As an objective observer not knowing what I know today I could view the Japanese as a little unapproachable or cliquey to an outsider. I found out from my Japanese friends that they join or are part of a circle, like a club. These clubs are a tight knit group and can be restricted with time consuming activities. This makes it hard to have any type of relations outside their circle and also may restrict other nationalities from participating. One interesting thing happened on how they approached dorm rooms and locations. I met the first RA from unit 15 next to my room. We became friends, and I interacted with many of the residents in unit 15. I was approached by my RA unit 14 explaining I should participate and interact using specific areas only from my unit 14 and they may have taken it as an insult or I didn’t like them. I was unaware of how they separated and planned activities by unit only. I felt bad, I was unaware of the system and I made sure I participated in activities with my unit. That was the first time I experienced their circle and how they form their clicks.
Japanese place extreme importance on their future careers and take much pride in their work performance. Personally, I can relate to this culture being introverted and hold high respect for my elders. I also believe in hard work and staying focused in order to secure a great career.
The only negative I can see of this culture is wanting to please everyone, especially their parents and their traditional values. Physical appearance is also very important in Japanese culture, skin care, hair color especially in the workplace. Also being lean is an ideal body type ; I didn’t realize how cold the evening would get and needed a heavier jacket. while shopping at a clothing store they have one size, small. Also I broke the zipper on my boots, me being 5 ’10 and having a size eleven wide foot, I had an extremely hard time finding clothing and shoes in my size. Needless to say, I was unable to get another pair of boots or a jacket.
Culturally Americans come in many shapes and sizes. Our stores have ranges of specific items to accommodate many different body types . I never took size to be an issue and was taken aback by my choices.
Also in terms of medicine, some of the prescriptions that are used here are illegal in Japan. For example, my friend could not bring in her ibuprofen to Japan. One of the other observations that I have made (also mentioned in the survey) is the garbage separating; this is a law in Japan and it has to be enforced in the dorms as well. For example bottles are thrown separately and bottle caps are supposed to be placed in a smaller bin. Nonburnable items are the plastics and burnable items would be the papers. If something is placed in the wrong bin it is a requirement to take it out and throw it away properly. Overall I think, as Americans, we do not realize all the freedoms that we have in this country or we take advantage of them; friends, prescriptions, health resources, and clothes.