Cultural Differences Between Japan and America: A User’s Guide
There are about a bazillion differences between America and Japan, and most of them are pretty evident right off the bat. Heck, I’ve only been here two months as of writing this and I already feel confident enough to write an entire blog post about it. Now, that’s faith, people*.
One of the first things gaijin may notice upon entering Japan is that they do not speak English, and all the signs have these strange squiggly things on them instead of letters. The most important thing to do when noticing this is to remain calm. This is called speaking another language, and it’s so important that I’ve devoted not only another post to the subject, but pretty much the entire blog is about trying to cope with learning Japanese.
Everyday life in Japan is rife with examples of differences. One of them rears its multicultural head every time you enter or exit a house. Japanese customs dictate different shoes for outdoors and indoors, and in more traditional homes you may even be expected to don different footwear depending on what part of the house you’re in. My advice on navigating this cultural hurdle is, number one, do not trip over it like me, stick close to someone who knows what they’re doing and follow their lead**, and always carry a clean pair of simple white socks, just in case.
In American culture, there’s a very strong desire for everyone to interact as equals, and as such people usually behave as peers after the initial introduction. In Japan, however, the system of hierarchy is very strongly adhered to, to the point that having friends outside your year-group in school is considered very strange. One of the words you may hear often in school situations is “sempai,” which means “older student.” If someone is described as a sempai, you should use polite language when speaking to them, even if they use informal speech, and you should bow to them when you meet them and when you leave. Other useful buzzwords that help identify people above you in standing are “sensei,” used to describe teachers and doctors, and “san,” which is the general polite salutation (equivalent of Ms. or Mr.) It should be noted, however, that “san” is used even among friends, and therefore is less likely to be a good determining factor for who’s who. People who are lower than you are usually younger than you, and referred to with the suffix “chan.” If the suffixes are confusing you already, you can check out the Japanese language post for a detailed overview. A good rule of thumb is to use polite language and “san” for anyone who might be your same age or older. Also note that if you’re trying to follow someone else’s lead, they may interact with someone differently than you should, so be sure to remain aware of relative ages, or adhere to someone who is close to age and rank as you.
Another everyday occurrence is bowing. Although it happens maybe dozens of times every day, bowing is a complex act, and Japanese children in elementary school have to practice bows daily to perfect their form. As a clumsy gaijin, you will be excused from the finer points of a bow, but there are a few guidelines that should be adhered to. First of all is a simple rule: the more important the person the longer and deeper the bow. The president would be greeted with a bow bringing the torso parallel to the ground, while a child or friend would be acknowledged with, perhaps, a smile and respectful nod. A good, moderate bow involves putting your hands at your sides (young women can clasp their hands in front of them,) and leaning forward at about a 30 degree angle. Hold the bow for about the count of two, and then look up to see if your partner is still bowing. If they are, lather, rinse, and repeat. If not, straighten up. Be prepared to repeat the bow several times in quick succession. If the person you are bowing to is more senior than you are, make sure your bows are deeper and longer than theirs as a show of respect.
Respect seems to be one of the largest and most difficult things to grasp in Japan. It’s an intensely complex system, and native Japanese people are trained in it from almost before they can walk. As a gaijin, you will be excused for the inevitable blunders, but that doesn’t excuse you from trying to learn. The first thing you should learn how to do in Japan is apologize correctly, and the second thing is to say thank you. As mentioned earlier, language is covered in detail here, but it’s worth noting since it’s such an important part of Japanese culture.
Another value of American culture that’s not well regarded in Japan is bluntness. In America, a person who is direct and concise is valued, but in Japan straightforwardness is taken to the absolute opposite extreme. It’s very impolite to contradict someone directly, or to complain about something. The proper way of making your displeasure known involves mentioning it in the most offhand way possible to a mutual acquaintance, and letting them take care of conveying this to the offending party. While this may seem like gossiping or whining to an American, it’s the correct way to act. Conversely, this system poses the risk of unintentionally bruised egos when you think you are venting privately about something only to find out that your comments have been carried right to the last person you wanted to hear about them. The best way to avoid this is to always watch your tongue and make sure not to express strong opinions unless you really, really, really mean it.
