【Event Report】Norway 101 - Cultural Awareness Workshop
Author: Johannes Nævdal
On Tuesday, April 11th, the cultural awareness workshop – Norway 101 – was held for the fourth time in the Aurora Hall at the Norwegian Embassy. The NCCJ was thrilled to see so many participants at the workshop – both members and non-members of NCCJ. A new record was set with 26 people attending, and it was nice to see some familiar faces from the previous workshops as well – An indication that the workshops offer varied insights each time. The goal of the workshop is to bridge the cultural gap between Norway and Japan because the NCCJ believes that this is essential for conducting good business.
The workshop was opened by Mr. Simen Aasen, the General Manager of NCCJ. Mr. Aasen introduced the first speaker, Ms. Line Aune, Deputy Head of Mission at the Norwegian Embassy, who spoke about the history, politics, and work-culture of Norway. After a short coffee break with mingling and exchanges of meishi, Ms. Akiko Shiono, elaborated further on the business culture of Norway. Ms. Shiono is the communications assistant at NCCJ and works at the Nordic Innovation House Tokyo. Ms. Shiono spoke about the role of Norway in a global context as investors, mediators, and as a country with many start-ups. Towards the end of Ms. Shiono’s presentation, Mr. Aasen was brought back to teach some common Norwegian phrases in business settings.
The NCCJ was honored to have Mr. Teruyuki Takahashi return yet again as the last speaker at the workshop. Mr. Takahashi has spent 12 years of his career in Norway working for Idemitsu and his first-hand comparative knowledge of Japanese and Norwegian business culture is truly exceptional. Mr. Takahashi concluded the workshop with a quiz about Norway and the winning group were given a price of canned Norwegian mackerel and rye bread. All participants were given a diploma that marked the completion of the course, as well as a book by Norwegian photographer Virre Dahl and pin with a Norwegian and Japanese flag.
The NCCJ is grateful for the feedback received from the evaluation forms and we will do our utmost to implement any potential improvements at the next workshop. We hope to see many of you again next time as well as many more new attendees.
The NCCJ would like to thank the presenters, participants, and the Norwegian Embassy for once again hosting the workshop event.
We are looking forward to inviting everyone to our next Norway 101 workshop.