When Vietnamese employees are asked, “What surprised you most about Japan?” the answers often concern Japanese habits more than the work itself. If these cultural gaps are left unaddressed, stress can build on both sides and may even lead to early turnover. This article organizes Japanese workplace habits that often confuse Vietnamese employees by situation and explains how to prevent trouble before it starts.

Puzzling Japanese Habit 1: The Japanese Communication Barrier That Confuses Vietnamese Employees

Japanese has many expressions whose surface meaning differs from the speaker’s true intent. Nuances that Japanese colleagues pick up naturally can become a major source of confusion for Vietnamese employees.

“Otsukaresama desu” Is a Greeting—Not a Comment on How You Feel

In Japanese workplaces, “otsukaresama desu” is heard morning, noon, and evening. Vietnamese has no direct equivalent, so many Vietnamese employees wonder why they are being told they are tired when they do not feel tired at all.

The phrase is not asking about someone’s physical condition; it is a uniquely Japanese greeting that acknowledges the other person and shows appreciation for their effort. Vietnamese has “Vất vả rồi” (roughly “You’ve worked hard / well done”), but it is used to praise someone after genuinely hard work and is not an everyday greeting—that is a major difference. Teaching a “Japanese greeting list” during training, with both meaning and when to use each phrase, helps employees settle into the workplace more smoothly.

“We’ll Consider It” and “That Sounds Difficult” Often Signal a No

In Japanese business settings, people often decline proposals with indirect phrases such as “We’ll consider it” or “That might be a bit difficult.” Vietnamese communication tends to be more direct than Japanese, and it is common to state yes or no clearly. As a result, a Vietnamese employee who hears “We’ll consider it” may take it as a positive sign and keep waiting for a reply that never comes.

The practical approach is to speak as clearly as possible with Vietnamese employees. When declining, it is better to say something like “I’m sorry, but we cannot accommodate this request this time,” and give a reason. It is also advisable to prepare a list of Japanese indirect expressions and share in advance that “this phrase is often used to mean no.”

“Reading the Air” Is a Cultural Skill—Not a Superpower

“Reading the air” (kuuki o yomu) is one of the expressions that symbolize Japanese workplace culture. Situations where silence in a meeting is taken as agreement, or where staff are expected to infer a manager’s intent from facial expression, are everyday occurrences in Japanese workplaces.

Vietnamese workplaces also value hierarchy, but people tend to speak relatively frankly when they have an opinion. In other words, the assumption that “you should understand without being told” does not travel well—and that is the core of the gap with Vietnamese employees. This is not a matter of ability; it is simply a difference in cultural premises. When giving instructions, do not rely on spoken words alone; put concrete expectations in writing or chat.

Puzzling Japanese Habit 2: Unspoken Workplace Rules That Surprise Vietnamese Employees

Japanese workplaces have rules that are not written in the employment regulations yet are tacitly expected of everyone. These “unspoken understandings” may be among the hardest points for Vietnamese employees to grasp.

“Hō-Ren-Sō” Does Not Exist as a Concept in Vietnamese Workplaces

Hō-ren-sō—short for report, contact, and consult—is treated as one of the most basic communication rules in Japanese workplaces. Vietnamese workplaces have no unified equivalent. In Vietnam, the baseline is often to answer when a supervisor asks; many people think “no need to report if things are going well” or “handle what you can on your own.”

So when a Vietnamese employee does not report, it is often not laziness but a lack of recognition that reporting is required. The remedy is to specify what to report, when, and to whom. For example: “When the task is finished, always report completion to the leader,” or “If something is wrong, consult someone the same day”—instructions at the level of concrete behavior. Practical ways to embed hō-ren-sō as a system are also covered in detail in the article “Ready to Use on the Floor: How to Work with Vietnamese Employees—Workplace Manners and Communication Skills.”

Paid Leave Is a Right—Yet Taking It Can Sour the Atmosphere

In Japan, paid leave is legally guaranteed as a worker’s right. In practice, many people still hesitate to take it because they feel it burdens colleagues or find it hard to take leave when their manager does not.

In Vietnam, the mainstream view is that if paid leave exists, you use it, and company-wide take-up rates near 100% are not unusual. So if a Vietnamese employee requests paid leave soon after joining, treat it as a cultural difference in how the system is understood—not as a lack of common sense. Put paid-leave rules in writing and explain concrete operations at onboarding, such as how many days in advance to apply and that busy periods may require adjustment.

