Cultural Characteristics Of Japanese Culture

Thousands of years worth of events has shaped one of the worlds most fascinating cultures, which is still today filled with essences from the past. The Japanese culture as seen today, still holds features from centuries ago. Geishas and the distinct Japanese tradition are still today as valuable to the Japanese culture, if not even more. Japan’s unique history and culture has created a place where many dream to go. This essay will identify the characteristics of Japanese culture and provide a brief overview on the cultural traits that makes Japan so significantly different from other cultures. In addition, the communication aspects and implications that these may have on business practices will be identified and explained.

Definition of culture

According to Geert Hofstede (1983, p. 76), culture can be explained as the ‘collective programming of the mind’ and it influences how people think and how they act in different situations. This distinguishes members of one group or category from another. He argued that people are mentally programmed and that it influences the lifestyles, attitudes and norms of people and their belonging in particular groups (Hofstede 1983, p. 76). Another definition of culture is that it explains the different way in which people of different populations perceive values, norms, attitudes and roles in society. By gaining an understanding of the differences that separates a culture from another and gaining knowledge on how cultures operate on a daily basis, conflicts and misunderstandings can easily be avoided (He & Liu 2010, p. 2).

Cultural characteristics of traditional Japan

Over 125 million people speak Japanese across the world today. The linguistic characteristics of a language are determined by the...

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...andings. It is also important to embrace Japanese tradition and recognising their particular way of doing things. A willingness to learn about the cultural aspects of another country can enhance the building of relationships and improve the business success rate in a Japanese environment (Hill, Cronk and Wickramasekera 2011, p. 555).

The Japanese culture has distinct features that differentiate it from any other culture. This essay provided typical examples of Japanese culture and tradition by explaining the concept of Geisha’s, Japanese cuisine, Manga as well as political and economic factors that have assisted in shaping the environment of Japan today. To conclude, this essay provided Hofstede and Hall’s theories on cross cultural communication and implications. These theories were used to identify the cultural differences in the remarkable culture that is Japan.