Author: treimer2

Posted on

Wrapping Up

It’s now been about 2 weeks since I returned to the US, and I can confidently say that my jet lag is finally gone. This trip was my first time ever leaving the US, which initially was very overwhelming, but also made it more fun in a sense. I did have expectations going in, but not too many, as I’d never done something like this before. I can confidently say that my few expectations were met, and definitely the only thing to surprise me was the degree to which American culture impacts the rest of the world. Of course, I knew that culture is America’s greatest export, but it still ended up surprising me that it seems almost inescapable, although this does make sense when I think about it further. I learned that there are certainly innumerable cultures throughout the world, although the cultural differences seem to not be equally distributed so to speak. This is to say that when I, an American, speak to someone culturally different, some of their mannerisms or beliefs may surprise me, but the reverse is unlikely to be true. I think this really brought into the picture how much power matters whenever cultures differ. Aside from this, there were some aspects of Japanese culture and society that I liked and others that I didn’t. On a societal level, one of my biggest takeaways was how nice a good train system can be, and how much easier it makes life. On a cultural one, I think I’ve gotten better at not accidentally disturbing others without thinking, as I noticed a much higher standard of respect for not bothering people in Japan. Overall, this experience has certainly changed the way that I think about my country’s policies (and the ramifications of those policies) along with the way that I carry myself when talking to people who differ culturally so that I won’t accidentally make someone uncomfortable. I am very grateful for this trip, and I hope to use the skills I learned going forward to be a better communicator.

Posted on

Cultural Dimensions

I was especially intrigued by the topic of this week, as it seemed to point out large points of cultural difference between Japan and the United States which I had not really explicitly thought of before. There were obviously cultural differences, although due to Western and specifically American influence, most aspects of day-to-day life either didn’t surprise me or were only slightly different than their counterpart American rituals and happenings. The one cultural dimension that was wildly different but didn’t surprise me at all (due to how I thought of and somewhat still continue to think of a lot of cultures in Asia) was the heavy skew of society towards collectivism. Now obviously comparing most countries to the US in terms of the emphasis put on individuality will skew results, but even considering this fact, Japan still struck me as very collectivist. As a result, there seemed to be much more of an emphasis on how activities impacted others rather than just whether or not you want to do them. For example, both the subways and general trains there are pretty quiet, as people take into consideration that they impact others by talking and therefore tend to avoid it, as it annoys more people than it benefits. Many attitudes also seemed to place the good of the people above the individual, such as the attitude towards Covid. In my experience, there was a definite majority of people who wore masks even at restaurants and places it’s inconvenient to wear them, which did surprise me a little but made sense in terms of collectivism. The way people dressed certainly seems a lot more collectivist than in the US. This was most noticeable at festivals, as they are normally very crowded and therefore you can see how the majority of people look, save those wearing more traditional clothes, which is also fairly common at festivals. It is remarkable how many people wear either a white shirt and black pants or a black shirt and black pants, and while fashion trends definitely dictate how people look in any country, fashion in general in Japan seems way more homogenous than in the US. In terms of law as well, there seems to be a lot more collectivist programs, such as healthcare for all and strong public transportation, when compared to the US. Again, this didn’t surprise me because I was pretty sure most developed countries had better healthcare than the US. Public transport is fantastic in Japan, and while it is certainly not collectivist by nature, for a society to invest so much in trains and the like while making it harder to use cars indicates that that society values efficiency while also not being so concerned the individual agency that comes with having to drive places, although I definitely prefer the strong transport system and don’t quite know how to word the above observation, specifically in explaining how a collectivist society will tend to develop more public works than an individualistic one.

Another large difference was the power difference index, which is way higher in Japan. The Japanese language has very specifically distinct ways to speak to others based on their relation to you, and you cannot be nearly as informal to adults or teachers as you can in the US. In fact, in my experience in the US, it feels like unless you’re in a business environment, speaking too politely comes across as rude, whereas in Japan it is expected for most strangers but certainly for adults and those above you in society. There also seemed to be much more of a sense that “those in charge tend to be right” in Japan, whereas in the US I think most people often think the opposite. It is also far more apparent what someone’s place in society is, although to be honest I have no idea how to explain why, you can just tell when you see/meet them. This aspect of society I am not as much of a fan of, as while I think it is important to value the opinions of and treat well those who are more experienced than you are, I don’t think you should go too out of your way in doing this, as just because they have a title does not mean they are more competent or able. Allowing for very free speech between those within different levels of power in my opinion fosters innovation and progress, as this way everyone can work together and build off the ideas of each other far more easily than when you cannot challenge those above you.

Overall, I think that examining cultural differences through the Cultural Dimensions model has made me have to reflect on what I want within a society and why. I appreciate the individuality and the free access and flow of ideas of the US, and I think living in Japan has made me value them more and take them less for granted. I also found it interesting how it’s mostly these differences which lead to the standard stereotypes of Japanese people in the US and of Americans in Japan. I will definitely miss the structures that come out of having a collectivist mindset, although I certainly will not miss all the formality required with meeting people for the first time or talking to people older than me.

Posted on

DIVE

The most memorable incident that I recall recently occurred when I was taking the train from Nagoya to Tokyo this past Friday. I have made full use of Japan’s expansive train network, as of now I have used it to go to all of the 4 main islands. The nicest thing about it is its consistency. Besides the main lines always being on time in my experience, the actual rides themselves are almost always quiet and calm. The main lines explicitly have a rule against speaking on phones in the passenger cars, and it is also pretty frowned upon to talk to those around you. Hence, I was very surprised when I sat down and someone started talking to me in very good English. I am normally a very quiet person, but I do try to speak when spoken to and in this case, I thought it would be impolite to ignore the woman speaking to me. We talked for a while with her always dictating the topic, of which the most prevailing were her children and their futures, American and Japanese politics, and specifically within that the assassination of Shinzo Abe. Needless to say, I was wholly confused throughout most of the conversation and thought it was very strange, although I did not show this so it was fine. Now I will attempt to make sense of a situation that still somewhat baffles me to this day. 

