Uchikura & Co Blog
2026-07-20
Ego Narrowing: When Success Becomes a TrapOne interesting Japanese expression is jiga kyōsaku (自我狭窄), which can be translated as "ego narrowing." It describes a person whose thinking becomes increa...
2026-07-20
Make Products That Others Want to Imitate When people talk about Japan’s great innovators, names like Soichiro Honda, Akio Morita, or Eiichi Shibusawa often come to mind. But another remarkable ent...
2026-07-20
Stubborn or Strong-Willed? The Japanese Word 「頑固 (Ganko)」The Japanese word 頑固 (ganko) is often translated as stubborn, but its meaning is more nuanced than that. The first character, 頑, means firm,...
2026-07-19
Giving Salt to the Enemy One Japanese expression that is often misunderstood is "Teki ni shio o ataeru" (敵に塩を与える)—literally, "to give salt to the enemy." Some people interpret it as giving food o...
2026-07-19
Did You Know the Original Meaning of "Gochisousama"? Many people who visit Japan quickly learn two expressions: "Itadakimasu" before a meal and "Gochisousama" after a meal. Most people assume "Goch...
2026-07-19
Is Chōhō (重宝) Really a Compliment? If you spend time in Japan, you may hear someone say, "You are chōhō." Most Japanese people mean it as a sincere compliment. They are saying you are dependable, rel...
2026-07-19
Did You Know? The Other Giant of Japanese Business Most people have heard of Shibusawa Eiichi, whose portrait now appears on Japan's new ¥10,000 banknote. Often called the "Father of Japanese Capit...
2026-07-18
"More Haste, Less Speed" — The Japanese Saying Isogaba Maware (急がば回れ) One of my favorite Japanese sayings is 急がば回れ (Isogaba Maware). It literally means, "If you are in a hurry, go around." At f...
2026-07-18
Create Your Own Way One of the most important ideas in Japanese culture is the character 道 (dō or michi). It is often translated as "the Way," but it means much more than a road or path. It repre...
2026-07-17
What We Can Learn from the Organization of Osaka's Great Merchant Houses During Japan's Edo period, the great merchant houses of Osaka were organized much like modern corporations. Every position c...