Ichizon (一存): one’s own judgment alone. A dictionary example is Sono ken wa watakushi no ichizon de wa kimekanemasu, I cannot decide that matter on my own.
Ukagai o tateru (伺いを立てる): to put up an inquiry. To ask a superior for a judgment, an instruction or an opinion. A business-manners article gives the example Sono ken ni tsuite wa, kuraianto ni oukagai o tatete iru no de shōshō omachi kudasai, we are asking the client about that, so please wait a moment.
On January 4, 2018, an extraordinary meeting of the councilors of the Japan Sumo Association unanimously approved the removal of the stable master Takanohana as a director. The case concerned an assault by the former yokozuna Harumafuji on the wrestler Takanoiwa. As head of the association’s tour division, Takanohana had neglected to report to the association. He had also not cooperated with its investigation.
The chair of the councilors, Ikebō Yasuko, spoke about a call from the association’s chairman that Takanohana had not returned: Ichijirushiku rei o kaite ita no de wa nai ka. “Was this not a serious lack of courtesy?”
Dokudan senkō (独断専行): deciding alone and pushing ahead. The Daijisen dictionary defines it as pushing a matter forward on one’s own judgment, as one pleases. Its example is shikkōbu ga dokudan senkō suru, the executive acts on its own.
Atama goshi (頭越し): over the head. A Japanese-English dictionary gives the example Kare wa kachō no atama goshi ni chokusetsu shachō ni sono teian o motte itta. He took the proposal directly to the president, over the head of his section chief.
An article in President Woman advises on consulting a boss. A bare “what should we do?” is the weakest form. Better is to add one’s own plan: Watashi wa kō shiyō to omou no desu ga, dō deshō ka. “I am thinking of doing this. What do you think?” Better still is to offer two options for the boss to choose from: Dochira de ikimashō ka. “Which way shall we go?”
Another guide, on the site of the magazine Oggi, recommends the more polite ikaga deshō ka when asking a superior for an opinion in a formal meeting or on an important matter.
In 2019, the job site en-japan surveyed 11,286 of its users aged 20 and over. Those who had found a subordinate troublesome were asked why. 53 percent named many excuses. 51 percent named neglecting to report, inform and consult, hōkoku, renraku, sōdan. Among respondents in their thirties, this came first, at 56 percent.
A woman aged 28 wrote: “I want bad news as early as possible, but they hide it until nothing can be done, and in the end they always cause trouble for everyone.”
Mochimawari kakugi: a cabinet meeting by circulation. The National Diet Library explains that when a matter must be handled urgently without calling the ministers together, a cabinet official simply collects their signatures. A guide to Japanese politics describes it this way: officials carry the decision papers around to each minister, and the decision is made when all have signed.
Yamada Akio, founder of the company Mirai Kōgyō, said: Uchi ni wa hōrensō wa nai. We have no hōrensō. He did not mean the vegetable, he added, but the abbreviation for reporting, informing and consulting with a boss.
At his company, he said, even in product development the person in charge decides alone and finishes the product alone. He criticized today’s control-minded management, in which bosses do not trust employees, meddle in every detail and treat them like children.
A Japanese training company’s guide to raising new employees divides reports into two kinds. The shūryō hōkoku, the final report, is required when a task is done. The chūkan hōkoku, the interim report, is made while the work is still in progress, to share how far it has gone or to confirm the method.
The guide says that the interim report lets the person who assigned the work see that it is moving. It can also stop a new employee who is heading in the wrong direction.
The kairanban, circulating board, carries notices from the neighborhood association from one household to the next. In the town of Hayama, notices go through 28 neighborhood associations, and one round usually takes about 20 days.
Minato Ward in Tokyo now offers an app to replace the paper board. One problem it names: when the next household is away, the board does not move on.
Hōrensō means spinach. It is also made of the first syllables of three workplace words: hōkoku (report), renraku (inform) and sōdan (consult).
Around 1982, Yamazaki Tomiji, president of Yamatane Securities, started a “spinach campaign” in his company. His book on it, Hōrensō ga kaisha o tsuyoku suru (Spinach Makes a Company Strong), appeared in 1986. One account says the idea came from his father.