Japan is an extremely fascinating place, not just for beautiful landscapes and panoramas it presents, but also because of all the customs that differ extremely from ours. It’s not just about traditions, but also about values and lifestyles that allow us to best notice how different companies they face everyday life and relationships.
Two cultures compared: interesting differences with Japan
Perhaps one of the best known curiosities regarding Japanese style and mentality is punctuality as a fundamental value. In fact, being extremely punctual is considered a sign of great respect, while arriving late is seen as a lack of time that other people decide to dedicate to that meeting. For example, if a train were to be delayed at the station by even just a few seconds, endless apologies would be made to all passengers.
As for respect, you too will have seen in a film or on social media that in Japan people do instead of shaking hands a little bow. A very interesting peculiarity is the fact that the older the person or has a higher social status, the more in-depth the bowing by the other person will be.
If you were to take a walk through the streets of your city, whatever it may be, you would certainly notice cigarette butts, rubbish and a lot of dirt on the street. In Japan it is impossible to find oneself in a similar situation, since not only the streets are cleaned regularly and every day, but people absolutely avoid throwing their waste on the street. In fact, always with respect for others and in this case also for the environment, anyone who has waste and cannot find a bin on the street, simply he would put it in his pocket to take it home and throw it in your garbage.
Another very interesting aspect is linked to the approach that the Japanese have towards work comparisons, given that in offices it is very easy for employees to stay beyond their scheduled hours to do extra work and thus demonstrate their commitment. While on the one hand this is an admirable behavior in terms of determination, on the other hand it is also quite risky, given that there is a phenomenon known as “karoshi“, i.e. the death due to overwork.
Finally, between different cultures there are also notable differences regarding the gestures and movements that can be made with the hands. In fact, if we are used to counting with the hand closed into a fist and the fingers open, in Japan it is exactly the opposite the hand opens completely and you begin to bend your thumb to count one, your index finger to count two, and so on.
This of course I am just some differences that can be found between these two cultures. And which others do you know?
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