Common American Culture Research Paper

Japanese technology and culture is everywhere today; in my room alone I own a Nintendo 3ds, a Nintendo GameCube, PS3, a Toshiba laptop and nine box sets of Japanese anime, with a further three series downloaded on my iPod. That isn’t even including the book and manga series I own (some in the original Japanese, some translated into English.) Popular TV shows like Avatar: The Last Airbender now mimic Japanese style of cartoons, while we have outright adopted other shows as our own, such as Yu-Gi-Oh and Dragon Ball Z. In short, Japanese culture is everywhere, especially if you know where to look for it.

A band is triumphantly playing as the parade passes by. Those who are or used to be serving in the military march, their uniforms immaculate, as the crowd applauds them for their service to their country. A sense of nationalistic pride fills the air and the streets are adorned with red, white, and blue. This scene is not usual to any American because it is exactly we picture when we think of the Fourth of July. However, the day I saw this parade was not the fourth but in fact the fourteenth of July. This parade was celebrating La Fête Nationale, or as Americans call it, Bastille Day which is the independence day of France.

Japan was a nation set off to itself. Although secluded, almost all of its culture came from inland. Around 10,000 B.C.E., the Jōmon culture was established; these people were immigrants from Southeast Asia. They brought hunting, fishing, and clay pottery into Japan. Not long after, immigrants from Northeast Asia flowed into Japan bringing agriculture and the Yayoi culture with them. These Yayoi communities became very complex.

There are numerous specific customs, traditions, beliefs, cultures, and heritages. The United States is an extremely diverse country and has a bunch of these different ways of life. We need to be able to understand and respect the particular beliefs of people.

Every country has their own set of cultures. But the most unique Japanese cultures have to be:

Japan is a striving cultural and rich country. Japan shares its culture with the country and the world with its many festivals and there are a lot of festivals. Festivals are held almost every day in Japan. These festivals have lasted for centuries and continue their same traditions that have lasted just as long. The country shares many social traits with American but is different in many other ways. Japan and the United States both have incomparable different social greetings along with different common name usage but are comparable in education importance in society.

I do believe that there is such a thing as American culture. I know it’s hard to see America as having it’s own culture because the US is considered a melting pot, and so many different cultures contribute to our everyday lives, but the US does have it’s own culture. Just as other cultures influenced the United States, the US has also influenced other cultures.

Japan is a very respectful country and honors their elders. They will do what they are told without a doubt. They have an honor system and respect each other in many ways, as I will explain to you. Their food base is mainly from the sea, being that they are a bunch of scattered islands surrounded by the sea. The sea is basically a lifeline for them that is why their most popular servings are fish and rice.

When most people think of Japan, it is the main and central island of Honshu, with their culture and language being the first thing that comes to mind. The climate, culture, language and people of Honshu have always been praised in various means of media such as paintings and stories. Resulting with Japan’s minor islands like Hokkaido and Okinawa and those who live in those areas are often forgotten, same with individual cultures and dialects of Japan as a whole. Befu attempts to discuss in order to provide a different approach to common views of Japan by discussing how diverse, multi-cultural and multi-national the country is. Befu is also not afraid to discuss the darker sides of Japanese thought and society by addressing various issues, such as the notion of “essentialism” that is evident within Japanese culture, which dismisses the idea that Japanese

In this world, there are so many types of different people. The significant difference between people and their cultures are so diverse in their own ways. The different patterns of the way people behave and do things seem alien to others that are unaware. There are so many countries to study, and the ways they do things. The everyday habits, behaviors, religion, food, and language of these people can become a clash of cultural values. Japan’s culture has been influenced by China and the West; however, it has resulted in a vibrant and modern culture. In order to understand the Japanese culture, there are many things to learn. For example, knowledge of etiquette and manners are important to the Japanese. Learning to appreciate their history and customs would be essential in communicating with the Japanese. The Japanese family is what makes the culture and society of Japan so distinct between the other surrounding countries.

Japan is full of diverse people, music, food, religion, art, languages, clothing, customs, games and festivals. However, they all come together to make Japan as we know it. Which has influenced almost every country on Earth to have a little or a lot of their lifestyle Japanese

Japanese culture reflects heavily upon the lifestyle endured by the people of Japan. Although, the word ‘religion’ is not commonly used by the Japanese to identify their beliefs or values. Japanese people will rather practise their beliefs and incorporate elements of different religions. This synchronisation of religions is called Shibuntsu (Reader & Tanabe 1998, p.29). The two main religions in Japan are Shinto and Buddhism. Ancient Japanese culture and life was shaped by the religion of Shinto, an indigenous religion, which is based on nature worship. Buddhism and Confucianism was introduced in the sixth century but was at first, largely resisted by the Shinto-dominated Japan. Today, the majority of Japan is Shinto, with 80% of the population defining themselves as Shinto (Berkeley Centre 2014).

A few centuries ago Western world could only perceive Japanese culture through the stories of

I woke up to the rumbling of the plane beneath me. The scenery around me was different, there was no Diamond Head, no scraggly cliffs and golden beaches. Yet it was still so appealing to me. It was everything I hoped for, and I was no less than ecstatic. My first trip to Japan and I had no idea what to expect, but at the same time I expected everything. This was my fourth attempt of going to Japan. I had tried many other times through various means such as competitions, or cultural enrichment programs. Each attempt was a new loss to me but the phrase “give up” wasn’t in my thesaurus. Now I was on one of the biggest trips I could imagine courtesy of the Hiroshima Kenjin Kai, a group that was all about sticking to your roots and learning everything available about your history; this trip was the highest level of that achievable in my opinion. I could finally reap the fruits of my dedication to my wants, and at the same time learn about my family’s geographical origin. This was a trip that showed the greater differences and similarities in culture and history than I was accustomed to. Things learned and accepted both in the classroom and from TV would be thrown out the window in favor of the things I saw and experienced in real life.

This world we live in has so many beautiful cultures. It was hard to pick one to research. My friend Peter was the closest foreign culture I thought of. We have been friends for more than four years and I realized he knew more about my culture than I knew about his, so decided to use this opportunity to get to know him better. Peter discussed intersecting topics about the education, rules, religion, and rituals of the Japanese culture.