daal wrote:badukJr wrote:Japanese orgs react very badly to being sued.
Part of your argument, here dredged from a previous post, is that there is a cultural misunderstanding going on, and that the Japanese have a different way of doing business than the Americans. While this is undoubtedly true, I can't help but wonder if Japanese companies never sue one another for reasons similar to the SGC's, and if not, would it also be a standard business practice to throw one's weight around and not respond to requests for negotiations?
While the Americans are indeed often rightly accused of cultural ignorance, it's not immediately apparent to me that the SGC is doing something that couldn't happen in Japan.
It seems to me from reading the lawsuit, that the misunderstanding took place well before the litigation, and it was not due to the Pacific Ocean, but rather to differing perceptions on the nature of the agreement. To the Nihon Ki-in, it was contractual, to the SGC it was a matter of good will and an handshake.
In my experience, companies in Japan that do business with each other a lot are actually under one umbrella corporation. Making agreements between two companies not in this situation takes ages. Relationships are built up over years, and the first contracts will be for a very tiny bit of information exchange. I'm sure there are lawsuits but the circumstances would be severe. This is why from the Nihon Kiin's view, the SGC is de facto part of the Kiin. I'm sure they thought the SGC could continue without a permanent use place like almost every other club in the country.
It does seem to me that SGC thought it was all good will and a handshake, especially reading the litigation document. This is fine for a small 'go club', but when you involve a $71,000 loan and $3,000 lifetime memberships, its getting in a different territory. I would be angry if I dropped $3k on this and it disappeared because that is a lot of money for me personally, but it was a choice as well.
I don't really see how there can be a cultural misunderstanding if one of the centrql players on the SGC side is Japanese.
Blog post
"Seattle go Center has an amazing atmosphere.This is all thanks to the contributions of Mr. Fukuda (who is standing next to the big Go board) who led the Go center from the very early days and the efforts of the members.
We thank you deeply."
How central is he these days? I am genuinely curious. He was clearly heavily involved at the beginning. In fact, he had to guarantee the financial situation to have the building purchased (which doesn't surprise me), but what about the past few years? I mean, its really hard to know, for me.
