Sending flower to office

I am thinking of sending flowers to my Japanese girlfriend�fs office to surprise her. Does anyone know whether this is socially acceptable? Will this embarrass her and cause negative impression among co-workers? Thank you for replying.

It depends on what kind of workplace she is at, what her position is, whether she is in the office constantly (or out visiting clients) and also whether she has ever let her colleagues know that she has a boyfriend. Generally speaking, I would say embarassing. At least that's how I would have felt :)

Williamsg,

As AK says, it all depends very much on the person and the workplace, but unless you know this person really well (in which case you wouldn't be asking here), I would not recommend sending flowers to her workplace. Compared with office in the West, there is a tendency to separate one's private life from work in Japan. As AK also mentions, you need to consider the possibility that she hasn't told people at work that she has a boyfriend, and it could put her in a an awkward position.

I wouldn't do it. Of course, every girl is different but as others have said, there is: potential of you embarrassing her, other co-workers may look at her weird (of course depending on the office environment), it's distracting for not only her but her workplace, and most of all, it seems unprofessional. Keep the private stuff and work stuff separate for her sake.

At a typical Japanese workplace, one would even be reluctant to accept a phone call from a same-gender friend. Flowers would bother the person who deals with the delivery man, and takes time and space of the workers. As mentioned, it isn't really appreciated unless you know a lot of people at the office or you're doing business with her.

In other words, as your relationship with her deepens, you might have to face a situation where she needs to seperate you from work. That's how it is. Nothing personal.

i rang my girlfriend once at work and it did not go down well. i wouldn't send flowers.

Even though my wife's co workers know she is married to an American, she has to act like our phone calls (me to her or her to me) during business hours are business related (luckily no one understands English and she is in charge of all English related business). Don't send flowers.

It sounds like a no go, but if you really want to do it, go ahead. Just be aware of the consequences.

Cheers

I didn't know that Japanese offices in Japan are so "strict".
I work for a Japanese mnc and the Japanese here are always on the phone (personal and work-related) and no one bats an eyelid.
Even us locals can use the phone freely and it's definitely okay to send flowers.
How about email? Is it okay for Japanese to use office email for personal reasons?
Or they will refrain from doing it?
Because I once sent an email (personal) to a Japanese co-worker and he took really long to answer but while he's here (and using Blackberry), his relpies to my emails (also personal) were fast.

It is very much a part of the Japanese work ethic that a) work time is for work only, and b) your work life and private life are quite separate and do not cross over in any way. There would be no doubt be offices where they were less strict with this, but in most work places this is adhered to. I can't even imagine someone having flowers sent to them at any of the offices of the Japanese companies I have worked for (I'm in Japan). People never made or received personal phone calls during work time and their
wives/husbands/girlfriends/boyfriends never attended company functions.

It seems like the people you work with have adopted more of the work ethic of your country, which is nice.

I wouldn't send to her office... Why don't you send it to her home in a day that you know she will be there?