Seeing that I will be heading to another country, I figured it is vital to at least partially understand various cultural nuances of the nation and its people. This includes the way they communicate. Thankfully, the textbook from a course I took last semester often used Japan's culture in its examples on interpersonal communication. I am going through some of these quotes and hope that they will help me and anyone else interested in going to Japan. I will provide citations at the bottom.
In Japan, the American "okay" hand gesture means "Please give me coins" while a thumbs-up means the number "5."
Japan, like many North European countries, is a non-contact culture and tend to keep their distance.
"Americans, for example, consider direct eye contact an expression of honesty and forthrightness, but the Japanese often view this as showing a lack of respect. A Japanese person will glance at the other person's face rarely, and then only for very short periods." (DeVito, p. 123)
"Other cultures, however, view silence more positively. In many situations in Japan, for example, silence is a response that is considered more appropriate than speech." (DeVito, p. 129)
Even the meanings of colors are different in different cultures. For Japan, red signifies anger and danger. It is also common in the Buddhist culture to have the names of the dead written in red ink. White signifies death and mourning and purple symbolizes grace and nobility.
Cultures have their own time orientations. Monochronic time orientation emphasizes the compartmentalization of time and "there is time for everything" (DeVito, p. 141). Polychronic oriented cultures "schedule multiple things at the same time." It seems that Japan is one of the nations whose culture has equal amounts of both orientations.
"...in one study, Japanese students, when asked to judge the emotion shown in a computer icon, looked to the eyes to determine the emotion. Students from the United States, however, focused on the mouth." (DeVito, p. 175)
Maxims are "principles that speakers and listeners in the United States and in many other cultures follow in conversation" (DeVito, p.196). "In Japanese conversations and group discussions, a maxim of preserving peaceful relationships with others may be observed (Midooka, 1990). For example, it would be considered inappropriate to argue and to demonstrate that another person is wrong. It would be inappropriate to contribute to another person's embarrassment or loss of face." (DeVito, p. 197)
"The American style of learning is to ask questions, discuss the theory and then go do it and ask more questions. The Japanese style is to observe the master, not ask questions and then get your hands dirty at the very beginning. If you ask questions, it can suggest that the master didn't do his job properly. The different styles can cause problems" (Lustig & Koester, p. 209)
"Japanese newspapers and television news shows, for example, routinely refer to Japanese adults by their family name plus san, the latter word being an address term denoting respect or honor. As Daniel Dolan suggests, however, "This respect is conditional, because in most instances of reporting about a person associated with criminal activity, mass media reporters will publicly divest an individual of the personal address term san and in its place use yogisha [suspect], hikoku [accused], or family name alone. The effect is to banish the person, at least temporarily, from functioning citizenry." (Lustig & Koester, p. 213)
"The desire not to speak is the most significant aspect or feature of Japanese language life. The Japanese hate to hear someone make excuses for his or her mistakes or failures. They do not like long and complicated explanations. Consequently, the less talkative person is preferred and is more popular than the talkative one, other conditions being equal. If one has to say something normally, it is said in as few words as possible." (Lustig & Koester, p. 217)
The Japanese use an indirect style of communication that "will veil the speaker's true wants and needs with ambiguous statements." (Lustig & Koester, p. 219)
"Work roles also differ across cultures. Among the Japanese, work roles are an extension of the family hierarchy. That is, 'presidents are 'family heads,' executives 'wise uncles,' managers 'hard-working big brothers,' workers 'obedient and loyal children.' American workers employed in Japanese-managed companies do not see themselves as 'loyal and obedient children' and instead hold traditional American values of individualism, competitiveness, and social mobility'" (Lustig & Koester, p. 282)
DeVito A., Joseph. "The Interpersonal Communication Book." 14th ed., Pearson, 2016, pp. 123-197
Lustig, Myron W., and Jolene Koester. "Intercultural Competence: Interpersonal Communication Across Cultures." 7th ed., Pearson, 2016, pp. 209-282.
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