Japanese for Finance Professionals: Numbers, Results and Client Meetings

Finance professionals working with Japan need three things in Japanese: the vocabulary of financial statements and markets, a confident grasp of large numbers (Japanese counts in units of 10,000, 万, and 100 million, 億), and the keigo used with clients and senior colleagues. Even if your meetings are in English, understanding Japanese results announcements, reports and small talk gives you a real edge. One-to-one lessons built around your own documents are the fastest way to get there.

Who this is for

• Analysts and fund managers covering Japanese companies.
• Bankers and advisers working on deals with Japanese clients.
• Accountants and finance staff at Japanese subsidiaries abroad, or foreign companies in Japan.
• Investor relations teams talking to Japanese investors. See pitch decks for Japanese investors.

Big numbers: the first hurdle

English groups digits in thousands; Japanese groups them in ten-thousands. That makes figures in meetings easy to mishear.

Practise converting quickly in both directions, out loud. Our guide to Japanese numbers and counters covers the basics.

Financial statement vocabulary

• 決算 (kessan): financial results; 決算短信: the summary of results companies publish.
• 売上高: revenue or net sales.
• 営業利益: operating profit.
• 経常利益: ordinary profit, a Japanese measure between operating profit and profit before tax.
• 当期純利益: net profit for the period.
• 貸借対照表 and 損益計算書: balance sheet and income statement.
• 前年同期比: compared with the same period last year.
• 業績予想 and 上方修正/下方修正: forecasts and upward or downward revisions.

Markets and deals

• 株価 (share price), 時価総額 (market capitalisation), 配当 (dividend).
• 株主総会: the annual general meeting of shareholders.
• 買収 and 合併: acquisition and merger.
• デューデリジェンス: due diligence, usually in katakana.

Meetings and relationships

In finance, relationships matter as much as numbers. Expect formal greetings, business cards and careful, indirect answers to hard questions. Phrases like 検討させていただきます (we’ll consider it) often mean “not yet” or “no”. See meetings with Japanese partners and keigo for work.

A realistic plan

• Start with numbers, greetings and self-introduction, so you can open a meeting in Japanese.
• Read one results summary from a company you cover each month, with a tutor helping you through it.
• Build your own glossary from your real documents.
• Use an interpreter for high-stakes calls while your Japanese grows.

How Hanabuddies can help

A native tutor can build lessons around the reports, emails and meetings in your own work, at times that fit around market hours. For important calls, we also offer live English–Japanese interpreting, in person or online, and translation of documents for internal use. See Japanese lessons for executives.