We start with the letter D. I think I somewhat described what happened on that day just previously, but I can elaborate more. We started with general pleasantries, at which point she started by telling me about her ex-boyfriend, namely because we both had a similar major in university. She also talked about how even though he was American he could speak Japanese almost fluently and told me she still likes to practice her English. After this, the topic changed to her recent attempt at reigniting her modeling career after which it moved to talking about her children and how she wanted them to do well in life. She also spoke extensively on how she wanted them to try living in the US, although she lamented extensively about how they weren’t quite tough enough to exist in the corporate environment here. The discussion then later moved to politics and she began to speak extensively about the assassination of Shinzo Abe and how it was tied to a religious group called the Unification Church and how she viewed them as dangerous, although she did not elaborate too much beyond speaking about their extensive funding of government projects. I was already a little uncomfortable, as I don’t really like speaking in public,  and this definitely made it more uncomfortable, although she eventually left the train at an earlier stop. Interpretation is a bit more tricky, as at the time I had absolutely no clue what was happening. Even now I don’t really know, and I don’t want to disclose too much of the conversation as it covered some sensitive information regarding her family which I ought not share, although it is unfortunate that without hearing the whole conversation you can’t really appreciate how strange it was. My interpretation at the time was that she was someone who wanted to practice English and just felt very comfortable sharing things with others, maybe because she had had good experiences with the Americans she met before. I honestly think this matches my current evaluation, as I think it is the most charitable and probably accurate evaluation of the situation. Unfortunately, I think that this is impossible to verify, so I will likely never know. I do now think that she also probably just wanted to share some of her woes about her country’s government with a foreigner, which makes sense. This is one of the easier events to pin down, however, as most of these surprising events I only realize to be special or truly surprising after the fact. Unfortunately, I cannot attach any of the photos I have from the trip to compensate for the somewhat unresolved nature of this case; the files are all too large to attach.

Posted on

Halfway

In my time so far in Japan, I definitely think the biggest difference I’ve noticed is the overall desire to not impact those around you, lest you disturb the general public and inconvenience others. This is very different than in America, where normally in my experience it’s accepted for someone to act the way they want to even if it does impact others. Thus, there is definitely a stereotype that Americans take up more physical and audible space than they should. I definitely have to agree with this, as this is an auto-stereotype I also hold. While I definitely appreciate if it were a social taboo to speak too loudly or even speak at all on public transport in America, I can’t imagine this ever happening. This is to say this stereotype is very firmly founded on experience, as the few times I have heard locals being too loud on the train it was either a child or a very drunk person. I think in America we’re not as used to (or at least not conscious of) the most seemingly innocent actions bothering others as we on average in a much more spread out country and thus aren’t impacted as profoundly by those around us. Still, I do find it inexcusable how loud much of the world is, and it does get very annoying having to remind a certain few people not to speak at a volume where they can probably be heard from across the building. The other big difference is in the amount of physical space we take up. I definitely see where this stereotype comes from although I don’t really agree with it, unlike the first one. I think this stereotype comes from two places: first, most Americans are physically bigger than most Japanese people (at least in my observation) and second, most Americans take up more space on their work or school desks when they work because there is more space. The first reason is definitely true, but in my experience the second isn’t, as I’ve met fewer messy and sprawling people here, although there certainly are a fair few. On the first point, I’ve noticed that people here tend to be in better shape, not only just to be in better health but also because its rude in a sense to take up too much space. In my daily commute on the subway, a few stops before I have to get off the train becomes fully packed, as in you literally cannot move because there are too many people. In this environment, taking up too much space prevents people from getting not he train and could make them late for school or work. Also, those who do have seats always in my experience try to take the minimum comfortable amount of space in order to fit more people onto the train. In this sense, a lot of us do take up too much space. The second idea, however, I don’t see as fully true. I definitely have seen tourists taking up too much space on a seat on or a sidewalk, although in my experience most people do not do this, and therefore I don’t have as much to say about this.

As for a stereotype I held, I’ve thought for most of my life that most Japanese people are kind of cold and will avoid others. While that is true to some degree, namely in my experience from older people, I don’t think it is that true overall, or at least in certain environments. A lot of Japanese restaurants only seat around 10 or less people in a confined area, and in my experience even if people are in different groups they will interact occasionally between groups. Every time I have been to an Izakaya (kind of like a traditional Japanese bar) people have always been very friendly and talkative towards me while still respecting boundaries by not talking too excessively. Also, I’ve talked to a bunch of younger people at night on the street, and I definitely think for people my age this stereotype is untrue.

I do think it’s interesting how often we tend to make generalizations and stereotypes about not just other groups but ourselves as well, as I think generally we do so in order to have a blueprint for how to interact with a certain person. Of course, they carry negative connotations, but at least in my experience times where I could obviously tell that someone held a stereotype about me the experience often was not negative, although I know this is different for many others. I also found it interesting that even when traveling across vast swaths of land, stereotypes about foreigners tended to remain the same. My experience has definitely made me consider more the numerous generalizations I hold about foreigners and has also made me want to find out why many people do things that I find strange, as there is almost always a good reason for differences in standard everyday behavior.