Japanese I: Keigo and Request Softening in a Supplier Email
You are drafting a six-line email in Japanese to a supplier, Mr. Tanaka, at a Tokyo components company. The English source says: 'Thank you for your email. We received the revised quote. Please confirm the delivery date by Friday.' You need to use business keigo. A colleague suggests: 'メールをありがとうございます。改訂見積書を受け取りました。金曜日までに納期を確認してください。' Another suggests: 'お世話になっております。ご連絡ありがとうございます。改訂見積書を拝受いたしました。金曜日までに納期をご確認いただけますと幸いです。' Mr. Tanaka is older than you but at the same hierarchical level in his company. Your manager says the email must be polite but not so humble that it weakens your negotiating position. The deadline is today. You must choose between the two versions and justify the keigo choices.
1. Which version is more appropriate for this supplier email, and why?
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The second version is more appropriate. It opens with the standard business phrase 'お世話になっております', thanks the supplier with 'ご連絡ありがとうございます', uses the humble '拝受いたしました' for receiving the quote, and softens the request with 'ご確認いただけますと幸いです'. The first version is grammatically polite but pragmatically weak: '受け取りました' is neutral polite, not humble, and '確認してください' is a direct imperative that can sound like an order to an external supplier. Mr. Tanaka's age and same hierarchical level do not make the first version safe, because keigo in business email also encodes uchi/soto: he is outside your company and should be treated as an external partner.
2. Identify one humble form and one respectful form in the preferred version, and explain what each does.
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'拝受いたしました' is humble (kenjōgo): it lowers your own action of receiving, showing deference to the supplier who sent the quote. It is more formal than '受け取りました' and fits a revised quote that matters commercially. 'ご確認いただけますと幸いです' contains respectful and humble elements: 'ご確認' raises the supplier's act of confirming, while 'いただけます' asks for the favor from a lower position. Together they make the request polite without making your company sound desperate. This balance matters because your manager wants politeness but not a weakened negotiating position; the humility is directed at the act of requesting, not at the commercial terms.
3. What is the risk of using '確認してください' with Mr. Tanaka, and what does that reveal about keigo in business email?
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'確認してください' is a direct imperative. In Japanese business email, especially to an external supplier, it can sound like a command from a superior, even if the sender is at the same hierarchical level. The safer forms are 'ご確認いただけますか' or 'ご確認をお願いできますか'. This reveals that keigo is not simply a function of age or rank; it also marks whether the recipient is inside or outside your organization. The same sentence to a junior colleague inside the company might be acceptable, but to Mr. Tanaka it risks damaging the relationship. Politeness here is about managing the request face, not about abandoning your commercial position.