Review of Japanese Culture and Unique Characteristics of Japanese People

日本 (Nippon) is a kanji character which refers to Japan and means sunrise land. Nippon the name most locals refer to their country as. However, Japan is a country found in the east of Asia. It is made up of four major islands, namely Kyushu, Hokkaido, Honshu and Shikoku plus more than 3000 other tiny islands. On the 11th of February 660 BC, Japan was founded. Before being a constitutional monarchy Japan was ruled by an emperor. Then around 1868, they formed a Mejiji constitution which was emulated from the west.

Then in November of 1946, a new constitution (Nihonkoku Kenpo / Constitution of Japan) was drafted and implemented. This meant that the Emperor had no more political power but was in charge of presiding over public ceremonial events and greeting/ushering dignitaries from other states. With a current population of 127,185,322 million as of 2018, it is the 11th most populated country in the world. In Japan, there are two main religions Shinto and Buddhism. Shinto religion is a traditional Japanese developed religion with which they focused on performing rituals that enabled them to form a connection between the past and the present.

On the other hand, Buddhism is a religion that made its way from the Baekje. On the other Japan, literacy rates are nearly at 100% because the turnover rate of students from compulsory pre-high school education is at 98 (2010). 65% of the graduants from highschool enter university. This achievement makes japan one of the top countries for research and development studies while also ranking high in the medicine and applied science sectors of education. To add icing on the cake there are also over 700000 researchers of science with an annual budget of over 130 billion dollars thus solidifying their place in the top ranks of applied science and medicine in the world.

As the aforementioned resurrection of Japan after the devastation of World War II was an incredible economic spectacle that the world came to term as the miracle period. No one has anticipated such an impressive feet because, after the war in 1945, Japan had been seen to fall off the map as a major economic powerhouse. Against all odds, Japan performed a great and quick recovery with lots of determination and vigour. To the rest of the world, Japan is a mysterious place and its subtle culture is had to comprehend at first glance.

Culture is a way of life. It is a generationally learned while the shared symbols provide a sense of direction/orientation for members of society. Culture differentiates us humans from non-humans. As aforementioned they are passed down from generation to generation but is subject to change. For every culture, they have very distinct features that enable them to differentiate from other cultures. This means that what justifiable action or behaviour in one culture is unacceptable in another. For example, eating beef in the Indian culture is considered taboo as they believe them to be sacred and worship them while in other cultures eating beef is seen to be normal.

Cherry Blossoms (Sakura) in Japan recognized as the national blossom. This means that it marks the start of spring and is also a time for rejuvenation and renewal of the spirits. Thus the Japanese have a fondness for this even because it has close ties to their social and cultural background. Such spirits are associated with those of the samurai warriors in that the short-term blooming and fading of the Sakura plant is identical to the samurai's dedication and attitude towards death. A cornerstone to the Japanese diety spirit is Bushido. It is a combination of both Confucianism and Buddhism ideologies. These three ideologies have integrated and helped form the morals, values and sense of justice that the Japanese possess.

A common thought which has been proven to be reality is that in Japanese culture they have a tendency to think and act as a unit rather than individuals. This is a consequence of them being trained to strictly conform to social/group norms and which leads to a loss of ones and personality. According to the Toyota Way Book, Japanese people do not like to stand out or draw attention to themselves, unlike the Americans who love being in the spotlight and to an extent, they equate egoism to individualism. It is also customary for Japanese individuals to hide their emotions due to them being emotionally sensitive.

This is because they believe that is ill-mannered to foist one's feelings on others. Consequently, it is difficult to see Japanese individuals display emotions other than happiness as they are conscious of the ideology of saving the image. This is very contrary to cultures like in America or Europe in which emotions are openly displayed without thinking twice as it is normal to them. In Japan, a golden rule is to avoid entering a situation that would embarrass others as they hate looking bad in front of others or groups. Japanese individuals are very proficient at sensing the feeling at social situations or in a business environment. This has been made possible due to language in that due to the large range of ambiguity in the English language one can imply certain emotions at a given time. The emotional connotation supersedes the words used to convey the emotion. However, the Japanese language is very convoluted to understand to the point that Japanese people have problems fully understanding it. Also in with the Japanese language words have no ambiguity and have no leeway to play around with.

According to a book Business in Japan by Norbury and Bownas, they have outlined a concise list of the most important attributes of the traditional Japanese culture :

Communal - This means that the Japanese people as aforementioned have a tendency to think and act as a group. This is in order to conform to social norms and archive the group's expectations/goals.

Assimilative and nationalistic - Japanese people have a national pride of themselves and think of themselves as different from the rest of the world. Just like the fondness that the Jews have for themselves the Japanese are the same. Even though the Japanese would borrow something from another country or culture they would still hold their heads high.

Samurai like dedication - Japanese individuals possess the following qualities to an extent unrivalled by anybody; dedication, patience, loyalty and faithfulness. For example, anything that the Japanese do would be to their best quality and give themselves no room for error. Disappointment in Japanese culture is avoided at all cost even though it involves redoing the whole activity.

Politically pluralist - Although there has never been a dictator who could control the society and religious activity power has almost always been shared

Hierarchy - This is one of the most important aspects of Japanese culture as it spreads through every sector of their country. It is important because it dictates how individuals interact and their respect for each other.

The Japanese have a culture that is unique and offers a lot of attributes that can be emulated by the rest of the world. However, it is subjective. They are dedicated, self-disciplined and have a togetherness minded the concept of doing anything which enables them to achieve the common goal.