America have always been known as the melting pot of cultures; excepting every culture and adapting to them. Although this is still true in America, the American culture is very different from other cultures. Julie Massengill works at a company called ACK and CPG; which is ran by Japanese, the Japanese culture has many similarities and differences in comparison with ours, as well as them viewing our culture in a particular way.
The Japanese people Julie Massengill works with are from main different location in Japan. They work for the Toyota and Honda company; they are sent to America for five years to work at the factor in Glasgow, in the office (Julie Massengill, personal communication, October 20th,2016). They are typically sent here by
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Julie says they have a very different views on work; they have a much greater worth work ethic. The Japanese she works with will be at work before anyone else is in the office, which is about 8 o'clock in the morning, and leave later than everyone else, which is about 5 o'clock in the afternoon. They really socialize while at work and then you show socializing at work as a bad thing, the American culture doesn’t view this as strictly as the Japanese culture does. When Julie first started working there she was started when she reached out to shake someone’s hand and they bowed toward her, and never extended their hand for a hand shake. She later learned that when Japanese meet someone new or come in contact with someone of higher power or that person is seen as someone to respect they bow to them; in America we would just shake their hand. Julie stayed that many of them smoke, " like a freight train", smoking is still common in the US however not like in Japan. Their eating habits are very different from ours, they don't overindulge in food, like we do. Also they don't eat a lot of sweets, they view sweets as a luxury. Julie says that they have a very professional culture; they communicate with everyone in a very professional/ formal way. As for America we communicate very causally majority of the time. She says they have a similar clothing style as we do with some slight …show more content…
With the Japanese being in the state for five years they get a good grasp on how the American culture functions and are able to develop an option on the culture. Julie has observed that the Japanese view our culture as having poor work ethic and even being lazy. They believe since we do not work from sun rise to sun down that we have no drive to work. They view our culture as being lazy, due to thinks like: our work ethic, driving everywhere, and the amount of people that don't work. She has been able to obtain their views toward our food, believing that our food is fascinating, even though they are able to get American food in Japan just not the same. It's similar to us getting Japanese food in the state. They view our large portions sizes as strange and unhealthy, they view a lot of our foods to be unhealthy. When it comes to “Southern comfort food”, that is a totally different ballgame, they are not quite sure how to take it and become very overwhelmed by the amount of butter used. With conversations she’s had with a few of the Japanese she’s discovered that the geographical area compared to Japan is very similar, it's very hilly. That gives them a small hint of being at home. Shopping centers like Walmart, the mall, and so on, are something they find fascinating because they are so different from the ones in Japan. They see American as very honest
American culture is in my opinion a mixture of all cultures in the world. In some states, minorities have become majorities because of the huge masses that have immigrated there. Those groups have integrated their own customs to Americans and at the same time, have made American customs part of their lives. In that enormous alloy called Americans, you can meet diverse kinds of persons, languages, foods and words. At the same time, specific traits make this culture as any other unique. The British writer Lesley Hazleton describes in the essay The First Game her experience when she attended a baseball game for the first time in her life. It was her first time visiting America as well and the way the scene is described shows in some way her perception of what Americans are. Among their several qualities, she distinguished the idolization of achievers and their lives based on a theocentric society.
Mathews, Gordon. 1996. What Makes Life Worth Living? How Japanese and Americans Make Sense of Their Worlds.Berkeley: University of California Press.
