Differences between Japanese and American Culture - Essay Example

Assignment: What are the differences between Japanese culture and American culture? How American and Japanese cultures effect each other? As with all cultures around the world, many values and customers differ between Japanese and American cultures also. Though Japan is more westernized than other Asian countries and people also try to imitate American culture considerably, there still exist myriad notable differences. One biggest difference is related to religion. This is because in American culture, people tend to attach a lot more importance to a person’s religious affiliation than Japanese people who lack a religious foundation. Any important figure’s religious background readily becomes a subject of hot debate in America and people decide his/her worth on grounds of which faith he/she belongs to. In contrast to this, religion is not given much importance in Japanese culture despite the fact that Christian missionaries have been around in the country for hundreds of years. Besides the factor of religion, there is much more formality found in Japanese culture compared to American culture which is pretty informal and casual. Japanese business atmosphere, for example, is laced with formal pleasantries. People tend to be highly formal with each other and even last names are not taken such as they are unless honorifics are attached to them. While in America, people in business meetings tend to be casual and friendly, in Japan, they tend to be cold and distant. Also, the culture is much more reserved in most parts of Japan compared to America where open demonstration of love or attachment is highly common. Physical touching in public is looked down upon in Japan and such acts are considered disrespectful of elders. Young adults are expected to be at their best manners while in the company of elders. Also, one of the most prominent differences between two cultures and with which everyone is familiar is based on the act of bowing. Japanese people always bow to show respect, while Americans consider it enough to shake hands. Drug substance abuse in college specially alcohol and weed. Alcohol and substance abuse in the US college culture is a big concern because of its extreme social implications. It is a highly unfortunate reality that the use of alcohol and drugs, particularly weed, is reported to be on a steady rise among college students. Peer pressure is an important factor in this context because students are pressurized to become a part of drug culture by their friends in order to be accepted into cool groups. Peer pressure also causes students to develop interest in defying rules. This leads to an increased incidence of high-risk behaviors within the college premises like indulging in alcohol and drugs. Besides alcohol which is the choicest substance of abuse among college students in the US, another go-to drug is weed smoking which is considered fashionable and essential to hang out with cool people in the college. Though most people agree that alcohol and weed are most commonly abused in the US colleges, this reality cannot be denied that use of other potentially dangerous drugs like cocaine also presents a dramatic emergency. A student who is able to binge drink more beer cans in a row or who is able to do more lines of cocaine or who could roll more joints under a minute is considered cooler than the rest. Such has become the mentality of many students in colleges. This is true because almost half of all American full-time college students become involved in binge drinking or drug abuse at least once a month to get along with the drug culture because standing against it renders a student friendless and alone. Media also plays a role in inducing college students in America to become a part of drug culture. Drugs and drinking are glamorized in movies. This glamorized portrayal highly influences teenagers because they have highly impressionable minds. This is why the use of alcohol and illicit drugs like marijuana by college students in America has increased over the years. People with Physical Disabilities and how the societies treat them in bad way. It is a deplorable reality that people with disabilities are treated as social outcasts around the globe. To say that everyone in society engages in the horrifying activity of ridiculing or belittling disabled people would be empty mockery. Still, a considerable number of people do not show respect for disabled people and create multiple challenges for them forcing them to leave work and sit at home. They make their lives increasingly difficult and take pride in the fact that they are able to make someone more miserable than they already are. Such disparaged treatment is a sign of how depraved our society has become and how much we need to change ourselves. Such is the nature of a majority of people that they find it a difficult experience to be friends with someone who is perceived different by society. People desire to be looked with someone who is popular or physically perfect because they think that it will make them look better. Also, the society itself is so cruel most of the times that it leaves no room for disabled people. Such strict social ideals are impressed upon the population by our society that they make even normal people feel insecure and uncomfortable about their natural looks let alone people with disabilities. The craze to look thinner and prettier haunts everyone which leaves absolutely no possibility of comfort for the disabled. There is no place for any person in the contemporary merciless societies who does not look like a model or who is not able to follow an ideal body image the kind of which is popularized by media. The US environment in particular is so sexually charged that it forces people to fit into an ever narrowing ideal of physical perfection. In such circumstances, the life of a disabled person understandably becomes very miserable and he/she is readily labeled a social outcast. Hispanic and African American history life in US and the current racism in jobs, schools. Despite the fact that racism no longer operates in America as blatantly and unashamedly as it used to once, truth is that it still pervades the country even in the present contemporary times in a very subtle fashion. This is why unemployment rates are higher among Hispanics and African Americans than whites. Also, this is why majority of prison populations everywhere in the country are formed by the Hispanic and African American youth. Most socioeconomically disadvantaged people in the US happen to be of either Hispanic or Africa American origin. This is because the interests and concerns of these two ethnic groups are not as strongly registered by the officials like those of the privileged white population. Much has been written about Latino and black youth’s experiences with poverty, marginalization, and discrimination in America. In any chaotic situation, it is common for police officers to suspect blacks or Latinos. The police department is heavily prejudiced and does not waste time in blaming Hispanics or African Americans for any messy affair. This is why people of color, like African Americans and Latinos, are many times more likely to be incarcerated in the US than whites. The issue of racial discrimination is quite old and goes back to the days of slavery when Africans in staggering numbers were brought to the US to serve their white masters. Racism has a very old history and unfortunately, it still very discreetly influences the society on many levels. Blacks and Latinos are still much less likely to land suitable jobs than white people in many states regardless of their impressive credentials. This is a harsh fact that despite many efforts made by human rights movements, unemployment rate still remains higher among black and Hispanic people. This high unemployment rate also eventually leads to a higher probability for criminal activities. People from these ethnic groups are exposed to a higher risk for becoming a prey to criminal masterminds and this defiant behavior is largely related to unjustifiable treatment which they receive in America. Read More