Basic Concerns at "Settai(接待)" moments with Japanese business partners.

If you have the moments starting a business with Japanese enterprises, you face the moments having lunch or dinner together with a warm welcome. This welcoming hospitality culture comes from the traditional Japanese culture which has been settled as a tradition in Japan. This official and formal moment is called 接待(Settai)。

Most of the partner ask you for Japanese traditional dishes. Personally my first meal to choose will be definitely sushi or sashimi which no other country can beat the soft and tender taste made with craftsmanship which is worth to be proud of.

One day, coming from a conversation with one of my business partner, I gave a good compliment about the volume of the rice (so called Shari ; シャリ) and the large size of the fish part on top (so called Tane ; タネ). I used this term "Tane" which I have been taught from basic language classes. But my Japanese counter part was showing an embarrassed face and corrected me the wording as "Neta (ネタ)"　with adding a small Japanese "talk tips" lesson. Not strange a native Japanese teaching Japanese language to a foreigner but by having learned "the right, official" Japanese, correcting a Japanese business partner from my side was not meant to be kind in a Japanese way of culture. I just wrapped up this topic by giving a nice smile.

Now, many Japanese, almost all of Japanese I met was using the word "Neta (ネタ)" as the fish part however, the Japanese encyclopedia and dictionary indicates that ( Tane ; タネ) is the official, formal wording while "Neta (ネタ)" is the "indecent" term of expressing of the fish part while I faced plenty of inner - troubling moments by knowing it is very rude to say anything "straight" in Japan culture.

* The right indicates the correct wording of the fish part "Tane (タネ)" referred from www.mikizushi.net.(Japanese text)

We have learned from schools that language represents the major culture of the society and if a certain word is used by the majority, the correct, qualified term has to be changed to the widely used terms from another.

I would like to ask if there exists any National Language Association in Japan, what about changing the official wording to "Neta" instead of "Tane" rather than stating in an ambiguous manner as "Tane (Neta) - note : Neta is an indecent expression" like the right table.