Japanese culture

Excluding the few exceptions that come along with any judgment of a cultural group, I have to say that Japanese people have made an impression upon me as being very warm, attentive, and agreeable.  In America, many times people can feel like you are invading their personal space or privacy, or overstepping your bounds as a stranger if you come up to them to ask them something. Although it seems sometimes as though people here are in their own personal worlds, all it takes is one to first break the ice in order to receive a positive response. For instance, while unsuccessfully trying to find a certain restaurant in Kyoto, my friend and I finally stopped to ask for assistance from a man handing out tissues with advertisements. He kindly put down his box, and helped us for about 5 minutes, looking on the smart phone map and trying to figure out how to direct us, even using a little bit of the English he knew. Although we had interrupted his activities, he was willing to help complete strangers find a place that he had never himself been to.

                Relaxing outside one day, a couple kids walked by us holding a frog and a turtle. I wanted to take a picture, so I called out to them even though they had already walked a distance past us. They returned and showed us the animals, and we had a brief conversation (how old are you, etc); they even let me photograph them. I think that often in America kids might simply ignore a stranger calling out to them, but these Japanese boys were respectful and seemingly content with being interrupted on their way home. Observing the attentiveness of the Japanese towards those around them is obvious when walking into a store or restaurant, but this proves to be the case outside of those settings as well. At Kansai Gaidai one day I was trying to pull my bike out from the masses, and was having trouble, with the bikes next to it almost about to fall. A girl asked if I needed help, and even though I replied “It’s ok”, she still came over and helped me pick up the fallen bikes.

                These are simply a few specific instances of Japanese cooperation that I remember because of the impression they had on me. Part of the reason Japanese society operates so smoothly is because people cooperate with those around them, and are open to helping others. People are hard-working, and seem to possess a unique integrity that comes with others in turn having been honest towards them. It’s hard to imagine being ripped off by a Japanese shop owner, for instance; they do a good job with whatever service they are providing, get it done quickly, and designate a clear and fair price for the customer, and are often friendly all the while. In America, it is a common occurrence for one to be very wary of everything from being overcharged by your orthopedic surgeon to being duped into paying for extraneous or unnecessary repairs by your auto mechanic. I believe that for most Japanese people, the prospect of deceiving or cheating a customer is nearly unthinkable because their integrity prevents it. 

What do Japanese people do?

While I do not seek to generalize the behavior of all Japanese people, I can provide my thoughts on characteristics of Japanese people that stand out to me because of repeated observations of their behavior. As a foreigner living in Japan, these aspects stand out to me mostly because they are different from what I know of my own culture, although they still may be familiar to some degree.  

One thing I have noticed is Japanese people tend to always do things in groups – if you are traveling or eating alone, for instance, most Japanese people are surprised. Because of this dynamic, they are usually good at keeping a conversation going, constantly providing stories as well as feedback to other people who are talking – it is a dynamic that is encompassed in the language as well.

I feel as though Japanese people are also very attentive to people around them, something that can be felt as soon as someone walks into a store or engages with other workers in the service industry. This is also reflected in fashion to a certain extent. A friend told me that since Japanese are constantly observing and comparing themselves to those around them, they are very fashionable. This is also related to the fact that Japan is a very consumer-based society. Every product is competing with others, begging to be bought. For this reason, Japanese are very good at presentation – shop interiors, products, and even food dishes reflect careful attention to design and aesthetics. When I walk into a store or a restaurant, I often really feel like purchasing something, particularly because of the way things are presented in pictures and on shelves.

Japanese people love documenting their activities with their cameras. They also seem to always be connected to their cell phones.  There was one occasion when I was riding the train back from Osaka in the afternoon, and all the seats lining the cabin were occupied with people holding iPhones, with headphones in their ears. I sat down in one of the empty seats. This phenomenon is common in America as well – people seem to use their phones as a way to escape engaging with strangers around them, instead engaging with their own music, photos, and internet identities.  Soon however, an old man in a cast and an old woman boarded the train, and the woman let her husband take the one empty seat. She stood in front of him, trying to maintain her balance, while he held their bags. Nobody nearby looked up because they were all on their phones – many were young people as well. The woman seemed tired so I soon got up and stood even though the train would not arrive at the station for a while. With the seat vacated, the husband gestured for the woman to sit down across from him. The woman gave me an appreciative look and sat down. I was surprised that other young people didn’t give up their seats – after all, the woman had been standing for a while. To me, it seemed that they wanted to have a place to sit down so they could hold their bags in their laps and still be able to use their phones, something that would be more inconvenient were they to stand and have to hold the hand straps.