山本：今日は残念ながら、話がまとまりませんでしたね。
阿部：今晩、一杯飲みながら、ざっくばらんに話し合ってみませんか。
Zakkubaran
Yamamoto: Kyo wa zannennagara, hanashi ga matomarimasen deshita ne.
Abe: Konban, ippai nominagara, zakkubaran ni hanashi-atte mimasen ka.
Yamamoto: It's too bad we weren't able to reach an agreement today.
Abe: What about a little frank discussion tonight over a drink or two?
Zakkubaran refers to not putting up a front, to being frank and candid;
A look in an Edo-period dictionary shows that this expression used to be zakkubarari and referred to one's hair being out of place. Of course, since the standard hairstyle for a man was a chonmage (a top-knot), the meaning of "being out of place" was quite different from what it would be today.
As in the above conversation, when the expression is followed by a verb the form is zakkubaran +ni+verb, When it is followed by a noun the pattern is zakkubaran+na+noun.
Japan is a paradise for people with expense accounts. According to the National Tax Administration Agency, Japanese spent more than \4 billion entertaining each other in 1989. Like in the conversation above, there are many company workers unable to close their deals during the day who thus zakkubaran ni hanashi-au tame ni, settai no seki wo mdkeru (arrange for an after-hours business meeting where everyone can speak their mind frankly and openly).
The above figure works out to about \40,000 per Japanese. As for me, kaisha de zakkubaran ni, hanaseru fun'iki wo tsukuru hoo ga taisetsu da (I think it's more important that people see to it that the atmosphere of their companies is such that people are able to express their ideas frankly and unreservedly).
Being able to eat and drink for free must be pleasant for the people involved. In the end, though, these expenses are passed off to consumers in higher prices.
According to a 1989 American Express comparison of entertaining costs in Japan and the United States, costs in Japan are three times those in the United States and 14 times the amount in England. As if this ; wasn't enough, these zakkubaran na hanashiai (frank discussions) usually take place after working hours in the evening or on a Saturday or Sunday. It all means Japanese end up having to work more.
An American friend said to me recently, "If you want to succeed in business in Japan, you've got to drink. Since Japanese generally don't tell you what they're really feeling during the daytime, you've got to drink with them in the evening if you want to get their business. Sakuban hajimete, torihiki aite ga zakkubaran na taido de sesshite kureta (Last night was the first time for a client to talk unreservedly with me)."
Japanese apparently spend as much on entertaining as Americans do on court fees. One might say it comes down to each country needing its own kind of lubrication. Even so, the Japanese custom of settai seems an unfortunate waste of everybody's time and energy. What do you think?