An Example of Japanese humility

Excerpt From a “Blued-Eyed Salaryman by Niall Murtagh

The setting is the author’s first day on the job in Japan.  The author is asked to introduce himself.  The next few paragraphs describe what the author said and why.

“Please introduce yourself with a little speech, All the new employees do it.”

The busy Personnel people look up from their desks and stop working for a moment or two. I stand up straight, look at the desk in front of me because no eye contact is necessary yet, and say something – my name, where I'm from, what else?   An apology. Apologies always go down well. It doesn't matter what the apology is about, anything will do. Please forgive my poor Japanese. Please correct my mistakes. An apology breaks the ice. He can't be that bad if he starts off with an apology. Almost like one of us. My speech continues – what I did before arriving in the company, how I studied hard in graduate school and got my degree like any new recruit.

I continue my little speech by telling my new colleagues what they want to hear, how pleased I am to be joining the company, even if I'm not sure, and how I look forward to getting to know everyone and have a lot to learn, please teach me about company life, that's all for now, thank you very much. I finish with a nod that will have to do for a bow, everyone returns to work and I'm part of the organization already