Views of Overtime Differ Sharply Between Japan and Vietnam

In some Japanese workplaces, staying past closing time is still positively framed as showing responsibility or hard work. Work-style reform has improved the situation in recent years, but a culture that treats overtime as a virtue has not disappeared entirely.

In Vietnam, finishing on time and going home is normal, and many people use after-work hours for family dinners or study for career growth. When a Vietnamese employee leaves on time, understand it as ordinary Vietnamese behavior—not a lack of motivation. If overtime is needed, explain the reason and the expected tasks in concrete terms beforehand; employees are more likely to accept and respond accordingly.

Puzzling Japanese Habit 3: Japanese Business Manners That Leave Vietnamese Employees Wondering

Some Japanese business manners look highly ritualistic from outside Japan. It is natural for Vietnamese employees to be surprised by them, and learning the cultural background deepens mutual understanding.

Business Card Exchange Is a Japanese “Ritual”

In Japanese business, exchanging business cards at a first meeting is taken very seriously. Detailed etiquette covers how to hand and receive a card and even how to arrange cards on the table; not knowing it can lead to being judged as lacking manners.

In Vietnam, people also often hand cards carefully with both hands, but the choreography is not as finely prescribed as in Japan. Many Vietnamese include their home province on the card, which often opens conversation—a distinctive local custom. Japanese-style card exchange can therefore leave Vietnamese employees wondering why the rules are so detailed. When training on card exchange, go beyond steps alone and explain the Japanese idea that a card is an extension of the person and treating it with care shows respect; understanding deepens.

Drinking-Party Etiquette Differs Fundamentally Between Japan and Vietnam

Japanese workplaces have a culture of after-work drinking with managers and colleagues, including the unspoken rule of pouring for seniors when their glass is empty. At Vietnamese drinking gatherings, pouring for oneself is the norm, and Japanese-style pouring for others is not customary. The mainstream style is everyone clinking glasses together on the count “Một hai ba yo” (1, 2, 3, cheers)—quite different from Japan’s practice of pouring for one another individually.

So it is natural for a Vietnamese employee at a Japanese-style nomikai to wonder why they must pour for their manager. At the same time, mandatory attendance and pressuring people to drink are increasingly seen as out of step with the times in Japan as well. When inviting Vietnamese employees, make clear that participation is optional and that soft drinks are fine if they do not drink alcohol. For more on Vietnamese drinking culture, see “Don’t Fail at Drinking with Vietnamese Colleagues: From Toast Culture to Workplace Banquet Manners.”

Puzzling Japanese Habit 4: Turning Cultural Differences into Learning Opportunities

The Japanese habits that confuse Vietnamese employees, flipped around, are excellent material for deeper mutual understanding. Companies that treat cultural difference as a learning opportunity rather than a problem tend to see higher retention of international talent.

Creating Equal Spaces to Share “Differences” Affects Retention

A post-assignment workshop where Vietnamese employees present “what surprised me about coming to Japan” can be an effective icebreaker. It is important to make it two-way: Japanese employees should also present “what surprised me about Vietnamese customs” at the same time.

Posting a “cultural gap chart” at the assignment site that contrasts “In Japan we do this” with “In Vietnam we do this” is also effective. When Japanese host-side employees understand differences in advance, questions like “Why does this person do that?” are more likely to turn into understanding before they become stress. For a broader picture of Vietnamese character and national traits by region, see also “Must-Read for Recruiters: What Are Vietnamese People Like? Personality and National Character Explained by Region.”

Conclusion

Many of the Japanese habits that surprise Vietnamese people are things Japanese people find so obvious they feel no need to explain them. Yet those differences in what is “obvious” are exactly what cause workplace misunderstanding and friction. When accepting Vietnamese employees, it is essential to consciously put Japan-specific unspoken rules and communication traits into words and convey them carefully.

Cultural difference is not a matter of who is right and who is wrong. By learning each other’s “normals” and continuing to meet halfway, workplaces can grow where both Vietnamese and Japanese employees develop together. The accumulation of small daily conversations becomes the foundation of trust and strengthens the organization as a whole.