Brief Description of Japanese Culture
Both Japan’s unique geographical conditions and its long history, created today’s unique Japanese culture. The Japanese culture is a complex and sophisticated system that has been developing within itself and under the influences of neighbor countries for thousands of years. Geisha, Samurai, sakura, tea ceremony, Japanese gardens, kimonos, Japanese characters and language and Shinto constitute the traditional Japanese culture.
Japan has received foreign cultural influences throughout its history, for example European, Asian, Chinese as well as North American Culture. Traditional Chinese culture had great influences on traditional Japanese culture such as Confucianism and Buddhism. However, no matter how …show more content…
Compared to most other Western cultures, Japanese tend not to express their feeling directly. For example, when two people are arguing with each other, the Westerns would show their anger and say: "why don’t you get what I said?", while the Japanese would hide their anger with their masks of politeness and say: “why don’t you understand my feeling?” The Japanese are tend to be more tolerant, often in different ways to maintain the surface of harmony instead of direct confrontation. Westerners also need to pay more attention on the actual meanings behind Japanese indirectness or the “art of the language”. Japanese “yes” may mean “yes” or “no”, and sometimes their “no” means “yes” (Olsen). Silence can also have great meaning. All of these can lead to communication problems when Japanese are doing business with people from other …show more content…
However, something you should never do when you are dinning with your Japanese business partners is misplacing your chopsticks. It is acceptable if you are not able to pick up an individual grain of rice to use chopsticks properly. But when you are not using them, you should not set your chopsticks across the dishes. Poking them on to your bowl of rice is also very rude as that is how people put the chopsticks in a funeral (ediplomat, 2016). Try to learn how the Japanese behave during the meal will save you from problems of being insulting.
When building your interpersonal relationship with your Japanese partner, he may initiate you to his home. It is very crucial to remember that privacy is very important in Japan. When visiting Japanese families, make an appointment in advance. It will be nice if you can bring a wrapped gift. You must take off your shoes when you enter the Japanese house, so you should not wear socks with hold on your toe. Sometimes you may want to see around the house, but remember, it is very impolite to peep around without the host permission. Do not go into the rooms with doors are closed, and do not flip things other than books and newspapers in the living room. Respect your host’s
Both Japan’s unique geographical conditions and its long history, created today’s unique Japanese culture. The Japanese culture is a complex and sophisticated system that has been developing within itself and under the influences of neighbor countries for thousands of years. Geisha, Samurai, sakura, tea ceremony, Japanese gardens, kimonos, Japanese characters and language and Shinto constitute the traditional Japanese culture.
Japan has received foreign cultural influences throughout its history, for example European, Asian, Chinese as well as North American Culture. Traditional Chinese culture had great influences on traditional Japanese culture such as Confucianism and Buddhism. However, no matter how …show more content…
Compared to most other Western cultures, Japanese tend not to express their feeling directly. For example, when two people are arguing with each other, the Westerns would show their anger and say: "why don’t you get what I said?", while the Japanese would hide their anger with their masks of politeness and say: “why don’t you understand my feeling?” The Japanese are tend to be more tolerant, often in different ways to maintain the surface of harmony instead of direct confrontation. Westerners also need to pay more attention on the actual meanings behind Japanese indirectness or the “art of the language”. Japanese “yes” may mean “yes” or “no”, and sometimes their “no” means “yes” (Olsen). Silence can also have great meaning. All of these can lead to communication problems when Japanese are doing business with people from other …show more content…
However, something you should never do when you are dinning with your Japanese business partners is misplacing your chopsticks. It is acceptable if you are not able to pick up an individual grain of rice to use chopsticks properly. But when you are not using them, you should not set your chopsticks across the dishes. Poking them on to your bowl of rice is also very rude as that is how people put the chopsticks in a funeral (ediplomat, 2016). Try to learn how the Japanese behave during the meal will save you from problems of being insulting.
When building your interpersonal relationship with your Japanese partner, he may initiate you to his home. It is very crucial to remember that privacy is very important in Japan. When visiting Japanese families, make an appointment in advance. It will be nice if you can bring a wrapped gift. You must take off your shoes when you enter the Japanese house, so you should not wear socks with hold on your toe. Sometimes you may want to see around the house, but remember, it is very impolite to peep around without the host permission. Do not go into the rooms with doors are closed, and do not flip things other than books and newspapers in the living room. Respect your host’s