Article
Learning the Awkward Way: Communication in Japan
ID # 3776
I would like to think that I learned my way through Japan the hard way. When I first moved to the country, my family attended a few introductory classes on the culture to help us find out way around and make sure we would be able to function and make our way through the culture shock. We were still fairly jet lagged during these seminars, so the majority of what I retained from the crash course on Japan came from a brief worksheet I received upon completing the class. The worksheet served as my own personal survival guide to Japan. If I had known exactly how much I would have needed it, I would have laminated and framed it for my own worship. On the worksheet were a collection of common phrases and saying s along with the English transcription of a few popular train stops so that we would be able to find out way through a seemingly confusing transportation system. What the culture sheet did not include, however, were some of the invisible aspects of Japanese culture.
I found out, the hard way again, that the Japanese value their personal space. Of course, I also value my personal space and I make an effort to find a bathroom stall that is not surrounded by any other stalls in use if at all possible. I don’t stand too close to people and I generally keep to myself. I didn’t understand when I got on a train, however, that it was still very rude to talk with my friends at a fairly audible level. It’s also rude to travel in such a pack and sit down in the seats so that you will push other people out and force them to stand. The train car is meant to be a personal, reserved space and quiet and order are always appreciated. The Japanese personal bubble is a very important invisible space to respect. The train system even enforces “Women’s Only” train cars at night to avoid any sexual harassment or a general feeling of discomfort for women in a train car full of business men. It is also very rude to make direct eye contact ,which I learned the hard way (with my perfect track record) while teaching an English class. In an intimate, professional setting, I’m used to make eye contact to show engagement. This makes people in Japan feel very uncomfortable. I learned this from the way my students looked away from me or looked directly behind me when I spoke. In Japan, eye contact asserts dominance and superiority upon punishment or scolding, so making indirect eye contact is usually a good idea. Taking the time to make a small effort makes a world of difference in Japan.
In an article by Ned Crouch, we learned about how people from different cultures have different senses of the idea of “space.” The comparison of this difference in space recognition reminded me of the differences I noticed between myself and the Japanese people I met. Where Mexican people see a stranger and think, “That’s where the people are–I should go there,” and American people think “That’s where the people are– I should go a little bit further away,” a Japanese person would think, “There is a person there and I should avoid engagement and keep to myself.” The Japanese sense of space is very similar to the American sense in that we are both very reserved and tend not to favor crowds if we can help it. I found this all very surprising during my stay considering the Japanese tendency to think as a collective rather than as individuals and I would be interested in learning why the juxtaposition of two opposite behaviors exists the way it does. It would seem that, although it is easy to transcribe a distinct set of characteristics and behaviors to a group of people, doing so will never allow you a sense of the “big picture.”