One of the most important concepts in daily life in Japan is shin’yo (SHIN-yo), which means “trust,” and when Japanese have dealings with individuals or businesses, choosing someone they can trust is extremely important. Of course, everyone wants to deal with people and companies they believe will do right by them, but in Japanese society the idea of only working with reputable entities is elevated to a much higher cultural level. One way to make sure you’re working with people you can trust is the concept of shokai (SHO-kai), a kind of formal introduction that allows you to judge the trustworthiness of a new acquaintance based on the person who introduced you. Because both parties have a trust relationship involved, they have an obligation to make sure everything goes smoothly to avoid “stepping on the face” (to use the Japanese phrase) of the person that brought you together. A few years ago my wife sold her car to a used car dealer, and I happened to remark that it was odd that cars are seldom sold between individuals in Japan — the idea of sticking a “for sale” sign in your car to sell it to someone would be unthinkable here. The reason, I was told, was that no one would ever be able to trust a stranger enough to buy a car, since they might be lied to about important details, so they instead rely on professional companies whose reputations they can verify instead.
Japanese are surprised to see “for sale” signs on cars in the U.S.
