7 modules
Working With Japan
A course on cross cultural communication for leaders and managers whose work runs through Japan. Seven modules, about two hours of reading, and a printable tool at the end of each one.
Working With Japan is a course on cross cultural communication for leaders and managers. Across seven modules it teaches how culture actually operates in the brain, how to decode Japanese workplace communication, how decisions really get made, and how to repair the mistakes every foreigner makes.
One idea runs through all seven modules. Communicating across cultures is a calibration job, and most training hands you an etiquette list instead, which turns culture into a test you pass or fail.
We teach you to read the dial and move it both ways, softer when the relationship needs it and sharper when clarity is what's at risk. Etiquette is enough for a dinner. It tends to run out somewhere around week three of a real project.
Who it's for
Four people we built this for
You lead a global team with Japanese members
Your meetings are polite and your decisions keep dissolving. You need to know what the silence in the room is telling you.
You work with Japanese clients or partners
You keep hearing 'we will consider it' and finding out weeks later what it meant. You need to hear the answer inside the phrasing.
You're relocating to Japan
The job is the easy part. The first six months of relationships decide how the next three years go, and they run on rules nobody writes down.
You're onboarding into a Japanese company
You want to be taken seriously without fluent Japanese, and without becoming the loud blunt foreigner cliche. That's a learnable skill.
How it works
The format
- 1.
Seven modules, each 10 to 15 minutes of reading. The whole course is about two hours end to end.
- 2.
Read in any order, but the course is built to be taken in sequence. Each module stands alone; the frameworks stack.
- 3.
Practice is built in. Every module ends with one concrete thing to try this week and one printable tool from the Learning Lab.
- 4.
Share it with your team if it helps.
The curriculum
Seven modules
How Culture Works
ReadWhy knowing more facts about Japan will not help, and the three second habit that will.
Start module →
Map the Gap
ReadPlot the five dimensions where you and your Japanese counterparts actually differ.
Start module →
Decode the Room
ReadWhat 'hai' really means, and how to read a meeting where nobody says no.
Start module →
How Decisions Get Made
ReadThe meeting is the ribbon cutting. Learn the construction that happens before it.
Start module →
Write So It Lands
ReadThe five shifts that make a direct message land well in a Japanese inbox.
Start module →
Repair
ReadThree apology registers and a five phrase sequence that rebuilds trust after a slip.
Start module →
Your 30 Day Plan
ReadOne page that turns the whole course into a month of deliberate practice.
Start module →
Provenance
Where this course came from
Everything here comes from workshops we deliver to relocating executives and to global leadership teams with members in Japan. This is the reading version of that training, built on the same frameworks and the same tools.
The client stories are real but anonymized composites, with industries, names, and details changed. The frameworks credit their sources, including Daniel Kahneman, Erin Meyer, and Amy Edmondson, and we link peer reviewed research wherever it carries a claim.
We give the training away because reading builds awareness, and awareness is the easy half. When a team needs its behavior to change under pressure, that takes live practice, and the practice is what we charge for.
Common questions
Is the Working With Japan course really free?
Yes. All seven modules are free to read and nothing is locked. The course is the reading version of workshops we deliver to clients, and we publish it because awareness is the easy half of the work. Teams that need live practice hire us for that part.
How long does the course take?
Each of the seven modules takes 10 to 15 minutes to read, so the whole course is about two hours. The practice tasks at the end of each module take a week each to do properly, so most people finish the reading in a sitting or two and the practice over a month or two.
Do I need to be moving to Japan to benefit from this course?
No. The course is built for anyone whose work runs through Japan: leaders of global teams with Japanese members, people who work with Japanese clients or partners, people onboarding into Japanese companies, and people relocating. Only the relocation specific material assumes you're physically moving.
What if my whole team needs this?
Share the course freely; it's built for that. Reading changes what a team notices, but changing how a team behaves under pressure takes live practice with real scenarios. That's what our team workshops do, so email hello@peakpotentialconsulting.com if you want to talk about a session.
Keep going
The Learning Lab
Field guides and printable toolkits, including every companion tool this course uses.
Interactive tools
Play Spot the Clash and map your own communication style. The practice arena for this course.
Want this taught live, with your team's real scenarios in the room? We run workshops built on exactly this curriculum. See how we work or email us.
About this course
Written and designed by Peak Potential Consulting, and free to use. Print it, share it with your team, and keep the credit with it. If you quote or adapt it, name us and link back. For use inside a paid training programme, talk to us first.
© 2026 Peak Potential Consulting · peakpotentialconsulting.com · hello@peakpotentialconsulting.com