Ch. 1
1. What kind of a background did Kriska have in
Japan?
(1) Where was Kriska born?
(2) What other Japan experiences did Kriska have as
a student?
(3) How was Kriska able to get her start at
Honda?
2. What is the purpose of a uniform?
(1) What do uniforms
represent in an Japanese work environment?
(2) Did Kriska like wearning her
uniform? How did wearing the uniform make her feel?
(3) How would uniforms go over
in an American work environment?
3. Did Kriska ever sign a contract for her job?
(1) How much importance is
placed on contracts in American culture?
(2) Did Kriska feel comfortable
without a contract?
(3) What do you think you would
have done in her situation?
What bothered Kriska about the following situations?
(1) What bothered Kriska about Ms. Uno? (pg.
28?)
(2) Choosing her apartment.
(3) The way women were treated in the company.
Ch. 2 (Discussion Questions)
1. Why was Ms. Kodama so amazed that Kriska could
eat fish (pg. 44)
(1) What were some of the other questions Ms.
Kodama asked Kriska about eating?
(2) What had Ms. Kodama chosen to eat herself?
(3) What kind of a cultural explanation can you give
to explain Ms. Kodama's questions?
2. What kind of person did the office staff fear Kriska
would be before they met her? (pg. 47)
(1) What characteristics
did Ms. Ogi mention?
(2) What did Mr. Higuchi tell the
office staff about Kriska?
(3) What did the office staff think
of Kriska once they met her?
3. What is an OL? (pg. 48)
(1) What is the job status
of an OL?
(2) What kind of lifestyle do OL's
enjoy?
(3) How did Kriska feel about
doing the work of the OL?
4. What kind of an opportunity did the Halloween
party provide for Kriska? (pg. 64)
(1) Who came to the party?
(2) What did the group do at the party?
(3) Who came late to the party?
Kriska Ch. 3 (Discussion Questions)
JAPN 250
1. What is the order of events when serving tea to executives?(pg. 74)
(a) Who taught Kriska how to serve tea?
(b) Why do you suppose the other women in the secretariat didn’t
question the importance of serving tea?
(c) How is honne and tatemae related to serving tea?2. Why was it not proper
for Kriska to tell the TBS reporter her true feelings about her job? (pg. 79)
3. How are Kriska’s job responsibilities different from Ms. Mori’s?
(pg. 83)
4. At this point in the book, how are Kriska and Ms. Mori getting along? (pg.
84-94).
Kriska Ch. 4 (Discussion Questions)
1. Talking with Mr. Higuchi (pg. 97)
(1) What was the purpose of this talk?
(2) What kind of questions did Higuchi ask Kriska?
(3) Why do you think Higuchi was this concerned about
Kriska?
2. Basketball practice (pg. 99)
(1) What was practice like?
(2) How did Kriska get to play?
(3) What was the socialization process of making her
feel welcome as a new club member?
3. Renai Marriage vs. Omiyai Marriage (pg. 109)
(1) What is a renai marriage?
(2) What is an omiyai marriage?
(3) Which would you choose?
4. Conformity and the Quality Circle Convention
(pgs. 118-131)
(1) Why was Kriska invited to go to the QC
Convention?
(2) What kind of an experience was the QC Convention
for Kriska?
(3) Why did she tone down her report on the convention
at the morning meeting?
Kriska Ch. 5.
(Discussion Questions)
1. The Importance of 'conformity" (pg. 118)
(1) Describe an example of office conformity
that Kriska encounters.
(2) Who is Ms. Ishii and why was she holding back from
helping Kriska?
2. The Quality Circle Convention (pgs. 122-131)
(1) Describe the event.
(2) What happened at the QC Convention?
(3) Describe how Kriska returned from the convention.
3. Conformity at the Morning Meeting (pg. 131)
(1) How did Kriska report her trip to the convention?
(2) Why did she report it the way she did?
Kriska Ch. 6 & 7
(Discussion Questions)
1. Purifying the Chairman (pg. 132)
(1) What
was this all about? What "typically Japanese" communication style did
he practice with Kriska?
2. Adjusting to OL life (pg. 134)
(1) How
is Kriska feeling about being an OL?
3. The "open vest" and "stamp" incidents (pg.
134)
(1) What happened?
What "typically Japanese" cultural patterns do these examples from Kriska's
daily life
represent?
4. The "using san campaign" (pg. 136)
(1) What was it
and what did Kriska misunderstand?
5. What did riding her bike from home to Honda do
for Kriska? (pgs. 140-156)
a.
b.
c. d.
(1) Explain Mr.
Tanabe, the term Kalavinka and the people and events this name represent
for Kriska in Ch 7.
(2) Who are Masa
and Tokiko?
(3) Describe Masa and Tokiko's lifestyle.
- How were they married?
- Who do they live with?
- What are their occupations?
- What are their goals?
Kriska Ch. 8 & 9
(Discussion Questions)
1. The Maverick." (pg. 159)
Who is the Maverick?
2. The Maid (pg. 162)
Who was the woman who Kriska thought
was a maid?
3. The Quality Circle Competition (pg. 168+)
What is it and why did Kriska feel
she was tapping into "the Maverick" tradition?
