Japan 's Identity And Cultural Identity

Part two included the following four chapters that the Dower depicted the characteristics and assumptions that Westerners had on Japanese in particular, but included other races likewise. Chapter four examined Westerners’ association of Japanese with animals, restated that they were considered differently than their German and Italian allies, who were still considered as “people” and treatment dependant on individual behaviors. These discrimination applied to Japanese Americans, who were American citizens, also (Dower 78, 82). Chapter five studied reasons the term “lesser men” and “supermen” were given to the Japanese. Before Pearl Harbor, Westerners devalued the Japanese culture, for not having “uniqueness”, as well as its military strength, because of unimpressive performance in imperialism in its occupied colonies (i.e. China, Korea) (95, 98). Because of these arrogant

Growing up as an Asian American, I often struggle to identify my own cultural identity. Being the first generation of both my mother and father’s side of the family, I more than often get confused between American and Asian culture when applying them to society or at home. While being raised at home, I am largely influenced by culture and traditions from Asian parents and relatives. However, when I go to school or someplace else, I am heavily judged for practicing part of my Asian culture because it is entirely different than western or American. With that being noted, I began to learn and adapt to the western culture in hopes of fitting with society as well of trying to keep my Asian culture intact. As can be seen, this situation I dealt with is the same problem the whole Asian American community faces. Mainly focusing on younger generations like me for example, the Asian American community struggles to adapt to the western culture because they were raised with an Asian influence. Wishing to fit in society and be part of the social norms, the Asian Americans community faces issues that identify their cultural identity.

There is a Mexican man that enters with the rest of his family. They eat beans, rice, flour tortillas and etc. The family does there every day routine, the dad wakes up at six- thirty to go to work in his truck. The children go to school and the mother stays at home. The things a person does in their all has a reason which goes all back to culture. Culture is what makes up everyone different from one another. Texts such as “What is Cultural Identity?”, “Where Worlds Collide” and “Two ways to Belong” supports that depending on one’s culture it effects one perspective on the world and others.

While struggling to seek places for refuge, Japanese American Associations and culture type groups sought to keep bonds with Japan. The group decided to “foster”

He is well aware that his defense of Japan's tight society is subject to criticism, and at the end of his book he concedes the widespread corruption underlying so many Confucian societies, the diversity that makes overall judgments tricky and the racial homogeneity that may play a great part in enforcing Confucian harmony. But he sticks to his central thesis, fortified by his obviously pleasant recollections of living in Japan.

Of the many motifs and themes of Bending Adversity by David Pilling is the effect of culture and perception on individuals, and in his focus of this theme, he places the lens on Japan. There are numerous eccentricities that he focuses on and catalogs in the book itself, and the way that he highlights these specific aspects breathes life into representations of the culture of Japan. As an outsider, Pilling’s interpretation of the culture and viewpoints of the country are compelling in the sense that he has an intimate knowledge of the country, and he details this extensively in this book. He wrote this book to illustrate the incredible ability of the people of the Japan to overcome adversity time and time again.

Japan, forced to rebuild itself from the ashes of defeat, was occupied by Americans in the aftermath of World War II. Although it was commonly perceived through the victors’ eyes, in John W. Dower’s novel, Embracing Defeat: Japan in the Wake of World War II, Dower summarized his studies of Occupied Japan and the impact of war on Japanese society in the view of both the conqueror and the defeated. He demonstrated the “Transcending Despair” (p. 85) of the Japanese people through their everyday lives in the early stages of the occupation. In chapter three, Dower attempted to comprehend the hopes and dreams – as well as the hopelessness and realities – of the Japanese who were in a state of exhaustion and despair. In chapter four, due partly to the food shortage, crime rates rose as people began to steal. Women turned to prostitution while men turned to the black market. Some Japanese were so desperate that they stripped out of their clothing and exchanged it for food. Dower vividly conveyed the depth of loss and confusion that Japan experienced. On the other hand, Kasutori culture flourished in the 1950s as sexually oriented entertainments dominated the commercial world. In chapter five, the people of Japan turned wartime slogans into slogans for reconstruction and peace. They used witty defeat jokes as a way to escape despair. Even though they were defeated, the people of Japan pushed through the misery and sought to reinvent their identity as illustrated through prostitution, the black market, and “Bridges of Language” (p. 168).

