A Word About Culture

Written by: Kim Pilger     Date added: 12-18-08

Culture influences virtually everything we do. At the same time, we are often not aware of the reasons because most of these actions are largely unconscious. Japanese culture is very different from that you might be expected to. This is probably one of the reasons you wanted to come here in the first place, right? So, what is Japanese culture? Japanese culture goes far deeper than the superficial aspects of kimonos, green tea, bowing and taking off your shoes. The deeper aspects of Japanese culture are the ones that are going to cause you the most stress. They are also going to change the way you think about the world. Obviously, I am making huge generalizations here:

• Japanese people love to be the same as each other.
• They tend to view this as a good thing. There are immense social pressures to conform and these will manifest in interesting ways. Some behaviors will seem very strange and nonsensical but they all serve very important functions in society. Rather than think of your co-workers as mindless drones, try to see them as members of a family. Cooperation and group-think is the name of the game in this society. For the sake of your sanity, accept it unconditional. Resistance is futile!
• Japanese people avoid embarrassment and confrontation at all costs
• In many situations, it is more appropriate to lie than to cause a disruption to the peace. Keep in mind that “yes” doesn’t always mean “yes”. It might mean “maybe” or it might mean “no”. Sometimes people will use laughter to diffuse uncomfortable situations. This can be confusing. It is unlikely that people are laughing at you, altogether it is quite possible. Ha! Ha! Ha!
• Work comes first
• In Japan, one’s job is more important than other aspects of life, such as friends or family. It may surprise you to see your co-workers slacking off all day or making work for themselves, just so they can stay late. You may be even more surprised that they complain about this. As far as I understand, this is a kind of social bonding that occurs through mutual suffering. Don’t worry…it doesn’t apply to foreigners.

Finally, keep in mind that all these situations have both positive and negative attributes. For example, avoidance of confrontation means that nobody is ever going to yell at you for making a mistake. The work ethic here means customer service is top notch. If you haven’t been to Japan before, this will blow your mind. Because of the tendency towards conformity, every situation is not as different as you might think.