Cultural Awareness Understanding culture plays a crucial role in maintaining and forming international relations. It serves as a political backbone in peace and fosters agreements among nations previously foreign to one another. Culture provides an outlet for individuals to witness the variety of people on the planet we share. To gain knowledge and appreciation for a culture other than my own, I have chosen one far from what I am accustomed to, the Japanese culture from the island of Japan. Japan is located to the east of North and South Korea, China, and Russia. It consists of four main islands in the North Pacific Ocean. Throughout much of its early history, being a nation of separate islands caused for cultural and ethnic distinctions. The idea of accepting these differences was not present until 1994 (“One People, One Race?”). Japanese is the main language with about 121 million users. Significantly, there are several other languages known as the Ryukyuan languages that are specific to the people from the smaller neighboring islands of Ryukyu and Okinawa. The languages’ use ranges from nearly extinct to approximately 1 million users. They are mutually unintelligible which means they are unknown by one another. Also, the Japanese have Eastern and Western dialects that are unintelligible to each other, with Hyojungo or standard, proper Japanese and Kyutsugo or common, slang Japanese (“Japanese.”). The variance in languages makes for a very diverse nation in the area of
“Culture is sometimes described as a lens through which we view the world, meaning that one’s culture influences their perceptions and interactions in everyday life” (Davis, 2006). Every culture has different beliefs and customs
Culture is an intermingling mesh of traits that, although unique to each person, brings groups of people together. It is comprised of numerous different aspects that are passed down through generations, including religion, food, clothing, language, music, morals, and greetings. Because of its extensive range, it is easy to see how much culture impacts a person’s life. One’s culture vastly affects how he or she views the world due to ingrained traditions, stereotypes, and values within his or her heritage.
This paper provided an opportunity to take a deeper look into the country of Japan by conducting a Global Cultural Analysis. Throughout this paper the following four research areas were explored: 1.What is the major elements and dimensions of culture in Japan? 2. How are these elements and dimensions integrated by locals conducting business in Japan? 3. How does U.S. culture and business compare with the elements and dimensions of culture integrated by the locals conducting business in Japan? 4. What are the implications for U.S. businesses that wish to conduct business with Japan?
Culture is one of the most relevant elements that can define not only a society but also a country’s cumulative beliefs and system. Often noted as the origins of a country, culture is definitive in the sense that it harbors all the elements that can provide justification on the traditions and norms set by the society for its members. More often than not, the society members follow norms in order to create a harmonious community, and the beliefs and the traditions serve as the poles or grounding rules for each member to follow. Culture is very dynamic in the way that it can change over a variety of foreign influences but what is permanent about it is that original elements about it often lingers with the influences, therefore making it multi-faceted and broad. More importantly, culture serves as an individual and unique trait each society has, and therefore sets it apart from other countries and other societies.
Culture is very important to many individuals in this world. It plays key parts in a vast amount of people’s lives. While some may follow everything to do with their culture, your culture doesn’t have to affect your life. You can still choose to have your own personal views, or to follow your accustomed culture. People will all view everything differently depending on who they are, what cultural background they have, and what scenario they’re in.
Culture plays an very important part in everyone’s life, it’s what makes unique and interesting individuals.. It has shaped my identity, and without it I wouldn’t be the person I am today.
In today’s modern, fast-paced, technology driven world it is all too easy to misinterpret and misunderstand situations, both personal and professional, that could easily be solved by taking a look into the cultural concepts and norms of a group or society. In cultures with a long history of social customs, it would be beneficial for those involved to examine the special features and norms that make up this culture in an effort to better the communication and understanding of personal and professional relationships. This area can be especially favorable in working with those of the Japanese decent as this culture is deeply intricate with many traditions and standards that have been passed on from generation to generation. Some of theses cultural
Culture plays a significant role in defining our identity and worldview. For newcomers, culture is the primary frame that shapes their interaction with other newcomers and with established residents in their new community. This interaction can occur anywhere and
Culture is a large part of every person’s life, it is what makes each person unique. Within culture there are many aspects such as food, music, clothing, tradition, and many more. Since culture makes up such a large part of our day to day lives, it is almost always responsible shaping and informing our view on the world.
People no longer use the term “Japanese American” in today's society. Instead, they are no longer thought as a separate group and are incorrectly categorized as “Asian American”, along with Vietnamese American, Chinese American, etc. Japanese Americans have an extremely unique background in terms of their origins, history, and struggle with racialization. Like many ethnic groups, Japanese Americans have been subjected to many different portrayals throughout American history. Even though cultural separation and suspicion are deemed as immoral, such practices toward them were thought to be necessary by the American Government. For a good amount of time, they suffered from racial hostility and violence. Now, in an age where cultural diversity
Japan is a high context culture. Mainly considered a homogenous society, there are still significant variations in the regional social and cultural patterns. Personality traits are attributed to certain regions. Local culture such as cuisine and dialects express the regional identities of the Japanese who take pride in their place of birth.
Japan, known for its cultural homogenaity, is home to over 850,000 Koreans. These Koreans, now commonly known as Zainichi (Japanese for “living in Japan”), exist in as an “invisible minority,” blending into the general Japanese population. Many first migrated to Japan as poor farmers looking for manual labor jobs after Japanese empire annexed the Korean penninsula in 1910. During in World War II, Japan forcibly brought over more Korean men to Japan as laborers for the war economy. Korean women were brought to Japan as “comfort women” for Japanese soldiers, which still remains a point of tension between Japan and Koreans today.
The world is getting smaller. It is essential for people to have cultural awareness and understand cultural diversity. Culture awareness is the foundation of communication throughout our world today. Therefore, a person is culturally aware when he or she stands back from oneself and becomes aware of the culture, beliefs, and perceptions of others. Culture is the complex whole of a society, which gains its identity by its spoken languages, beliefs, values, customs, laws, cuisine, and geography. No matter where each culture is located, it shares at least five basic characteristics, learned, shared, based on symbols, integrated, and dynamic. Each country has its own colorfully rich culture and can be conceptualized as everything that an
Culture is a behavior that consists of several critical elements, such as language, religion, race and ethnicity, clothing and politics. Culture is what one does in his/her daily life. In order to understand others, we must first keep in mind that every culture carries its own set of values and assumptions. Culture is an evolving, ever changing civilization, which includes several different groups people. For immigrants, America is a land of opportunity; for others it is just the best country in the world because of its economic success and/or its democratic political system. Americans usually value independence a lot, believe in equal opportunity, and have a direct communication style. In exploring the
In the far-east, off the coast of the Asian continent lies an island nation, originally shrouded in mystery from the rest of the known world. From a remote and isolated empire to a United States ally, Japan has successfully made its existence known to the international community. Over the period of the nineteenth and twentieth century’s, Japan has gone through drastic changes to its political, military, and economic infrastructure that has had an impact on its unique culture.