Japan, Problem-Solving, Prior Consultation

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.”

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 Imperial Conference

The gozen kaigi was the conference of government and military leaders held in the presence of the emperor. A Japanese encyclopedia says that its deliberation merely endorsed proposals already decided by the liaison conference of government and military and by the cabinet.

By custom, the emperor only listened to the proceedings. Apart from questions, he did not speak.

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 Vice-Ministers’ Meeting

Until 2009, the top civil servants of the ministries, the administrative vice-ministers, met on the day before each cabinet meeting, normally twice a week. They met to settle the items for the cabinet, such as bills, cabinet orders and appointments.

On September 17, 2009, the day after the Democratic Party of Japan government took office, the meeting held its last session, to confirm its own abolition. In 2012, the Abe cabinet renamed an existing liaison meeting of the ministries the Vice-Ministers’ Liaison Meeting.

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.

Circulated Approval

A ringi-sho is a proposal drafted at the lower levels of an organization and passed in turn to the relevant departments and sections. Each manager adds a personal seal, the hanko. Approval builds up level by level, and final approval rests with the head of the organization.

The political scientist Tsuji Kiyoaki studied the system in Japanese government. He criticized it because it spreads responsibility across many seals.

The Vocabulary of Consensus

Nemawashi (根回し): going around the roots. In gardening, cutting the spreading roots of a tree one or two years before it is moved, so that fine new roots grow. At work, preparing a negotiation or meeting in advance so that it goes smoothly.

Sannin yoreba Monju no chie (三人寄れば文殊の知恵): when three people gather, they have the wisdom of Monju. Ordinary people who consult together in a group of three produce excellent ideas. Monju is the bodhisattva of wisdom.

Rentai sekinin (連帯責任): joint responsibility. A whole group answers for what one of its members did.