So you're about to head to Japan for a few days of meetings. All your bags are packed, you're ready to go. You're standing there outside your door. And you realize: you have no idea what Japan is like.

Sure, you know where you're staying. Maybe you've got a guidebook that says where to visit if you manage to scrape together a few hours of sightseeing. But what's Japan really like? More practically:

How should you greet your business partners?

If you're invited to someone's house, should you be on time? What sort of gift should you bring? If flowers are OK, what kinds of flowers are appropriate--or inappropriate? Does it matter what color paper is used to wrap the flowers? (hint: yes)

Are there any special considerations for female travelers?
Or female business associates?

What do the electrical outlets look like?

Perhaps most importantly: if you order the oyakodon, what on Earth is that going to look like?


Japan: Business Traveler's Passport is an iPhone/iPad app for business travelers. It contains a few hundred pages of information on Japan, focusing on areas of particular concern to the business traveler. While it does contain a small amount of information on hotels and sightseeing opportunities, these sections are intentionally light. Instead, it has entire sections of information on:

• Japan Basics: A brief history of Japan, with some background and historical highlights.
• Country Facts: demographics and other statistical data.
• Doing Business: Greetings & courtesies, meeting protocol, business attire, business entertaining, etc.

• Women: As travelers, are there any special considerations in Japan? As a businesswoman, are any extra measures needed? How are japanese women treated in their own country?

• Money: What does the money look like? How much should different service people be tipped, if at all?
• Travel: Visa info, embassy & consulate locations, departure formalities, electrical system, etc.

• Safety: Emergency numbers, notes on street crime, hospital locations, health & medical care

• Points of Interest: Some interesting museums and cultural sites, in case there's time in between meetings.

• City Views: Background on Tokyo, Fukuoka, Nagoya, and Osaka, with a handful of hotel descriptions.
• Telephone System: The subtleties of dialing to & from Japan. There's even a section on how to use the different japanese pay phones (without needing to speak Japanese).

• Life Cycle: From birth to marriage to old age, what's life like?
• Gift Giving: A few pages on the subtleties of giving personal or business gifts.

• Holidays and Festivals: Solid background on the popular holidays and festivals.
• Religion: Background on Japan's varying religious climates.
• Superstitions and Folklore: Common superstitions, along with japanese stereotypes.
• Food and Recipes: Descriptions of common japanese foods, along with recipes for appetizers, main dishes, side dishes, and desserts, including gyoza, miso soup, gomaae, zaru soba, sushi rice, and the aforementioned oyakodon.

• Terms Dictionary: Over 100 words & phrases translated into Japanese.

• Embassies: Embassy locations and contact info for dozens of countries with representation in Japan.
  

Being part of the Business Traveler's Passport series means that the app also has easy navigation, editable bookmarks, changeable font sizes, is searchable, and has an array of text & background color choices. If you've got any questions, do drop us a note! Shockingly, we actually enjoy talking to our customers.