This brings us to another point: fitting it. Homogeny is as much a part of Japanese life as diversity is in the U.S. For better or for worse, almost everyone in Japan is native Japanese all the way back to the beginning. On a side note, as a gaijin, you will never “fit in.” The best you can hope for is friendly acceptance by the population at large, but no matter how long you stay you will always turn heads. This is especially true if you have any hair color than black and any skin color other than white. Anyway, back to the topic. Presenting the image of a single unit instead of a grouping of individuals is very important. In my school, there is a line order that applies in all situations, including running from fires, and there were three days of practice before the sports festival to insure that we could march in unison and thus appear unified to the collection of only about 100 parents and siblings who came out to watch. Being “together” in every sense is glorified to an almost extreme extent, at least in my eyes. Classes do everything together, and the same group goes through six years of education together. There is no such thing as choosing which courses to take in a year, no individual schedule. In some ways, this is a comfort, because there’s the assurance that someone will always have your back and once you learn the status quo you don’t have to worry about making an embarrassing mistake, but it leaves very little room for individuality. I’m honestly not sure which system I like better, and I’m planning to make a long, thoughtful post on the subject in future.
Japan is a very pedestrian-friendly country. In almost every case, it is more convenient to walk or take public transport than to use a car, and the cities are most definitely divided into well-situated neighborhoods providing all the necessities within comfortable walking distance. This is one of the things I am unreservedly pleased with about Japan. It’s so much nicer, especially as a non-driving teenager, to be able to just up and walk to a restaurant or store instead of waiting until my mom has free time to drive me.
Another thing that surprised many Americans about Japan is the acceptance of large denominations of bills. Today, I walked into a Starbucks after going to the bank and paid for my 450 yen drink with a 10,000-yen bill. The barista didn’t bat an eye. It’s completely acceptable to pay with large bills in any circumstances, and carrying large amounts of money is neither strange nor unsafe.
That brings me to my final point for the time being: the immense safety of Japan. It’s been said before, but Japan is almost freakishly safe. I feel completely comfortable walking down back alleys past Pachinko parlors after school, and I don’t worry about leaving my bag untended for a few minutes while I run to the bathroom. Crime is almost nonexistent, and I’ve seen a grand total of one homeless fellow in my entire time in Japan. Of course, my Angelino instincts keep telling me to be wary, but time and time again I see all the evidence that people in Japan are, in a way, too polite to be dangerous. I was discussing this with my friend Rainbow recently, and she disagreed, telling me that people get murdered all the time in Japan. “It’s on the new every day!” she said, and I shook my head, “Rain, in L.A. they don’t even bother to put it on the news because it would take up too much time.”
And with that cheerful thought I will end this post. As more differences become evident, or if people ask specific questions, I will add more to this. If you leave me a comment, I’ll do my best to answer!
* All three of you…
** This does not apply in the bathroom.
One of the first things gaijin may notice upon entering Japan is that they do not speak English, and all the signs have these strange squiggly things on them instead of letters. The most important thing to do when noticing this is to remain calm. This is called speaking another language, and it’s so important that I’ve devoted not only another post to the subject, but pretty much the entire blog is about trying to cope with learning Japanese.
Everyday life in Japan is rife with examples of differences. One of them rears its multicultural head every time you enter or exit a house. Japanese customs dictate different shoes for outdoors and indoors, and in more traditional homes you may even be expected to don different footwear depending on what part of the house you’re in. My advice on navigating this cultural hurdle is, number one, do not trip over it like me, stick close to someone who knows what they’re doing and follow their lead**, and always carry a clean pair of simple white socks, just in case.
In American culture, there’s a very strong desire for everyone to interact as equals, and as such people usually behave as peers after the initial introduction. In Japan, however, the system of hierarchy is very strongly adhered to, to the point that having friends outside your year-group in school is considered very strange. One of the words you may hear often in school situations is “sempai,” which means “older student.” If someone is described as a sempai, you should use polite language when speaking to them, even if they use informal speech, and you should bow to them when you meet them and when you leave. Other useful buzzwords that help identify people above you in standing are “sensei,” used to describe teachers and doctors, and “san,” which is the general polite salutation (equivalent of Ms. or Mr.) It should be noted, however, that “san” is used even among friends, and therefore is less likely to be a good determining factor for who’s who. People who are lower than you are usually younger than you, and referred to with the suffix “chan.” If the suffixes are confusing you already, you can check out the Japanese language post for a detailed overview. A good rule of thumb is to use polite language and “san” for anyone who might be your same age or older. Also note that if you’re trying to follow someone else’s lead, they may interact with someone differently than you should, so be sure to remain aware of relative ages, or adhere to someone who is close to age and rank as you.