4. The In-House Quality Circle Competition (pg.
175)
How was Kriska's group's rationale
for abolishing women't uniform's received?
5. Making Uniforms Optional For Women (pg. 179)
How did round two of Kriska's QC
competition go?
6. The Ability to negotiate
What happened with the bill when
Kriska went out to eat with Jonathan and Stephen? (pg. 188)
Kriska Ch. 10 (Discussion
Questions)
1. Team Tra-Montana (pg. 192)
What is it and how did it get its
name?
2. Reaching Station Five: The best of Japanese
culture (pg. 198)
What did Kriska realize as she sat
drinking Gatorade?
3. The company trip (pg. 202)
- What is the purpose of such
trips? Was Kiki a very good participant?
- Japanese "rules of conformity
and negotiation." What are they?
4. Transfer! (pg. 203)
What department did Kriska get transferred
to?
Kriska Ch. 11 (Discussion
Questions)
1. The death of Emperor Hirohito (pg. 204)
How did Honda employees react?
2. Naming the new era (pg. 208)
What was Hirohito's era called?
What was Akihito's era named?
3. Gaijin/Gaijin - Kriska's non-Japanese friends
(pg. 211)
- Is there a difference
between Kriska and her friends and Davidson's gaijin gaijin?
4. The Ex-O campaign (pg. 212)
5. X Day and the meaningful new job (pg. 213)
6. Mr. Dan and the hierarchy of Japanese companies
(pg. 220)
7. Finding a connection: the engineers and auto
journalist (pg. 222)
Kriska Ch. 12 (Discussion
Questions)
1. What is a salaryman? What are some major characteristics
of a Salaryman? (pg. 226)
a.
b.
c.
d.
2. What does the term, tanshin funin mean? (pg.
228)
3. What is gaman? (pg. 227) What is "group gaman"
in the context of working to prepare for the visit of the group
of American analysts to the Shizuka race event?
(pg. 229-236)
4. What is the significance of the Sayama Factory to the
Honda plant in Ohio? Why does Kriska want
to work there? (pg. 241-243)
5. "It is not technology or finance, but respect for,
and cultural understanding of, others and psychological
understanding of itself [that is
of importance]." (pg. 241)
What do you think Paul Kennedy means
by this statement in the context of the relationship between the West
and Japan?
6. Why did Kriska Want to work at Sayama? Why do
you think Mr. Yoshida changed his mind?
Kriska Ch. 13 (Discussion
Questions)
1. One of the first things Kriska said to her new boss
at Sayama was, "I don't know if there is anything I
can do here, but if there is
something, I will try very hard. But I really think there is nothing
I can do.
(pg. 246) Do you think she
really meant what she said? Why or why not?
2. What emic function do you think the phrases listed
at the bottom of pg. 246 have from Kriska in her
new office setting? List the
phrases she used in this setting.
a
b.
c.
3 On pg. 247, Kriska comments that her new Boss, Mr. Takahashi
looks like her Uncle Justin. What
does this imply about the degree to which Kriska
feels emotionally integrated into Japanese society? Also,
give a cultural explanation for the Waseda University
connection that Mr. Takahashi makes.
4. Do you think Koji is a kikoku shijo? Why or why
not? (pg. 248-249)
5. Why didn’t Kriska mind wearing a uniform this time?
(Pg. 251)
6. What are shinnyushain? (pg 254)
Kriska Chs. 14 & 15 (Discussion Questions)
1. Why did Mr. Hamaguchi (the Sayama factory's head cook)
have success with his hamburger dish? (pg. 273 & 274)
2. What are the cultural stereotypes that Japanese have
of Americans and Americans of Japanese? (pg. 276)
3. What is an elegant cultural explanation for why Koji
had a problem with one of his American associates on a 6th
month assignment inviting his wife and mother
for a visit on a company holiday without his knowledge? (pg. 276)
4. How do the characteristics of Japanese behavior make
you feel as an American? Can you understand why
Japanese might engage in these behaviors?
(pg. 280)
5. Which of Mark's behaviors helped integrate him into
"the group" at the Sayama factory? (pg. 286)
6. Why do you think Mr. Odashima painted Kiki's portrait?
(pg. 288)
Kriska Ch. 16 (Discussion Questions)
1. Where was Kriska born? Why was Kriska’s place
of birth such a defining factor in her life? (pg. 290)
2. In this Chapter, Kriska is reassigned back from the
Sayama Factory to the International Administration Department
at the main office in Tokyo. Who was
Mr. Rules and why didn’t Kriska like him very much (pg. 291)
3. Besides the uniform issue, how did Kriska like being
back at headquarters? (pg. 293, Pg. 295)
4. How did the women employees at Honda react to the announcement
that their uniform policy would be discontinued?
(pgs. 296-297)
5. At the end of the book, Kriska is invited to participate
in a special event at which Mr. Honda is inducted into the
Automobile Industry Hall of Fame in Michigan.
What does Kriska learn about some of her X-day materials as
Mr. Amamiya is helping Kriska and a group of specially
selected Honda employees prepare for their role in this
event? (pg. 299)