Japan, Persuasion, Advance Persuasion

Abolishing the Domains

On July 14, 1871, the Meiji government summoned the domain governors who were in Tokyo and issued the edict abolishing the domains, the haihan chiken . The governors who were still in their domains received the same order.

The decision had been settled before. According to the encyclopedia Nihon Daihyakka Zensho, men from Satsuma and Chōshū in the government, among them Saigō Takamori and Kido Takayoshi, agreed on the step in early July and prepared it in secret. Sanjō Sanetomi and Iwakura Tomomi then gave their consent. Another encyclopedia names younger reformers, among them Yamagata Aritomo and Inoue Kaoru, who won over Kido, Ōkubo Toshimichi and a hesitant Saigō.

Decided Before the Meeting

In June 2026, the business site Diamond Online published an article by Sakata Kōki, a partner of the consulting group IGPI. Its title asked why Japanese meetings fail when they start with the conclusion. Kaigi no ba de kimaru yō de ite, jitsu wa kaigi no mae ni kimatte iru. “It looks as if things are decided in the meeting, but in fact they are decided before it.”

Sakata describes the essence of nemawashi as sharing the question in advance, so that everyone concerned can discuss on the same assumptions. He advises against trying to persuade everyone in the meeting. Before the meeting, the question should be shared and the atmosphere prepared.

A Meeting Without Papers

In 2014, the magazine President reported a rule of Toyoda Akio, then president of Toyota. Participants in his Tuesday morning meeting were not allowed to bring materials. He said: Sorera o mitomeru to, jizen ni nemawashi o shite, shiryō o buka ni tsukuraseru koto ni naru tame, jikan ga muda ni nari, nakanaka honne ga tsutawarinikui. “If we allow them, people do nemawashi in advance and have subordinates make materials. Time is wasted, and true opinions are hard to get across.”

The Group of Five

In April 2000, Prime Minister Obuchi Keizō suffered a stroke. According to Kamei Shizuka, Chief Cabinet Secretary Aoki Mikio, now acting prime minister, called four other leaders of the Liberal Democratic Party to a meeting late at night: Mori Yoshirō, Nonaka Hiromu, Murakami Masakuni and Kamei himself. They became known as the gonin-gumi, the group of five. Newsweek Japan recalls that the media of the time accused the five of settling the next prime minister among themselves.

On April 5, a meeting of the party’s members of both houses, held in place of a party convention, elected Mori president unanimously. The first Mori cabinet took office the same day.

Teahouse Politics

Machiai seiji (待合政治): teahouse politics. The Heibonsha World Encyclopedia notes that politicians and political merchants used machiai, teahouses for entertaining, so much that the term was coined.

In an interview with President Online, Oharu, the 84-year-old owner of a bar in Akasaka, recalled that in the Shōwa era Akasaka was a town of ryōtei, exclusive restaurants. Each faction of the Liberal Democratic Party had its fixed ryōtei. The Tanaka faction went to Chiyoshin, the Nakasone faction to Nasu. Of these ryōtei, she said: Zenbu naku narimashita. “They are all gone.”

Nemawashi in the Right Order

A Japanese HR dictionary explains nemawashi with an example. An employee who takes a matter first to the company president, not to the direct superior, is sent back to discuss it with the superior. The superior may feel that his position was ignored, and approval can become harder.

For a meeting with many participants, the dictionary advises informing those concerned beforehand. The decision then goes smoothly.

The Vocabulary of Alignment

Suriawase (すり合わせ): rubbing together. Comparing several proposals or opinions and adjusting them to one another. A dictionary of everyday expressions adds: adjusting the differences in people’s opinions and perceptions until they share an understanding and a direction.

Jinarashi (地均し): leveling the ground. Preparing in advance so that something goes smoothly, as in iken chōsei no jinarashi o suru, leveling the ground for coordinating opinions.

Prior Review by the Party

Before the Japanese cabinet approves a government bill, the bill is first approved inside the governing Liberal Democratic Party. This is the jizen shinsa-sei, the prior review system.

The usual view dates it to a letter of 1962 from Akagi Munenori, chairman of the party’s General Council, to Chief Cabinet Secretary Ōhira Masayoshi. One study argues that it began in 1955, when the party was founded and approval by its Policy Research Council became a condition for a cabinet decision on a bill.

The Managing Directors’ Meeting

Many large Japanese companies have a jōmukai, a meeting of the managing directors. Unlike the board of directors and the shareholders’ meeting, it is not required by law.

Japanese encyclopedias describe it as the place where matters that the board will formally decide are discussed in substance. There, nearly all important management decisions are made.