Settai (business entertainment, often in the form of dinners), is a curious feature of Japanese corporate culture that is at its most intense in Tokyo, where a thriving business-social scene is encouraged by high-context official communication styles that rely on inference and “reading between the lines” and a geographically condensed professional sphere that reduces travel times.
Modern settai is no stranger to headwinds, however. In the aftermath of Japan’s so-called bubble economy (which imploded in 1991), commercial bank executives were found to have hosted industry regulators from the Ministry of Finance at a restaurant featuring waitresses sporting short skirts but no panties. The revelation caused public outrage and led to multiple arrests for bribery within the ministry.
