Sino-Japanese cooperation in the shadow of Nanking

I've been very busy in the last couple of weeks, which is why blogging has been reduced to practically nothing. First it was my week-long trip through China over the National Week holiday, which I've already summarized in this space. While that kept me away from the computer, nothing did it quite like a major show did this past week.

Out of respect for my employers (and in the interest of hopefully working with this company again in the future) I will keep its name private. Although for you extra curious people, I imagine you can piece together this story and find out the details through Google.

A technology exhibit was held this past week in Beijing, and I was tapped to host an exhibit belonging to one of Japan's largest companies. As I studied Japanese language in high school (and one year in college), I was eager to test my remedial Japanese language skills and work with the Japanese. Since I was young, I'd always wanted to visit Japan. When I decided I'd make the move to Asia, my first choice was Japan; however people working in Japan's media industry told me that there were far more media-related jobs in China due to its growing economy. Thus, I ended up in Beijing.

I've done a fair amount of hosting jobs with Chinese companies. In comparison to these experiences, working for this particular Japanese enterprise was the equivalent of flying first class rather than riding on the hard seats on Shanghai-Beijing express. Unlike several cases in China, I had received my script nearly two months in advance, complete with diagrams showing where on the set I was to speak my lines. Studios were booked a month in advance so rehearsals could begin.

During the performance, executives surrounded the display and paid close attention to every minor detail. We had a large buffet dinner to celebrate the closing of the exhibit, and executives put on the nicest spread I had seen since arriving in China. Also, a mere few hours earlier, it was determined that one of the girls at the exhibit was celebrating her 21st birthday. In only a few hours, at the dinner, organizers planned a surprise which included dimming the lights, rolling out a birthday cake with candles and sparklers, and a spontaneous singing of "Happy Birthday". It was impressive that the Japanese company had put so much effort into celebrating the birthday of such a low-level, temporary staffer.

From beginning to end, I was impressed by the company's attention to detail, military-like organization, and over-the-top politeness.

Now, the flip side...

In one of the more bizarre moments at the dinner, the senior manager of the Japanese company hand-picked the prettiest Chinese girls to sit at his table. The manager was probably in his late 50s or early 60s, while the girls were aged between 19 and 22. As we were all seated, the manager sent one of his staffers to pick the prettiest girls, two of whom were sitting at my table. Once they were all seated with the man, he proceeded to repeat, in a fashion which was so slimy that it was almost caricature, that "you are the prettiest girls. You are all so pretty. You are beautiful," etc.

There's nothing particularly wrong with complimenting a girl on her appearance, generally-speaking. But this was a bit more than that. It got worse when the birthday girl, who (I must admit) was quite pretty, was brought up on stage to cut her cake. The manager demanded she kiss him... and the Japanese crowd began chanting "Kiss! Kiss! Kiss!" Sure enough, she did. Then we all bowed and said arigatoo gozaimasu and bailed out of there shortly thereafter.

Maybe I'm reading way too much into things, but I couldn't help think of Japan's military history in China during the dinner. Maybe the manager didn't intend any wrongdoing, and maybe if it were an American or Spanish manager I wouldn't have thought anything wrong. But the manager wasn't American or Spanish... he was the head of a company from a country that has a brutal history, and he's speaking in a country that suffered from the sexual deviance of Japanese soldiers. Perhaps executives from Japan have to be more careful -- and maybe a little less forward -- than managers from other countries.