Culture Wise Japan
Edited by David Leaper
Travellers often underestimate the depth of cultural isolation they can face abroad, particularly in a country with a different language. To many people, Japan is the embodiment of ‘culture shock’, although it is used to welcoming and catering for hundreds of thousands of foreign workers and visitors each year. Not surprisingly, most newcomers find many aspects of Japanese life alien – food, etiquette, language, etc. – and some come unstuck as a result. Culture Wise Japan will help you understand Japan and its people, and adapt to the Japanese way of life. Most importantly, it will enable you to quickly feel at home.
Download the first 25 pages FREE now (including the Table of Contents), and see for yourself the wealth of priceless information this book contains! It's packed with comprehensive, up-to-date, accurate information, facts and figures, and 'insider’ tips, all written and presented in the ‘easy to read and understand’ style for which Survival Books are famous. Our books will save you weeks or months of research, answer hundreds of questions – including many you hadn’t even thought of – and help you avoid problems and save money!
Click 'BUY' (left) to get up to 42% off and free delivery at Amazon.
Extracts from the book…
Japan is Different
When you move to Japan, you’ll be faced with a host of challenges – possibly including a new job, a new home and a new physical environment – which can be overwhelming; and all this before you even encounter the local culture. You may have left a job in your home country where you were in senior position, extremely competent and knew everyone. In Japan, you may be virtually a trainee and not know any of your colleagues or the Japanese way of doing things. The sensation that you’re starting from scratch can be demoralising.
Japan has many extremes of climate and weather, and you mustn’t underestimate the effects that this can have on you. The heat and humidity of summer can lead to a lack of energy, poor sleep and dehydration. In winter, the thermometer may tell you that it isn’t that cold, but you’ll certainly feel cold. Housing isn’t well insulated and typically without central heating.
Even if you move to a major city, many things that you’re used to and take for granted in your home country may not be available in Japan, e.g. certain kinds of food, opportunities to enjoy your favourite hobby or sport, books and television programmes in your language. This lack of ‘home comforts’ can wear you down. You’ll also need to contend with the lack of a local support network. At home you had a circle of friends, acquaintances, colleagues and possibly relatives you could rely on for help and support. In Japan there’s no such network, which can leave you feeling lost.
The degree of isolation you feel usually depends on how long you plan to spend in Japan and what you’ll be doing there. If you’re simply going on a short holiday you may not even be aware of many of the cultural differences, although if you are, it will enhance your enjoyment and may save you from a few embarrassing or confusing moments. However, if you’re planning a business trip or intend to spend an extended period in Japan – perhaps working, studying or even living there permanently – it’s essential to understand the culture, customs and etiquette at the earliest opportunity.
Community Life
When viewed from a distance, the urban landscape of Japan is a dense clutter of two- to four-storey housing interspaced with the odd high-rise apartment complex. Buildings are packed among narrow streets with very little space for gardens, if any. Owing to the frequency of devastating earthquakes and typhoons, most homes are cheaply built from prefabricated parts – with thin walls and floors and without such ‘luxuries’ as double glazing or central heating, despite the cold winters.
Fortunately, the Japanese generally make quiet and considerate neighbours. This doesn’t mean, however, that they’re easy to get to know. Although they’re cordial enough, they will rarely introduce themselves outside of their social network. You may therefore have to make the first move with your new neighbours, but even then it’s unlikely they will ever become friends, as the Japanese typically socialise away from their homes.
It’s therefore around the local railway or underground (subway) station that the life of the community revolves – but mainly at weekends. During the week, the Japanese are busy working and children go straight from school to the juku (cramming school – see Chapter 3) or club activities. At the station there’s often a multitude of restaurants, bars and izakaya (bars that serve food, usually family run rather than part of a chain), Japanese and American fast food chains, convenience stores (combini) and, at main stations, department stores (depato) and everything from gambling parlours (pachinko) to hairdressers’ and drug stores. Major stations often incorporate several restaurants, sprawling department stores and shopping centres.
The peacefulness of weekdays is periodically broken by the amplified bawling of merchants selling their wares from vans and public announcements from the communal loudspeaker system. The most common of these is made every day at 4.30pm (in winter) or 5.30pm (in summer), telling children that it’s time to stop playing and go home (which children usually ignore).
When the Japanese find some time to spend on leisure and recreation, they often do so with gusto – singing, drinking, and talking late into the night – but rarely at home. Homes are personal sanctuaries separated from work, social and recreational life.
No reviews yet. Be the first…
Free PDF Sample
PRICE: £10.95
PUBLICATION: May 2009
EDITION: 1st
PAGES: 232
BINDING: paperback
SIZE: 200 x 130mm
COLOUR PHOTOS: over 100
