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What connection could one possibly make between the Tale of Genji and modern Japanese business practices--one is literary, the other practical, one created predominately by and for women, the other nearly entirely in the purview of men, and both separated by a millennium? They both function by norms of behavior ingrained in culture and derived from similar sources. This paper will examine these norms and consequent behaviors from these two apparently opposing perspectives to gain insight into the traditional cultural foundations of modern ideas. The principles examined are tatemae and honne. Thtemae, means to present a façade and refers to motives or intentions that are socially attuned. Honne means the real truth, what is rarely spoken in public, but kept, as we would say, "close to the bone," especially if it concerns a negative feeling. Two other paired, opposing concepts are also of interest: omote and ura, or face and back, and soto and uchi, outside and inside. An examination of the Talc of Genji, especially a comparison of the monogatari, the 11th century text in 54 chapters and the emakimono, or 12th century painted scrolls illustrating the story, demonstrate the presence of these conventionalized discourses and behaviors as early as the middle Heian period, when themes in art and literature deriving from Japanese life, as opposed to Chinese legends, were first explored. In each type, the verbal text and the visual scroll, honne, ura, and uchi for the former and tatemae, omote, and soto for the latter, are in evidence, as they are also in modern business practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]