Another interesting facet that the Japanese carry is the inner circle of community. Given that outsiders cannot and will not become Japanese, ever, there lies a stigma that many foreigners often see. Certain groups, restaurants, activities, shrines, and ceremonies are closed off to outsiders. However, this is much like the samurai society
Without their old life, the girl was already losing recognition of her mother, “she could hear her mother calling for her in the distance, but that lately her voice had begun to sound farther and farther away”(55). The girl cannot recognize her own mother in the camp where Japanese culture is strongly discouraged. Without belief and culture the mother is not who she used to be in the eyes of her kids. Even when they are not separated from their community the Japanese are still isolated, “When in town if you meet another Japanese do not greet him in the Japanese manner by bowing. Remember, you’re in America. Greet him the American way by shaking his hand”(84). The Japanese are becoming more distant from themselves and their own culture as being Japanese is thought of as nothing to be proud of. The lack of freedom separates the family from their culture and history more than the American people. The Japanese people being converted to American customs is a product of the fear that Americans have in this post-war
Another difference is that teachers in Japan write down important things on a blackboard, but teachers in the U.S. seldom write everything; they just explain orally. Japanese students are very quiet during classes, and all they do is listen to teachers and copy what teachers write on blackboards. They seldom ask questions during classes but ask friends or teac...
Weinstein, Andrew. "Japan's Auto Industry ." About JAMA. N.p., n.d. Web. 20 Apr. 2012. .
As we all know, all cultures have their own unique ways that separate them from each other. For example, Armenian culture and American culture. They are two completely different cultures that have different traditions, music, and standards from each other. Although they are unlike, they share many of the same values. Growing up in Armenian culture you are taught to be very family oriented whereas living as an American you spend most of your time focused on work.
The Japanese have a unique way of introducing themselves and having expectations of how foreigners should be introduced when doing business with the Japanese (Nishiyama, 2000, p. 50). Japanese businessmen should not introduce themselves instead, they should be introduce or recommend by someone who has a good relationship with the company to allow the Japanese to know where to place you in the hierarchy (Kwintessential, n.d.). Before doing business with the Japanese, one must know the job title, company affiliation, and seniority rank or age to determine how language will be use, the manner in which one will be speaking, and nonverbal behavior. American businessmen should only have positive attitudes toward the Japanese because of thei...
In addition, shortly thereafter, she and a small group of American business professionals left to Japan. The conflict between values became evident very early on when it was discovered that women in Japan were treated by locals as second-class citizens. The country values there were very different, and the women began almost immediately feeling alienated. The options ...
The way the Japanese treat their workers is so different. the way we treat our workers here. The Japanese are so much more respectful. towards their employer ( the exact opposite from other countries, especially those with a centralised economy and often work for one employer until retirement. Some of the special treatment that the workers receive is housing; some of the Companies, namely Honda, have a special housing unit for their workers and their families and a company cemetery for all the workers and their families.
American and Japanese ways of speaking are so different that they often cause culture shock to both Americans and Japanese who visit each other's country. Most Japanese who come to the United States are at first shocked and have a problem with the American direct way of speaking.
Anime, Cosplay, movies and Video games all show the invasion of Japanese culture in America. Japanese as a language has been becoming more popular. The number of those studying the language went from 127,000 in 1997 to about three million in 2006. (Kelts 179). Characters like Pikachu, Hello Kitty and those from other anime have graced our presence in public advertising, and children from all over are able to recognize these faces. Japan is a lot closer to Americans than it was in the past. Many of these ideas add to the idea on what is originally American or what is originally Japanese. American culture is rapidly changing into what other countries show us. Japanese culture has truly seeped in under the door and invaded America.
An examination of Japanese culture, and where it stands on Kluckholn and Strodbeck’s Value Orientation, Hall’s cultural dimensions, and what America needs to know in order to communicate properly with Japan.
Western people influenced Japanese people to follow the American culture. The western culture had a huge impact in the Japanese people because American’s were in Japan’s territory so they decided to follow the western culture. ‘’After Japan surrendered in 1945, ending World War II, Allied forces led by the United States occupied the nation, bringing drastic changes. Japan was disarmed, its empire dissolved, its form of government changed to a democracy, and its
In conclusion, all above demonstrate the different kinds of manner between Thailand and Japan, which are greeting, table manners, and public transportation manners. Even though these manners and etiquettes may cause problems to foreigners in someway. Thus, people should learn and survey information about what can do or cannot do in these countries before visiting or even living in order to prepare ourselves to the dissimilar environment.