Another everyday occurrence is bowing. Although it happens maybe dozens of times every day, bowing is a complex act, and Japanese children in elementary school have to practice bows daily to perfect their form. As a clumsy gaijin, you will be excused from the finer points of a bow, but there are a few guidelines that should be adhered to. First of all is a simple rule: the more important the person the longer and deeper the bow. The president would be greeted with a bow bringing the torso parallel to the ground, while a child or friend would be acknowledged with, perhaps, a smile and respectful nod. A good, moderate bow involves putting your hands at your sides (young women can clasp their hands in front of them,) and leaning forward at about a 30 degree angle. Hold the bow for about the count of two, and then look up to see if your partner is still bowing. If they are, lather, rinse, and repeat. If not, straighten up. Be prepared to repeat the bow several times in quick succession. If the person you are bowing to is more senior than you are, make sure your bows are deeper and longer than theirs as a show of respect.
Respect seems to be one of the largest and most difficult things to grasp in Japan. It’s an intensely complex system, and native Japanese people are trained in it from almost before they can walk. As a gaijin, you will be excused for the inevitable blunders, but that doesn’t excuse you from trying to learn. The first thing you should learn how to do in Japan is apologize correctly, and the second thing is to say thank you. As mentioned earlier, language is covered in detail here, but it’s worth noting since it’s such an important part of Japanese culture.
Another value of American culture that’s not well regarded in Japan is bluntness. In America, a person who is direct and concise is valued, but in Japan straightforwardness is taken to the absolute opposite extreme. It’s very impolite to contradict someone directly, or to complain about something. The proper way of making your displeasure known involves mentioning it in the most offhand way possible to a mutual acquaintance, and letting them take care of conveying this to the offending party. While this may seem like gossiping or whining to an American, it’s the correct way to act. Conversely, this system poses the risk of unintentionally bruised egos when you think you are venting privately about something only to find out that your comments have been carried right to the last person you wanted to hear about them. The best way to avoid this is to always watch your tongue and make sure not to express strong opinions unless you really, really, really mean it.
This brings us to another point: fitting it. Homogeny is as much a part of Japanese life as diversity is in the U.S. For better or for worse, almost everyone in Japan is native Japanese all the way back to the beginning. On a side note, as a gaijin, you will never “fit in.” The best you can hope for is friendly acceptance by the population at large, but no matter how long you stay you will always turn heads. This is especially true if you have any hair color than black and any skin color other than white. Anyway, back to the topic. Presenting the image of a single unit instead of a grouping of individuals is very important. In my school, there is a line order that applies in all situations, including running from fires, and there were three days of practice before the sports festival to insure that we could march in unison and thus appear unified to the collection of only about 100 parents and siblings who came out to watch. Being “together” in every sense is glorified to an almost extreme extent, at least in my eyes. Classes do everything together, and the same group goes through six years of education together. There is no such thing as choosing which courses to take in a year, no individual schedule. In some ways, this is a comfort, because there’s the assurance that someone will always have your back and once you learn the status quo you don’t have to worry about making an embarrassing mistake, but it leaves very little room for individuality. I’m honestly not sure which system I like better, and I’m planning to make a long, thoughtful post on the subject in future.
Japan is a very pedestrian-friendly country. In almost every case, it is more convenient to walk or take public transport than to use a car, and the cities are most definitely divided into well-situated neighborhoods providing all the necessities within comfortable walking distance. This is one of the things I am unreservedly pleased with about Japan. It’s so much nicer, especially as a non-driving teenager, to be able to just up and walk to a restaurant or store instead of waiting until my mom has free time to drive me.
Another thing that surprised many Americans about Japan is the acceptance of large denominations of bills. Today, I walked into a Starbucks after going to the bank and paid for my 450 yen drink with a 10,000-yen bill. The barista didn’t bat an eye. It’s completely acceptable to pay with large bills in any circumstances, and carrying large amounts of money is neither strange nor unsafe.
That brings me to my final point for the time being: the immense safety of Japan. It’s been said before, but Japan is almost freakishly safe. I feel completely comfortable walking down back alleys past Pachinko parlors after school, and I don’t worry about leaving my bag untended for a few minutes while I run to the bathroom. Crime is almost nonexistent, and I’ve seen a grand total of one homeless fellow in my entire time in Japan. Of course, my Angelino instincts keep telling me to be wary, but time and time again I see all the evidence that people in Japan are, in a way, too polite to be dangerous. I was discussing this with my friend Rainbow recently, and she disagreed, telling me that people get murdered all the time in Japan. “It’s on the new every day!” she said, and I shook my head, “Rain, in L.A. they don’t even bother to put it on the news because it would take up too much time.”
And with that cheerful thought I will end this post. As more differences become evident, or if people ask specific questions, I will add more to this. If you leave me a comment, I’ll do my best to answer!
* All three of you…
** This does not apply in the bathroom.