I would like to start talking about political life which has a great impact in our lives, the vision of citizens on politics and society for the country. Americans have a slightly more conservative perception than Japanese people, and value more to have strong leaders, a great army and ultimately a government to defend all the peace and freedom that we have always fought for. The democracy is a fact in American society .This is not surprising when you consider Americans liberal tradition, which fits perfectly with its economic system, the capitalist. In Japan, by contrast, though not very distinctly, people perceive themselves, in proportion, a bit less rights than Americans, and give more importance to collective decision-making …show more content…
AS for the religious life in America and Japan, Here again we have substantial differences between, on the one hand the United States thinks it is very important to stay true to the traditions and values of yesteryear, prefer to instill in their children ideas such as religion, hard work or self-determination; while Japanese put more emphasis on tolerance and respect for others, saving and austerity. As I said earlier, in a matter of traditions, Americans are much more attached to them than the Japanese, and is likely due to factors such as those mentioned above, age of both cultures, naturalization traditions (in the case of Japan), and put in check of traditional values through multiple conflicts (in the US). The major religions in Japan are Shintoism, a religion based on the worship of ancestors and nature, with about 200 sects and denominations, and Buddhism, with 207 schools and trends. Just under 4% of the population profess Christianity, represented in Japan by Protestantism, Catholicism and the Greek Orthodox Church …show more content…
Religion has come to overshadow an important part of politics and education in the United States, in fact, is one of the most religious countries in the world, therefore the economic practice is tied to these values (Protestants), political discourse it is riddled with religious sentimentality and their worldview is ultimately very biased (Demerath, N., & Straight, K. S). To conclude, we have to America where people live more per day, faster, making practical decisions and if does not work, undertaken another task, here in United States. The feeling is the winner, meritocracy is the system that works and competitiveness is normal, well, we are much anchored to its history and its past people, very committed to traditional values and generally with
In 1900 Britain was in many respects the world’s leading nation, enjoying a large share of world trade, a dominant position in the international money market, and possessing a far flung empire supported by the world’s most powerful navy. Japan was a complete contrast, sharing with Britain only the fact that it too was a nation of Islands lying off the shore of a major continent. Until the 1860s it had possessed a social and economic structure more akin to that of feudal, rather than twentieth century, Europe. By the 1990s, the positions were almost reversed. This paper sets out to examine the contrasting democratic political systems of the two nations and to explore the social and democratic consequences of the changes that have occurred.
This book, Japanamerica focuses on how the Japanese popular culture influencing the American culture. The author, Roland Kelts take a neutral prospective in order to create this book, which is done by interviewing many significant individual who took part in establishing the popular culture in both Japan and America. Kelts investigates why the phenomenon of Japanophilia, or the “outsider’s infatuation with Japan’s cultural character” (pg.5), is occurring especially in the United States. Even though Japanophilia phenomenon arose before the twentieth century, it is increasing in number because of the anime, manga, videogames, and other medium of popular culture.
Japan became one of the most industrialize countries in the world; it has grown rapidly in the economic arena, however, religious liberty in Japan is still in maturing. Different from the United States and other Western countries in where the principle of separation of church and state took place, Japanese tradition continues with the usual patter in where governments control religion. Most Japanese people do not identify themselves adherent to a single religion; instead they incorporate different elements from various religions. Japan enjoys religious freedom. Minority religious like Islam, Hinduism and Christianity are practiced as well. But census perform in Japan show that 70% of its population prefers not to affiliate with any religion, 65% do not believe in God, 55% do not believe in Buddha. This numbers create many question in whether Japan’s modern lifestyle and religion beliefs create conflict among the Japanese population. It’s this rapidly modernization of Japan leaving traditions outside Japanese culture?
The Japanese society can be portrayed as essentially having no classes since there is a small group of elite and underclass that encompass the numerous middle class. Social differences exist between rural folks and urban residents in terms of family composition, education and participation in the labor force. The social difference in urban setting exists between white collar middle class and blue collar industrial workers and the self-employed artisans (Japan social influence 2014:6).
Japan has been a home for Shinto and Buddhist religions for centuries. The Christian missionaries during the 16th, 19th and 20th centuries worked hard to evangelize the Japanese nation but could not get desired success. There efforts in past failed partly due to sanctions imposed by the local rulers. The Jesuits missionaries traveled with Spanish and Portuguese traders to many areas of America and Asia-Pacific and established their churches and religious missions. They were funded, sponsored and trained by their respective governments in order to spread Christianity. At several places they preached the Christian faith by force but the aboriginal population did not accept it wholeheartedly. Initially the Jesuits targeted the elite class of the country and a large number was converted. The rulers also forced their subject to embrace the same faith. About 300,000 Japanese were converted in the first phase. Later on, Christianity was prohibited as the rulers started seeing them as a threat to their authority. Following a change of regime, the ban was lifted and missionaries were again allowed to enter Japan. Like many Native American tribes, the Japanese also resisted the new religion. As a result, presently Christians form only 1% of the total population in Japan. This paper is focused on how the Christian religion was introduced in Japan, the evolution of evangelism, establishment of churches, the restrictions and hurdles faced by the missionaries and priest of the new religion and the response of Japanese nation towards an alien faith. All these queries are answered in detail given as follows.
