Occasionally, he takes along his American colleagues. When they get back to the hotel, he gets teasing from his colleagues about the number of bows he made and the number of apologies he gave. My friend's story is more amusing than serious. But the consequence of misreading each other can be deadly in every relationship. In business, it could mean losing a million dollar sale.
Business is so competitive nowadays.
It's quite easy to find another supplier who is more in sync with Japanese ways. Unless you are comfortable doing that. If you force yourself to do something you are not comfortable with, and unless you have superb acting skills, you are likely to come across as a person who is not sincere and cannot be trusted. That's worse than making mistakes. There are many things the Japanese like about the Americans.