Japanese Culture Versus Australian Culture - Literature review Example

Lecturer: Japanese Culture verses Australian culture Introduction The Japanese culture has been selected in this essay. After highlighting the different features of this culture, the same features are compared with the Australian culture. Consequently, the notable similarities and differences between the two cultures were outlined. The following is the annotated bibliography consisting of the difference references that are going to be used in the discussion. Japanese culture verses Australian culture According to Briley et.al. (2000), the manner in which culture affects decisions is through the reasons that a person responds when called upon to explain his or her choice. They further propose that cultures equips people with various principles and rules that offer guidance for decision-making. Besides, they argue that such cultural knowledge is activated by the need of providing reasons. Consequently, the proposal, which represents a dynamic instead of dispositional perspective of cultural influence, is examined in studies regarding consumer decisions (Briley et.al. 99) These studies involve an exchange between opposing attributes such as high quality and low price. From the study, the principles that enjoin compromise were more outstanding in Japanese culture than in Australian culture. In the same note, it is predictable that there will be higher cultural disparities in the propensity to select compromise options if the decision-making calls for the participants to give reasons (Simpson & Murawska 65). In the first study, the difference between Australian and Japanese participants in the propensity to select compromise goods was seen only on being asked to clarify their decisions. On analyzing the content of their reasons, it was found out that it is the cultural differences relating to the frequency with which specific types of reasons are generated that the differences in choices was mediated (Simpson & Murawska 65). In the second and the third study, it was found out that culture had an effect in the need for the provision of reasons when Japanese participants and Australian participants were compared. In conclusion, the Japanese participants evaluated the reasons and the proverbs of others more positively incase the favor compromise. According to Radford et.al. (1993), the effect of culture, is examined in terms of decisional stress, copying styles for the self-reported decision, and decisional self-esteem. Consequently, the authors have used both the Australian students and the Japanese students in conducting this research. In this case, 300 Australian university students and 743 Japanese were used. From both participants, there was positive correlation between the decisional self-esteem with the decision making choice style (Radford et. al. 74) However, there was negative correlation with such coping styles required in personal decision making as hyperactive vigilance, avoidance, and complacency; and decisional stress. Australian students had higher cultural differences than Japanese students did when it came to decisional self-esteem. On the other hand, the Australian students were lower on decisional stress, hyper vigilance, avoidance, and complacency coping styles. There was therefore, a relationship between the cross-cultural differences of the individualistic Australian culture and the group- oriented or collectivist Japanese culture (Wierzbicka 48). Ryuko et.al. (1999), has highlighted the way the applied linguistics literature have provided pedagogical arguments when applied on critical thinking and teaching writing by the ESL students. In this case, the author argues that through the presentation of these pedagogical arguments, the applied linguistics literature draws on cultural differences between the target academic society and ESL students (Ryuko et al. 56) The authors in this case, are trying to come up with cultural dichotomy between the west and the east, by constructing fixed, essentialized, apolitical cultural representations like harmony, deemphasis, and groupism on self-expression and critical thinking to portray Japanese culture. With the Japanese culture being used as an example, the cultural labels, which are taken-for-granted, are criticized (Ryuko et al. 56). In this study, the Japanese culture is regarded as having been essentialized. However, with new research new knowledge is being generated on educational practices conducted in Japanese schools. This knowledge, apart from bringing new understanding on cultural contexts concepts, study gives another avenue for understanding the cultural differences using critical multiculturalism. The study reveals that in Japanese culture, groupism is more pronounced than it is in Australian culture. As a result, there is also a lot of harmony in Japanese culture than in Australian culture (Ryuko et al. 56) When it comes to the appreciation at the place of work for an excellent performance, the Japanese people will feel more motivated if they are appreciated as a group. Even in a situation whereby a single individual was performing the task. This is because the Japanese like group-oriented motivation than the individualistic motivation. On the other hand, the Australian people will feel it differently. For them, being singled out of the rest as having accomplished an outstanding performance is what they long for. Eventually, Smith (2000) uses a Japanese person named Shion in trying to identify the manner in which Japanese and the Australian cultures clash. In this case, the author highlights the typical Japanese lunchbox for Japanese in a bid to compare with what is considered a norm in Australian culture. Smith (2000) in fact brings a long description of the outstanding differences between Australian and Japanese Cultures. Shion finds out that her Australian friends considered her favorite red adzuki jelly made from beans as being disgusting. Shion was therefore made uncomfortable and confused as far as his lunchbox meal was concerned. After talking to her teacher, she also forwarded her experience afterwards to her mother. After listening to her daughter’s sentiments, Mie Suzuki, Shion’s mother was really upset and emotional inside (Martinez 