{"id":12768,"date":"2023-10-10T00:00:08","date_gmt":"2023-10-09T15:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sasugacommunications.com\/ja\/?p=12768"},"modified":"2025-07-02T14:39:05","modified_gmt":"2025-07-02T05:39:05","slug":"do-you-really-need-to-say-sorry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sasugacommunications.com\/ja\/do-you-really-need-to-say-sorry\/","title":{"rendered":"Do You Really Need To Say “Sorry”?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I was on a call to confirm details about an upcoming corporate speaking engagement.<\/span><\/p>\n

Since we were meeting online for the first time, everyone briefly introduced themselves.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was struck by how each of the Japanese women immediately apologized or put themselves down in some way.<\/span><\/p>\n

One said, \u201cI\u2019m new and I don\u2019t know much. I\u2019m sorry.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Another said, \u201cI\u2019ve been with the company for a long time, but I make mistakes every day.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And one lady apologized for her poor presentation slides (which I\u2019d actually thought were quite good),<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not criticizing these women. After all, apologizing is normal in Japanese culture.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

And, in fact, it\u2019s not exclusive to Japan.<\/span><\/p>\n

I grew up in the UK, which also has a strong traditional culture of apology (<\/span>here\u2019s a hilarious 30-second example from British comedian John Cleese<\/u><\/a><\/strong>).<\/span><\/p>\n

But excessive apology in a global business environment can lead to\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n