...ty for one that better suited its capitalistic tendency. That opportunity came in1868 when the Meiji imperial rule was able to overthrow the Tokugawa regime, setting off a political, economic, social and cultural change that transformed Japan. As Japan embraced modernity with full force, some began to realize the negative impact of modernization on the rural life, social structure and most importantly on its culture, blaming it on the western influence on its modernization. Thus as Japan neared World War II, it embraced a new sense of modernization, one that was separate from westernization, creating a nationalistic and fascist government policy. Japanese society is characteristic of plurality and opposing value systems coexisting. As new ideals and institutions arise, Japan sees itself transforming and changing at the hands of internal and external forces.
Since my cultural experience was on the Japanese culture, I decided I would continue on with that interest and write my paper about the Japanese culture therefor giving me a chance to do more research about the culture. The Japanese culture is really rich and diverse, there is a particular hierarchy or structure to the Japanese culture, Denison (2002) stated that “Japanese culture is structured around black and white norms for acceptable group behavior. People who do not function by there norms are viewed as outsiders who lack legitimate status. Black and white expectations of behavior produce equally clear cut conformity, resulting in high harmony and certainly of outcome, trust is early through continuous conformity”.This is a huge and really important aspect of their culture because it governs their social standing, interacting with others and the way they are seen, and when it comes to your social standing in the culture, the way you are seen and respected by those around you is very important.
Many of us, if not everyone, has heard of the country of Japan through various means. Possibly through popular films such as Godzilla or the renowned horror films which the country produces. Perhaps through the various anime TV shows that have been dubbed in English creating a massive fan base here in the United States, or the massive franchise Nintendo that has filled our child memories with countless hours spent in front of a screen playing Mario or Pokémon. One way or another the Japanese have shared their culture with a huge audience but thats only scratching the surface of the Japanese culture. The country of Japan wasn’t always the islands that we see there today, the formation of the islands occurred during 50,000 BC and ended in 10,000 BC following the end of the last ice age. This is when we find the first signs of civilization in Japan but they are nowhere near the modern day Japanese culture today. The early beginnings of today’s Japanese culture dates back to the year 538 AC with multiple time periods slowly building up to today. The Japanese culture of today shares a few aspects with our American culture we are familiar with, both cultures love baseball, we both have representative democracies as a form of government, and both cultures do not label outsiders differently and accept them just as equally. Even though we may share aspects of our culture with the Japanese our cultures couldn’t be anymore different from each other.
I chose to compare and contrast the United States culture with the culture of Japan. There are a few similarities between the two, such as a love of the arts, fashion and baseball. However, they are culturally different than similar in very major aspects. Japan is a very homogenous society made up of about 98% ethnic Japanese. They tend to put a lot of emphasis on family and communities, and value the group more than the individual (Aliasis, 2013).
For thousands of years, religion has exerted a great influence over economic and political life. Even today religion is called upon to support rulers, contacts and other legal procedures.
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.
Japan is a prideful nation that honors tradition and culture. In Japan, where Shintoism and Buddhism are the major religions, families place emphasis on parental control because a strong lineage confirms a family's longevity and economic stability. According to Koike (2013), "Until the end of World War II, the Confucian-based ie seido, or family system, stressed the subordination of individual needs to the needs of the group. Consequently, the continuity of one’s family lineage, rather than personal preference, was the primary criterion in mate selection" (p. 320)....
Japan is also differentiated by the widely known comparison between other nations, especially those of Europe when it comes to lifestyle and how various economical groups live similarly, since there are no foreign populations in japan the advantage is given to those of authentic Japanese origins regarding the fact they follow their traditions and ethics.
Japan is a fascinating multifaceted culture, on one hand it is filled with many traditions dating back thousands of years and yet is a society with continually changing fads,
A comparison between modern Western countries and Japan emphasizes a large discrepancy in beliefs regarding cultural growth in the separate parts of the world (Leonardson, 2004). According to many scholars and much research done on Japan the culture is the perfect example of what cultural homogeneity means as a whole. The cultural homogeneity affects the Japanese youth in how they grow, develop, affect their communities, and live their future lives in the community; this also plays a role in forcing out crime in the country. It also affects the procedures of the police force when interacting with citizens and planning new procedures that require the help and cooperation of Japanese citizens. The cultural