Customers as gods in Japan keep productivity at lowest in G-7

Tokyo

CUSTOMERS are gods, as a saying goes in Japan, where staff press buttons for shoppers in department store elevators and hotel porters line up to bow to guests.

While Japan is revered for this hospitality, or omotenashi, all that bowing and scraping may be sapping productivity. So much so that the nation has ranked lowest of the Group of Seven (G-7) nations by that measure for nearly 30 years.