Keigo changes the grammar of a sentence according to relationship. Sonkeigo, respectful language, raises the other person and their actions. Kenjogo, humble language, lowers yourself and your own side. Teineigo, the polite register, is the neutral courtesy form used with anyone who is not close. In 2007 the Council for Cultural Affairs issued guidance splitting these into five types, but the three-way division remains the common teaching.
What makes keigo hard is that it is relational, not fixed. The same person is addressed differently depending on who else is present. When a Japanese employee talks to a customer about their own company president, they use humble forms and drop the honorific title, because the president is inside their group and the customer is outside it. Getting this backwards is a basic error that clients notice.
In business, keigo extends to written Japanese: email openings and closings, letters, apologies and requests have set formulas. New graduates are drilled in it during induction training, and companies still judge mid-career candidates partly on it.
What it means for a foreign employer
- Fluency is not the same as business keigo. A candidate who passed JLPT N1, or who grew up abroad speaking Japanese at home, may still struggle with client-facing keigo. For customer, government or board-facing roles, test it with a real written task.
- Returnees and bilingual hires vary widely. Some move effortlessly between registers; others are more comfortable in English. Find out which before you put them in front of a conservative Japanese client.
- Foreign leaders are not expected to master it. Polite standard Japanese, or English, is fine. What matters is that the people writing to your customers in Japanese can do it properly.
- It shapes internal dynamics. A senior mid-career hire addressed in keigo by long-serving staff may be being treated as an outsider. Watch when the register relaxes.
Sources
- Council for Cultural Affairs, Guidelines on Keigo (2007).
- General usage.