123). Consequently, Shion’s incident was a confirmation of what her mother has heard before from the mouths of the local Japanese mothers, regarding the embarrassing experiences their children go through due to the traditional Japanese food. The same experiences have forced the Japanese children to be hiding their food in their schoolbags, besides refusing to take the food while in public (Martinez 123). Food is therefore, highlighted as one of the different issues that the people in Queensland from linguistically and culturally diverse origins have to learn to manage on a daily basis. The other obvious differences among the Queenslanders are religion, race, food, and language. However, there are also clear differences in social etiquette, values, and attitudes, which give the Japanese a hard time in dealing with them (Rix 77). It is not easy for a Japanese to adjust with the Australian culture. This is according to Shion’s mother. This is because of the existence of conflicts between Australian customs and her beliefs. Though Mie wanted to borrow the “Western culture.” However, at the moment, she strongly advocate for the keeping of Japanese culture in an alive stage, now that she has two daughters-Mizuka and Shion. There is a big difference between Australian school system and the Japanese school system. This has force Mie’s daughters to travel to Japan, two months in every year in the name of attending Japanese school. The cultural clash is so pronounced that the Japanese in Australia are thinking of reinforcing their cultural values and standards instead of integrating them with the Australian culture (Simpson and Murawska 95). In addition, the cultural differences existing between the Japanese and the Australian cultures come from the power distance. The power distance can be described as the extent to which hierarchical order is accepted by the society. It is also described as the way power is distributed within an organization. For the Japanese, a large power distance is accepted. On the other hand, the power distance accepted by the Australian culture is relatively low (Jupp 89). Lastly, there is also a clear difference when it comes to uncertainty avoidance. Consequently, Japanese culture is stronger than the Australian culture when it comes to avoiding uncertainty. This is because the Japanese would tend to maintain strict codes belief than the Australian culture. Because of this, it is most likely for the Japanese to stick longer with their employer. Australians on the other hand prefer a more relaxed atmosphere when it comes to both their personal and their professional lives (Allen &Sakamoto 78). In conclusion, while the differences existing between the Japanese culture and the Australian culture are a lot, the similarities existing between the two cultures are relatively less, as it has been described in this discussion. Annotated Bibliography Radford, M., Mann, L., Ohta, Y. and Nakane, Y. (1993). Differences between Australian and Japanese Students in Decisional Self-Esteem, Decisional Stress, and Coping Styles. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology vol. 24 no. 3 284-297 The authors of this article examine the effect of culture when it comes to decisional stress, copying styles for the self-reported decision, and decisional self-esteem. Consequently, the authors have used both the Australian students and the Japanese students in conducting this research. Ryuko, K. (1999). Japanese Culture Constructed by Discourses: Implications for Applied Linguistics Research and ELT. TESOL Quarterly. Vol. 33, Number 1, pp. 9-35(27) The author in this article highlights the way the applied linguistics literature have provided pedagogical arguments when applied on critical thinking and teaching writing by the ESL students. In this case, the author argues that through the presentation of these pedagogical arguments, the applied linguistics literature draws on cultural differences between the target academic society and ESL students. Briley, D., Morris, M. and Simonson, I. (2000). Reasons as Carriers of Culture: Dynamic vs. Dispositional Models of Cultural Influence on Decision Making. Journal of Consumer Research 27.2: 157-178. The authors of this article claim that the manner in which culture affects decisions is via the reasons that a person recruit when called upon to explain his or her choice. They further propose that cultures equip people with various principles and rules that offer guidance for decision-making. Besides, they argue that such cultural knowledge is activated by the need of providing reasons. Work Cited: Allen, Matthew and Sakamoto, Rumi. Popular culture, globalization and Japan. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis, 2006. Print. Briley, Donnel, Morris, Michael and Simonson, Itamar. Reasons as Carriers of Culture: Dynamic vs. Dispositional Models of Cultural Influence on Decision Making. Journal of Consumer Research 2000. 27.2: 157-178. Darden, Christopher and Walter, Jess. In Contempt. Regan Books, 1996. Print. Jupp, James. The Australian people: an encyclopedia of the nation, its people and their origins. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press, 200. Print. Martinez, Dolores. The worlds of Japanese popular culture: gender, shifting boundaries and global cultures. Cambridge, Camb: Cambridge University Press, 1998. Print. Radford Mark, Mann, Leon, Ohta, Yasuyuki and Nakane, Yoshibumi. Differences between Australian and Japanese Students in Decisional Self-Esteem, Decisional Stress, and Coping Styles. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology 1993 vol. 24 no. 3 284-297 Rix, Alan. The Australia-Japan political alignment: 1952 to the present. New York, NY: Routledge, 1999. Print. Ryuko, Kubota. Japanese Culture Constructed by Discourses: Implications for Applied Linguistics Research and ELT. TESOL Quarterly. 1999. Vol. 33, Number 1, pp. 9-35(27) Simpson, Catherine and Murawska, Renata. Diasporas of Australian cinema. New York, NY: Intellect Books, 2009. Print. Wierzbicka, Ann. Understanding cultures through their key words: English, Russian, Polish, German, and Japanese. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1997. Print. Book Review Book Review on In Contempt by Christopher A. Darden In Contempt is a book, which was written by Christopher A. Darden with Jess Walter together. After writing the book, Christopher A. Darden and Jess Walter forwarded the book to Regan Books, which is Harper Collins Publishers’ imprint, to publish it. Christopher A. Darden then copyrighted the book in 1996. About the Author The writer of the book is Christopher A. Darden. Apart from writing the In Contempt, Darden is well known as one of the great prosecuting judges in the court case, which involved The People vs. Simpson. Throughout his entire life, Darden has been known as a hardworking person. Because of his hard work, Darden is now on a lofty status in the society. One of his great achievements is the one in which he confirmed to America that despite being a low-priced private attorney, he was still in a position of presenting a prudent and wise judgment in a sensitive case bound to tremendous pressure. Summary After going through the book, I found it to be very well written and well thought. Considering the judgment which Darden had made in the case between The People vs. Simpson, many people may have assumed that the intentions of writing the book was to make a quick money off the misfortune that befell Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. However, according to my understanding, this is not true. Consequently, the manner in which Darden has brought out the victims in the book, compared to the manner in which has brought them before and after the case trial reveals that he truly cared and mind about the lives of the same victims despite the fact that he never even knew them. My belief can be supported by the fact that the author even went ahead to express clearly in the book that he was affected personally and emotionally by this case. It is true that the author has brought a lot of information in this book from the Simpson case. The life of the author is discussed in depth from chapter two to chapter six. Consequently, his life right from birth, through his childhood to his becoming Los Angeles district attorney in 1981 has been discussed in these chapters. During his childhood, we are informed that he lived in the district of Richmond, where most of the people were working class (Darden & Walter 10). In chapters two and three, we get the stories involving Darden and Michael, his brother. One of the fascinating episode in these stories is the one in which the two steal from the local stores. Another interesting story is the one involving the drug deals of the author’s brother. On reaching his mid-teens, Michael begun a business of selling marijuana. He could do this at the front veranda of the house. His accomplice was Chris, whose duty was to be looking out incase someone was on the eavesdropping. We also find from the book that Michael always cautioned Chris not to use drugs no matter what. In this case, the author refers to Michael as his good role model despite his actions. The author has made this reference throughout the book. Therefore, my feeling is that Chris Darden wrote this book with the purpose of trying to reveal the hardship he had to endure on his way to being a lawyer, considering that he was a black man in a country dominated by the whites. At the same time, the writer was trying to bring out the truth behind what transpired in the Simpson case. Body While this book is funny, there are still some other times when we find the mood of the writer being more serious. The funny chapters in the book are the first few introductory chapters. It is in these chapters where Darden has written more about his childhood. He has also written in these chapters about his journey through the challenges in the law profession until he begun to work in the office of the District Attorney (Darden & Walter 25). Of interest, here is the way he was found out stealing a pie of a Hostess Fruit in the local store. Other funny episodes are seen when he sneak crackers from the store of his house, and when he was teased that, as a child, as having false teeth. The mood of the book however changes from a happy one to a serious one as the writer writes about the time he had got older. Apart from writing about his life, Darden also takes time to write about several things pertaining to his brother. He describes his brother as a big influence during his childhood and youthful stage. The story that the author has retold in the book is one involving the way he and Michael, his brother would recover old, damaged radios from the garbage and repair them. After doing the repair, they would, on Saturday nights, sit and listen to the station of local R and B. He mentions Temptations as his brother’s best band ever (Allen & Sakamoto 7). The author also tells about the story involving his brother. In this story, Michael was smoking a joint of marijuana in their bedroom. Suddenly, their father came in full force into the room. With a quick thought, Michael swallowed the joint while it was still lit. This made his father to find no any evidence of the marijuana despite the fact that he could smell it. Darden also mention what he was always being asked by his grandmother during his childhood. His grandmother used to ask him the about the kind of person he wanted to be in future. His answer would be that he wanted to work as a lawyer (Darden & Walter 25). Therefore, as he proceeds with his story, we find that the encouragement, support, and hope that he got from his grandmother are what took him to the level of fulfilling his dream. When he finally saw his dream come true, he managed to win twenty murder cases. However, when the Simpson’s case was brought to his hands, he lost it. This loss demoralized him and made him to withdraw from the law profession (Simpson & Murawska, 27). Conclusion After reading through this book, I unfortunately, did not find it useful. However, it is an ideal book for reading considering the fact that I was able to get more insight on the happenings that were seen in the life of Chris Darden. Besides, I was able to understand the happenings behind the Simpson’s case. In conclusion, the book was written intelligently. In addition, it has several amusing stories from the childhood of the author until his fraternity days. It is not as boring as many readers may expect (Darden & Walter 25). Read More