This paper provided an opportunity to take a deeper look into the country of Japan by conducting a Global Cultural Analysis. Throughout this paper the following four research areas were explored: 1.What is the major elements and dimensions of culture in Japan? 2. How are these elements and dimensions integrated by locals conducting business in Japan? 3. How does U.S. culture and business compare with the elements and dimensions of culture integrated by the locals conducting business in Japan? 4. What are the implications for U.S. businesses that wish to conduct business with Japan?

In the book Making Tea, Making Japan: Cultural Nationalism in Practice, Kristin Surak explores the role and the importance of Japanese tea ceremony in Japanese culture, history, and politics. Her analysis reveals that tea ceremony, which has been known as one of the most popular traditional Japanese cultures in Japan and overseas, has not only been used to shape Japanese identity and ideology, but also to obtain powers in politics. Moreover, the role of tea ceremony in politics and shaping Japanese identity has been changing throughout time, depending on the social and the political needs and trends of the county. The book does a good job of explaining the significance of tea ceremony in Japanese society in each era since the beginning of tea ceremony and its meaning for Japanese people.

Japan is an unique oriental country in many aspects, especially in politics and economy, both western practices and traditional nationalism are coexisted in this country. The period 1890-1940 was just followed the Meiji restoration, and was typical in the history of Japan, at that time, Japan was on the way from a feudal country to a capitalistic country, called modernization. Many western practices were being more and more adopted, however, at the same time, traditional rules still had strong influences in Japan. Under this background, this report will discuss the Japanese cultural factors during 1890-1940 that influenced the disclosure

In his masterly study of Japanese Brazilian return migrants to Japan, for example, Takeyuki Tsuda describes how, from being a relatively high status ethnic group in “Brazil, Japanese Brazilian workers in Japan found themselves denigrated and shunned by local Japanese, a rejection that engendered a growing realization of themselves as “Brazilian” in their modes of interaction, sociality and conviviality, in their egalitarian vision and in their human capacity to have fun and celebrate

In many ways, Japan has been looked upon as a strangely homogeneous society for much of its modern history. And for some, it stands as one of the most homogeneous nation in the world. However, when looking at Japan as a whole, and considering whether or not it homogeneity is a problem, or just another cultural phenomenon, one must look towards the root cause of homogeneism in Japan. In Japan’s past, it has has been questioned, as well as assumed, that the growth of Japans homogeneous viewpoint was put forward by the government of Japan, and was done so by circulating false accusations of its lineage. Which these false stories of lineage, Japan has grown in its ethnocentric views and ways. Ethnocentrism, or

The culture of a place is an integral part of its society whether that place is a remote Indian village in Brazil or a highly industrialized city in Western Europe. The culture of Japan fascinates people in the United States because, at first glance, it seems so different. Everything that characterizes the United States--newness, racial heterogeneity, vast territory, informality, and an ethic of individualism-- is absent in Japan. There, one finds an ancient and homogeneous society, an ethic that emphasizes the importance of groups, and a tradition of formal behavior governing every aspect of daily living, from drinking tea to saying hello. On the surface at least, U.S. and Japanese

Dallas was launched to Europe in the 1980s. Before it was launched to Europe, the ideal mission for European television was has generally been perceived as educational. According to Ang’s essay, “(Not) Coming to Terms With Dallas, most European critics believed that television should be a “window on the world” for the mass audience, and should enhance people’s awareness of their duties as national citizens. Yet, Dallas, being an American commercial television soap opera, is totally different from the European critics’ notion of “quality programs”. Today, many people believe that Dallas has led to the commercialization of European television, which is frequently cited

These findings show that there were wide range of actors - from most privileged Beheiren movement to those JRA members who identified themselves as living under poverty – committed to the Japanese Sixties movement. Thus, the experiences of the people involved in the Sixties are certainly multiple. However, bringing back Beheiren and the JRA’s transnational activism into macro structural perspective, we can see that both movements were part of substantial change that the Japanese society was facing during the time of 1960s and 1970s. First of all, what is common among the two is their enthusiasm and aspiration toward the outside world and their desire for transnational mobility. As mentioned earlier, these were reflection of “global turn” of the Japanese society at large. It was not only the Tokyo Olympics in 1964 or the international exposition in Osaka in 1970 that represents the