Uchikura & Co Blog
2026-07-18
"More Haste, Less Speed" — The Japanese Saying Isogaba Maware (急がば回れ) One of my favorite Japanese sayings is 急がば回れ (Isogaba Maware). It literally means, "If you are in a hurry, go around." At f...
2026-07-18
Create Your Own Way One of the most important ideas in Japanese culture is the character 道 (dō or michi). It is often translated as "the Way," but it means much more than a road or path. It repre...
2026-07-17
What We Can Learn from the Organization of Osaka's Great Merchant Houses During Japan's Edo period, the great merchant houses of Osaka were organized much like modern corporations. Every position c...
2026-07-17
You’ve Heard of a Free Drink with Your Meal… How About a Free Breakfast with Your Coffee?If you've traveled in Japan, you've probably noticed that many restaurants offer a free drink when you order a...
2026-07-17
Did You Know? The Rotating Table in Chinese Restaurants Was Invented in Japan Most people assume the large rotating table in the center of a Chinese restaurant is a Chinese invention. Surprisingly,...
2026-07-17
You Always Have a Teacher One of my favorite Japanese sayings is 「人の振り見て我が振り直せ」, which literally means, "Watch how others behave, then correct your own behavior." For CEOs and business leaders, t...
2026-07-17
Ichigo Ichie (一期一会) — One Lifetime, One Meeting Ichigo Ichie (一期一会) is one of Japan's most treasured expressions. It is often translated as "One Lifetime, One Meeting," reminding us that every enco...
2026-07-16
About the Black Belt 黒帯 In traditional Japanese martial arts such as judo and karate, there are essentially two main belt categories: white and black. You are either mudansha (無段者)—someone who ha...
2026-07-16
What Is Iki? A Japanese Way of Living There is no perfect English translation for the Japanese word iki (粋). It is often translated as stylish, chic, or sophisticated, but iki is much more than f...
2026-07-16
Edo Style Was Found in Shades of Brown The Japanese language has an unusually large number of words for different shades of brown. Examples include tobi-iro (kite brown), kitsune-iro (fox brown),...