Sunday, March 11, 2007

"The Japanese clerk"

Being in Belgium the last two weeks of the year's shortest month made me realize something: no matter how "friendly" and "good" the service one enjoys in Japanese banks or stores is, I would rather like to deal with the Belgian (/western) type of customer care, despite the latter's rudeness at times. Allow me to argue my point.

It is a reputable fact about Japan: the service to a customer, whether it'd be in a store, hotel or at a bank, is friendly, fast and one is usually treated with great respect. Rudeness is a scarcity. And what is even more astonishing: it's ubiquitous. No matter where high-speed shinkansen and bicycles have taken me, I enjoyed the same service all over Japan. All the tourists love it and many of my ryugakusei-friends as well think it's one of Japan's finest traits (ryugakusei = exchange student). I used to love it too and I still genuinely enjoy it now and then.

On the other hand you have the "western" type of customer treatment: very variable and dependent from place and individual. Sometimes one is welcomed with a warm smile and efficient handling of business. But numerous are experiences when the person serving you seems to be struck down by the unbearable lightness of monotony and seems unaware of the existence of "customer care". "Fuck you!", a phrase I have sometimes shouted in my head as I was leaving the village post office or nearby bar after being treated bluntly.

I hear you thinking: "What the hell is the problem then?"
-> Japanese service to a customer is devoid of personality.

The individual serving you hardly ever inserts something from his/her own personality. No matter who you deal with behind that counter, it's always the same person who is being played in front of you. There is something like "the ideal Japanese bureaucrat/store clerk" and the guidelines to impersonate this character are closely followed.
In Belgium for example you never know what to expect as each person is different. Sometimes fortune abandons you with a genuine asshole. BUT, the next day you might have a truly friendly person there opposite you and then you can feel it, that unfeigned friendliness. And THAT's what I don't feel in Japan: there is nothing behind that smile of the store clerk or the white-collar worker. It is empty as such. It feels rather like you're dealing with a robot well-trained to recite "phrases" straight out of the national manual of "How to be the ideal clerk? (for dummies)".
Usually I just want to make my purchase and exit the store. But occasionally, when an excellent mood has struck me, I like to make a little joke at the counter; or a funny remark. In Belgium those are usually greeted with a smile or a follow-up humorous comment. Or even better, the store clerk himself takes the initiative and a pleasant exchange of words ensues. In Japan however, my servant of that moment almost always ignores the comment and acts like nothing was said. I don't like that. Breaking out of the "clerk-character" is something I hardly witness here.
Furthermore, that cyborg opposite you in the bank follows the rules strictly, and I mean STRICTLY! And everyone with some experience with Japan knows that bureaucratic rules (/bullshit) are plentiful. Whenever you need something done for which maybe a tiny, little bit of rule-bending or circumventing is necessary; or something which is not described in the rule-book, you can be certain the clerk smilingly acts like you're asking them to walk on water. How uncompromising that person is. How greatly my experiences with Belgian banks and other bureaucratic divisions contrast! At the very least they don't act by the EXACT letter of the rule-book and sporadically you're even granted with a favor (Japan?!). My German ryugakusei-friend Moe summed it up neatly (yet a little harshly): "In Japan there is no REAL service."

This is why I prefer the Belgian (/"western") customer treatment. At least friendliness exhibited to you is genuine. And that warms the heart. Quod erat demonstrandum.

(Remark: Of course there are times I witness non-typical behavior in Japan. But then it's always AFTER my initiative/initial joke, the clerk breaks character and reacts like a real human being would.)

Yesterday was a good day. I ran with my Israeli friend Erez along the Kamogawa-river and afterwards we biked to his place where he cooked for his wife Efrat and me a delicious, traditional Israeli dish, Shakshouka, for lunch. Meeting people from all over the world, learning from them, trying exotic food; I really love it! If I can experience that here, I'll face those occasional irritations with Japanese society with a smile on my face.

9 comments:

E.S. said...

heavens, shakshuka 8-) very autentic.
agree about the service, the feeling you have a hollogram on the other side and not a real person is very frustrating.

Tieno said...

Hey brother!
I wouldn't go as far to say that 'friendliness' here is 'genuine', there's still an economical motive behind it. But as you said, they inject more (of their own?) personality into it and it's more human.

roachz said...

Ah.. love the jews.

Yeah sometimes I tried to like them but they don't like me in return. No use cracking jokes to them, Belgian! No one has a sense of humour here, even the bartenders!

320 円でございます。680円のお返しになります。ありがとうございます。

Have fun!

Dries said...

You make a good point there with the motive-thing bro. But sometimes the people are just genuinely friendly.

Sorry Chen, I'm gonna keep on cracking jokes. Gotta keep on trying and make 'em smile for real.

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Le Grand Jojo said...

People in Belgium have no idea what "costumer service" means.
When you live in Japan and go back to Belgium, it is a shock, I don't understand how people can put up with it and how I did myself when I was living in Belgium.
It's not uncommon to wait for 30 minutes or more to buy something in a Belgium shop, even when there is just 2 persons in front of you, just because the clerks are slow and inefficient, they don't mind getting call from their friends on a job and make you wait while they deal with their personal matters, not speaking of the people that try to sneak in front of you, in Japan it can be more crowded but somehow it's always smooth, never seen situations like I've seen in Belgium, there's almost no bad surprise, no need to verify the change.

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