Japanese Culture and American Culture - Essay Example

Reflective Paper What are the differences between Japanese culture and American Cultural? How American and Japanese cultural effect on each other? Japan is mostly considered more civilized as compared to other Asian countries. There are numerous similarities between Japan and United States. However, there are also cultural differences between the two nations. I believe that, within every culture there are particular values that are learned as a child grows up. These values are accepted from one generation to another, but they are likely to change over time. In most cultures, values vary not just between cultures but also within the culture itself. Hence, the differences between Japan and American values are no exemption. Values in America differ significantly from those of the Japanese. Japanese depends highly on the social consents, and they are taught from tender ages that human achievement is got from having a close relationship with people around. A child whose is five years is trusted to walk for about two kilometers to school each day. The children are taught on becoming independent, begging with their family to their schools, workplace, neighborhood and community. Since the Second World War, the Japanese highly appreciate harmony, respect and peace among themselves. It is my belief that whenever people live in harmony, respect and peace they avoid competition and confrontation. Great care should be taken when maintaining any close relationship. After a close examination of the Japanese culture, I realize that their biggest value is respect. They highly value respect for once self and others. On the other hand, America has many different cultures and, therefore, different cultural values. American family values vary from culture to culture. Most American families focus on the choice of religion, ensuring that everyone is happy. American families have an opportunity for education and right to individual’s privacy. The highest value in American culture is freedom. The right to freedom among the Americans has led to increased battles and conflict with the families. In Japan, this would be viewed as lack of love and respect while America views this as a way to attain independence. I have learned that the Japanese are more community oriented and culture-dependent while Americans values freedom and rights to be individual over all the other values. Most of the Japanese identify themselves as Buddhists, Shintoist, or even both. Even though Christian missionaries got to Japan for over hundreds of years, there has been the insignificant effect on the Japanese philosophy and identity. Issues that are based on Abraham’s faith such as teaching creationism in schools and gay marriages have no religious base in Japan. Japanese people approach Buddhism and Shinto is exceedingly reserved to traditions, superstitions and celebrations more than the spiritual beliefs. On the other hand, Americans have a high value for religion (Hubpages, 2013). Drug substance abuse in college specially alcohol and weed During the presentation in class, I realized that drug abuse is mostly happening in universities and colleges. I learnt that hundreds of thousands of college student were taking alcohol and other drug substances such as weed. Substance abuse is described as a system of drug usage that leads to major distress and problems. Alcohol and drug abuse are a major problems that affects college- age youth. These young people start with experimenting tobacco, alcohol, and other drugs in the middle school years, while others start in the elementary school. When students get to high school, substance use is extremely high. It is seen that one-third of the students, reports to school drunk or either indulges drinking. Weed and marijuana are the most common illegal drugs used by college students. In my opinion, alcohols and drug abuse among students is a significant barrier to the achievement of educational goals. However, states and federal agencies often mandate that colleges should offer health education programs to students, including content on alcohol and drug abuse. There has been increased number of college dropouts as they are usually suspended from schools due to their constant use of alcohol and drugs. I have realized that alcohol is the first drug choice for college students of 2 years and four years institution. It has continued to be a significant challenge to higher education. From the presentation, I learned that college scholars consume approximately 4.5 drinks weekly. Taking alcohol in college has resulted to the bulk of problems among the college students that adversely affect the student’s health, social lives and education. These negative consequences of student alcohol, not only affects the student but also the community and the entire institution. Alcohol and drug abuse are associated with the increased absenteeism from school and poor performance. Students who are involved with alcohol and drug abuse are likely to cause injuries, vandalism, accidents, sexual harassment and other bigger crimes. I agree with the presenters that most students get into alcohol and drug abuse because of social norms, environmental factors, and peer influences. As a result, drug abuse can quickly manifest into a long-term practice. It is evident that drug abuse is not only a college-centered challenge, but it affects the entire community. It is the duty of the management of higher education to acknowledge this problem and form coalitions and committees comprised of students, administration, parents and another stakeholder. People with Physical Disabilities and how the societies treat them in bad way It is imperative to understand the huge presence of people living physical disabilities. It is quite possible that a person without a disability will meet a person with a disability and not even know it. I have noticed that the perceptions towards the people with disabilities have changed significantly from one community to another. An examination of people’s attitudes toward persons with disabilities across cultures shows the societal treatment and perception of people living with disabilities. According to the presenter, most communities consider people with disabilities as inferior and of no use in the community. People treat persons with disabilities as bad as they think their disabilities is because of punishment for their sins. Some communities evict or ill-treat persons with disabilities while others give them special treatment. The society mostly rejects people living physical disabilities; some are regarded as outcasts while others are seen as economic liabilities. Additionally, some communities perceive the physically handicapped persons as a result of evil spirits. Mostly, people refuse to bring up children who have physical disabilities; they abandon the children or even kill them. I think people should change their view for persons with disabilities and start treating them as their equals. I believe that people with disabilities have unique abilities and societies should learn to appreciate them. Hispanic and African American history life in U.S and the current racism in jobs, schools Ethnic and racism discrimination in United States has been a major problem since the slavery and colonial era. White Americans had rights and privileges that were not granted to African Americas and Hispanics. Schools in United States were more segregated than it is today. African Americans and Hispanic makes up approximately thirty percent of the United States population. Despite their enormous population, the white Americas have not accepted them as their fellow Americans. During the colonial era, racism in schools and in workplaces was still there at high rates. Currently, schools in low-income communities are still unequal in terms of qualified teachers, funding and curriculum. Schools that are reserved for the Hispanics and the African Americans have inadequate facilities as compared to those of the whites. These minorities continue to lag behind the whites in every aspect of life. For a long time now, schools in United States have been segregated by social-economic and race, whereby African Americans students get an inferior education driven by low expectations. The Africans Americans are not readily enrolled in American schools. The African Americans are usually the last to be employed when the economy is thriving. There is an indication that these people are likely to lose their jobs during the recession. According to the presenter, unemployment of the minority groups in United States has been at increasing rates. Hispanics and African America only secure low- income jobs in which they hardly sustain themselves. They are also employed in tedious jobs that are technical and tedious. Reference Hubpages. (2013, September 28).The cultural differences between USA and Japan Retrieved from Hubpages: http://aliasis.hubpages.com/hub/Cultural-Differences-Between-the-US-and-Japan Read More