Celebrate the Diversity

The culture in Japan was one of the best experiences I got to experience in my life. It vastly differs from the United States but was great as its own culture. I had managed to go to the Hanshin Tigers game at the Koshien Stadium and that itself was significantly different than the baseball games in America. While exploring, we found out that there was fan merchandise being sold outside of the stadium for a cheaper price than the United States could have sold it for. During the game, each player of the teams playing had their own chant which most of the fans knew, however, the fans wouldn’t expect you to know it and some would help us learn the fan chants. It was also a courtesy at the game to never say bad things to the fans of the rival team or the rival team, itself. I have learned from several other people on the study abroad program that in America, people would have intense rivalry towards each other and would fight and/or argue with each other. Another thing in Japan is that they would continue to serve alcohol throughout the whole game whereas, in the United States, I heard that they would stop halfway into the game. I think this is because of the transportation methods that are being used in the two countries. In the United States, most people drive to baseball games and therefore the stadium cannot give out too much alcohol or else they would drink and drive which could cause accidents. Whereas in Japan, the transportation method used here is the train system. So even if people got drunk during the baseball game, it was slightly better because they wouldn’t be able to drive anyway.

In terms of business, based on the various business meetings I was able to attend during my study abroad program, there is also a difference between the business culture in Japan and the United States. One difference is that in Japan, they value long-term relationships so as a result, they would take their time with the contract process, the collaboration processing, etc. Whereas in America, everything is usually done more straightforwardly and quickly. In Japan, the job security is very good as well. Even though employees get paid low wages, in return they are basically guaranteed to have this job for the rest of their lives whereas, in the United States, people are more likely to jump from company to company in hopes to get better wages and benefits. Japan also relies on a hierarchy within the company where an employee of 3 years would be treated with more respect than those of 1 month or 1 year. And there are things you have to be careful about because it could be seen as disrespectful. While in America, it is common to have our own opinions and discuss that with the managers and/or supervisors. Also in the United States, employees are more likely to just quit and find another job if there was a disagreement between themselves and the company.