Prostitutes and business etiquette
While we're on the topic of what's culturally appropriate...
Dentsu Executive Offends and Humiliates Employee With Brothel & Onsen Trips
A former executive at the American branch of a Japanese company is suing the Japanese CEO, saying he lost his job after being forced into "sexually debasing experience[s]". The nature of those experiences is rather intriguing. The first was that his boss took him to a traditional bathhouse, where he was expected to be naked. The second was that the boss took him to a brothel in the Czech Republic, where he was ridiculed for refusing to have sex with a prostitute. As the court documents explain,"Apparently, defendant Shigeta maintained that having sex with prostitutes was a 'Japanese' style of conducting business. For example, defendant Shigeta once told plaintiff (as well as Ronald Rosen and Douglas Fidoten) that he and another Japanese businessman sealed a deal not with a handshake, but by hiring a prostitute in Mexico and having 'double penetration' sex with her - i.e., where both businessmen had sex with the same prostitute at the same time. Defendant Shigeta explained to plaintiff that having 'double penetration' sex was a way in which Japanese businessmen would commemorate business dealings."
All the commentaries I've read on this indicate that the boss is a little wacky, and that while Japanese businessmen do socialize together and even frequent brothels together, demanding double-penetration sex is maybe a little much.
It does bring up interesting questions, though. When it comes to nudity in the hot tub, I think the plaintiff really just needed to be accepting of cultural differences. That isn't sexual harassment; it's an absolutely normal part of Japanese culture. But cultural differences don't make everything OK. Even if Shigeta's Mexico antics are culturally appropriate in Japan, I don't think an outsider should feel pressured to participate.
It makes me wonder about business differences between the West and the Muslim world. Surely some Muslim businesspeople are as horrified by aspects of American business culture (like the ubiquity of alcohol) as we are by this boss's actions. If we think Japanese businessmen shouldn't seal deals with a shared prostitute, does that mean we should stop having cocktail parties? To what extent should outsiders accommodate the business practices of the host culture, and to what extent should the host culture accommodate the mores of others?
(Link originally found over here; AP article here.)
Edit: I just realized the plaintiff is Jewish and thus has a religious prohibition against nudity in a situation like an onsen. Does that change things? Hmm.
Dentsu Executive Offends and Humiliates Employee With Brothel & Onsen Trips
A former executive at the American branch of a Japanese company is suing the Japanese CEO, saying he lost his job after being forced into "sexually debasing experience[s]". The nature of those experiences is rather intriguing. The first was that his boss took him to a traditional bathhouse, where he was expected to be naked. The second was that the boss took him to a brothel in the Czech Republic, where he was ridiculed for refusing to have sex with a prostitute. As the court documents explain,"Apparently, defendant Shigeta maintained that having sex with prostitutes was a 'Japanese' style of conducting business. For example, defendant Shigeta once told plaintiff (as well as Ronald Rosen and Douglas Fidoten) that he and another Japanese businessman sealed a deal not with a handshake, but by hiring a prostitute in Mexico and having 'double penetration' sex with her - i.e., where both businessmen had sex with the same prostitute at the same time. Defendant Shigeta explained to plaintiff that having 'double penetration' sex was a way in which Japanese businessmen would commemorate business dealings."
All the commentaries I've read on this indicate that the boss is a little wacky, and that while Japanese businessmen do socialize together and even frequent brothels together, demanding double-penetration sex is maybe a little much.
It does bring up interesting questions, though. When it comes to nudity in the hot tub, I think the plaintiff really just needed to be accepting of cultural differences. That isn't sexual harassment; it's an absolutely normal part of Japanese culture. But cultural differences don't make everything OK. Even if Shigeta's Mexico antics are culturally appropriate in Japan, I don't think an outsider should feel pressured to participate.
It makes me wonder about business differences between the West and the Muslim world. Surely some Muslim businesspeople are as horrified by aspects of American business culture (like the ubiquity of alcohol) as we are by this boss's actions. If we think Japanese businessmen shouldn't seal deals with a shared prostitute, does that mean we should stop having cocktail parties? To what extent should outsiders accommodate the business practices of the host culture, and to what extent should the host culture accommodate the mores of others?
(Link originally found over here; AP article here.)
Edit: I just realized the plaintiff is Jewish and thus has a religious prohibition against nudity in a situation like an onsen. Does that change things? Hmm.