in U.S. culture, because there is no norm as we have in the U.S. that requires all participants to make a contribution to the conversation.
Often, just being present to show your support for the topic is deemed to be sufficient. This would certainly be the case in the shareholder’s meeting that my client attended – in Japan, such meetings tend to be ceremonial, and would not require the board members to make any statements or participate in discussions. It’s their presence alone that is required.
