Japanese Culture and Tradition

Japan, pronounced in Japanese as “Nippon” or “Nihon”, is a Pacific Ocean island nation off the
coast of mainland Asia. It is comprised of approximately 6,900 islands. The most prominent and
populous islands are Honshu, Hokkaido, Shikoku and Kyushu, making up 97% of the country.
Within these islands, there are 47 prefectures with a total population of 127 million (11th in the
world).

Fig: Topography of Japan (https://kids.britannica.com/students/assembly/view/166504)

73% of the country is mountainous, however, a majority of people live on the coastlines, making
it one of the most densely populated countries in the world.

Language

The national language is Japanese, which is the primary spoken language across the country. Old
Japanese, or “Kanbun”, originated from China and the earliest Japanese text, the “Kojiki,” was
written in the early 8th century and was written primarily in ancient Chinese characters. Modern
Japanese developed during the Edo period, between 1603 and 1868.

Modern Japanese consists of three alphabets:

 Kanji (logographic Chinese characters)

 Hiragana (a phonetic Japanese alphabet)
 Katakana (a phonetic alphabet used for foreign words)

The development and widespread use of Katakana is illustrative of Japan’s recent adoption of
Western cultures, ideas and words.

Culture

Early Japanese culture was heavily influenced by China. During the Edo era, Japan exercised a
strict isolationist policy, closing its doors to all relationships with the outside world. This
cultivated a distinct Japanese culture.
After the fall of that era in 1868, Japan reversed this practice, adopting cultural practices from all
over the world and mixing them with what was established during the Edo era. Over the years,
Western culture has influenced all aspects of Japanese culture including art, lifestyle and food.

Religion

There are two main religions in Japan: Shinto and Buddhism. Shinto is a Japanese religion, while
Buddhism was imported in the 6th century from China. A recent poll found that 39% of Japanese
people identify as Buddhist, 3.9% as Shinto and 2.3% as Christian.

Celebrations

In Japan, the largest holiday is the New Year’s celebration. During spring and summer,
celebrations for the gods of the land and sea, or Matsuri, take place. Each town holds its own
Matsuri, and these celebrations are widely attended by all.

Sports

Sports play a significant role in Japanese culture. Sumo, judo and karate are traditional Japanese
sports and baseball, soccer and rugby have been adopted from other cultures.

Sumo is the national sport of Japan and to this day is primarily practiced only in Japan. Modern
sumo was formed during the Edo era and little has changed since. Baseball is the most-watched
sport in the country. It was first introduced to the country in 1872 and has grown in popularity
ever since.

Family Structure

The traditional family unit in Japan is called “Kazoku,” comprising of a mother, father and their
children. Traditionally, the Kazoku often live with their elderly parents. However, more recently,
three generation household numbers have fallen in favor of more modern arrangements.

Cuisine

Across the nation, the Japanese are primarily fish eaters. Japan is the number one fish importer in
the world, consuming around 12% of the world’s caught fish.

The most well-known Japanese dish is probably sushi, a dish that includes fresh fish, seaweed
and lightly-seasoned rice. Japanese also eat beef, poultry and pork as part of their daily diets.
FACTORS AFFECTING CROSS-CULTURAL BUSINESS COMMUNICATION :

The communication process in international business settings is filtered through a range of

variables, each of which can color perceptions on the part of both parties. These include
language, environment, technology, social organization, social history and mores, conceptions of
authority, and nonverbal communication behavior.

By assessing in advance the roles these variables play in business communication, one can
improve one's ability to convey messages and conduct business with individuals in a wide range
of cultures.

Cultural Differences in Business Communication:

There is no better arena for observing a culture in action than business. Cultures tend to reveal
themselves in situations where much is as stake, because it is here that their resources are most
needed. Marriage, family obligations, and such stressful experiences as illness and the death of a
loved one bring out much of what is distinctive and fundamental in a culture. The same is true of
business, because economic survival is at stake. Business practices are shaped by deeply-held
cultural attitudes toward work, power, trust, wealth—and communication.

Communication is fundamental in business, because business is a collaborative activity. Goods

and services are created and exchanged through the close coordination of many persons,
sometimes within a single village, and sometimes across global distances. Coordination of this
kind requires intense communication. Complex product specifications and production schedules
must be mutually understood, and intricate deals between trading partners must be negotiated.
Communication styles vary enormously around the world, and these contribute to a staggering
variety of business styles. Probably the single most useful concept for understanding cultural
differences in business communication is Edward T. Hall’s (1976) distinction of low-context and
high-context cultures. It explains much about how negotiation proceeds, how agreements are
specified, and how workers are managed. Yet this distinction, insightful as it is, is derivative. It
is best understood as reflecting a more fundamental distinction between rule-based and
relationship-based cultures, which is in turn grounded in different conceptions of human nature.
The discussion here begins by showing how business practices reflect low-context and high-
context characteristics, but it subsequently moves to the deeper levels to explore how
communication styles are integrally related to other characteristics of the culture.
Conclusion

Japan is a nation shaped by its rapid transition from isolationism to globalism. It represents a
fusion of old world culture with newer Western practices.

Bibliography

Allinson, Gary D. Japan's Postwar History, 1997.

Allison, Anne. Nightwork, 1994.

——. Permitted and Prohibited Desires, 2000.

Befu, Harumi. (ed.). Cultural Nationalism in East Asia, 1993.

Ben-Ari, Eyal, et al. eds. Unwrapping Japan, 1990.

Benedict, Ruth. The Chrysanthemum and the Sword, 1946.

Bestor, Theodore C. Neighborhood Tōkyō, 1989.

——. Tōkyō's Marketplace, 2001.

——, Patricia G. Steinhoff, and Victoria Lyon Bestor, eds. Doing Fieldwork in Japan, 2001.

Brinton, Mary C. Women and the Economic Miracle, 1993.

Curtis, Gerald L. The Japanese Way of Politics, 1988.

Dore, Ronald. Shinohata, 1978.

——. Taking Japan Seriously, 1987.

Embree, John F. Suye Mura, 1939.

Fields, George. From Bonsai to Levi's, 1983.

Fowler, Edward. San'ya Blues, 1997.

Garon, Sheldon. Molding Japanese Minds, 1997.

Gluck, Carol, and Stephan Graubard, eds. Shōwa: The Japan of Hirohito, 1993.

Gordon, Andrew, ed. Postwar Japan as History, 1993.

Hamabata, Matthews. Crested Kimono, 1990.

Hanley, Susan B. Everyday Life in Premodern Japan, 1997.

Hardacre, Helen. Marketing the Menacing Fetus in Japan, 1997.

Hendry, Joy. Wrapping Culture, 1993.

——. Understanding Japanese Society, 2nd ed., 1995.

Imamura, Anne E., ed. Re-Imagining Japanese Women, 1996.

Ivy, Marilyn. Discourses of the Vanishing, 1995.

Jinnai, Hidenobu. Tōkyō A Spatial Anthropology, 1995.

Kelly, William W. Deference and Defiance in Nineteenth Century Japan, 1985.

Kondo, Dorinne. Crafting Selves, 1990.

——. About Face, 1997.

Krauss, Ellis S. Broadcasting Politics in Japan, 2000.

—— eds. Conflict in Japan, 1984.

LaFleur, William R. Liquid Life: Abortion and Buddhism in Japan, 1992.

LeBlanc, Robin M. Bicycle Citizens, 1999.

Lebra, Takie S. Japanese Women, 1984.

——. Above the Clouds, 1993.

Lock, Margaret M. East Asian Medicine in Urban Japan, 1980.

——. Encounters with Aging, 1993.

Martinez, D. P. ed. The Worlds of Japanese Popular Culture, 1998.

McConnell, David L. Importing Diversity, 2000.

McCreery, John. Japanese Consumer Behavior, 2000.

McVeigh, Brian. Wearing Ideology: State, Schooling, and Self-Production in Japan, 2001.
Moeran, Brian. Lost Innocence: Folk Craft Potters of Onta, Japan, 1985.

——. A Japanese Advertising Agency, 1996.

Nakane, Chie. Japanese Society, 1970.

Nakano, Makiko. Makiko's Diary: A Merchant Wife in 1910 Kyōto, translated by Kazuko Smith.
1995.

Nelson, John K. A Year in the Life of a Shintō Shrine, 1996.

Noguchi, Paul. Delayed Departures, Overdue Arrivals, 1990.

Ohnuki-Tierney, Emiko. Rice as Self, 1995.

Okimoto, Daniel, and Thomas P. Rohlen eds. Inside the Japanese System, 1988.

Plath, David W. Long Engagements, 1983.

Reader, Ian. A Poisonous Cocktail? Aum Shinrikyō's Path to Violence, 1996.

——, and George J. Tanabe, Jr. Practically Religious, 1998.

Roberson, James. Japanese Working Class Lives, 1998.

Roberts, Glenda. Staying on the Line, 1994.

Robertson, Jennifer. Takarazuka, 1998.

Rohlen, Thomas P. For Harmony and Strength, 1974.

——. Japan's High Schools, 1983.

Ryang, Sonia. North Koreans in Japan, 1997.

Singleton, John., ed. Learning in Likely Places, 1998.

Skov, Lise, and Brian Moeran, eds. Women, Media, and Consumption in Japan, 1995.

Smith, Robert J. Japanese Society, 1983.

Stevens, Carolyn S. On the Margins of Japanese Society, 1997.

Tobin, Joseph J., ed. Re-Made in Japan, 1992.

Treat, John W., ed. Contemporary Japan and Popular Culture, 1996.
Turner, Christena. Japanese Workers in Protest, 1995.

Varley, H. Paul. Japanese Culture, 3rd ed. 1984.

Vlastos, Stephen, ed. Mirror of Modernity: Invented Traditions of Modern Japan, 1998.

Weiner, Michael, ed. Japan's Minorities, 1997.

White, Merry I. The Japanese Educational Challenge, 1987.

——. The Material Child, 1994.

Web Site

Japan in Figures and Japan Statistical Yearbook. http://www.stat.go.jp/English/1.htm

—T HEODORE C. B ESTOR

Read more: https://www.everyculture.com/Ja-Ma/Japan.html#ixzz5lEX5ZylQ