Performance of Japan in the World - Essay Example

Task Japan is among the world’s most populated countries in the 21st century. The population of Japan is estimated to be approximately 125,000,000 according the recent population data available. Japan is a country that is made of several islands, which, are spread out in the Pacific Ocean. The main islands that make up Japan are, Kyushu, Hokkaido, Honshu and Shikoku. Japan is located in the Asian continent neighboring Korea, China and Russia. Japan has its southern most islands lying relatively at the same as Bahamas whereas its northern most islands geographically lies in similar latitude as Portland (kwintessential.co.uk). Japan is preeminently an industrious country with a booming economy that has underwent numerous challenges over the decades. The major industries in Japan are reputably, electronics and automobile industries whose success has put Japan on the green light at the international economic stance. The Japanese products made their way to the international market after the Second World War with a high quality reputation and relatively low prices. The most significant industries that feature on the export of Japan are metal industry, aerospace industry, shipbuilding and biotechnology. The major problem facing the industries is the huge dependence on of raw materials from foreign countries. Japan is relatively inadequate supply of natural resources (kwintessential.co.uk). The economy of Japan is inevitably influenced by its exports and imports. However, Japan has a good performance in economic freedoms among them business freedom, property rights as well as, freedom from corruption. Japan has a well-established modern financial sector. The economics of Japan has one shortcoming, huge public debt, which is considered to pose a challenge in reviving its stagnant economy. In addition, the disparities between various segments of the Japanese economy have widened continuously (countrystudies.us). Japan relies on its main export products are electronics, cars and computer devices for foreign exchange. Mostly, Japan exports its products to Taiwan, Hongkong, Singapore, Germany and Thailand. Japan obtains most of its raw materials imports from Australia, USA, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, the United Arab Emirates and Indonesia. The average annual income of Japan is approximately $ 60, 600 USD according to the survey by Japan labor ministry. The annual average income of Japan decreases every year. This has been attributed to the fact that lifetime jobs are becoming less popular in the economy of Japan. The young people in Japan have a hard time securing a full time employment. The political instability of Japan and natural calamities such as the nuclear disaster are among factors that affect the Japanese economy tremendously. The economic meltdown caused by the nuclear disaster and the earthquake tragedy has rendered most Japanese companies financially unstable (kwintessential.co.uk). Japan is among the countries that boast of a diverse cultural setting with various religions and beliefs. The major religions in Japan are Buddhism and Shintoism. The Japanese population has customs and beliefs, which they hold on closely to day in day out. The most popular Japanese rituals originated from the rituals of Shintoism symbolizing hope and spiritual health for the members of the community. The origin of the Shintoism religion is not clearly traceable although there is archaeological evidence that suggests the Yayoi people first practiced it in the period (400B.C-250 A.D). The Yayoi people were made up of various clans with a god being associated to each. The gods represented nature objects such as rivers, mountains, rocks and storms. The Buddhism religion became established in Japan unimpeded in 587 A.D after the defeat of the “ monohobe” clan that was opposing of Buddhism (afe.easia.columbia.edu). Japanese people have a major cultural belief, which involves an annual visitation of the dead by the members of their family. The festival is known as Bon Festival in which Buddhists visit temples and decorate the alters of the deceased. Buddhism faithful spend some days cleaning the ancestral graves before the festival begins. During this festival, most Japanese living abroad return to their native homes to meet with the locals as well as, family members to pray and give offerings at the temples (Lusting & Koester 276). The cultural setting of Japan embraces values of human relations that condemn hurtful behavior. Japanese people are distinguishably polite in such a way that they avoid discourteous speaking at all costs. In addition, the Japanese people avoid making statements that would make someone feel disillusioned or lose face. The social norm or social standard of the Japanese expect members of the society to conduct themselves in a manner that avoids competition and confrontation in interpersonal relationships. The Japanese society put a lot of emphasize on harmony among its members. Children are taught early that they are in an interdependent society, from the basic family unit to larger work place and school social setting. Interaction of people is restricted by the hierarchy factor, which defines how one person may interact with another (Lusting & Koester 18). The Japanese language expresses status differences. Hierarchy naturally influences all social interactions. Age, employment, gender and educational attainment are major segments that define interaction. It is highly likely of a Japanese to avoid an interaction with a stranger lest of the potentially consequential etiquette errors that would occur due to the language barrier. Japanese frequently utilize business cards to interact since; it is an effective means of communication that conveys enough information about a person hence facilitating a normal social interaction. This highly courteous behavior eliminates miscommunication between cultures (japanintercultural.com). In the Japanese social setting, men and women interact in specific ways that utilize different patterns of speech. The Japanese language is rich in vocabulary that expresses the relationships of inferiority or superiority. The interaction between men and women among the Japanese is characterized by greater use of more polite words. In the Japanese social setting, there are certain words that are regarded as to be essentially tools of masculine speech while others are identified with feminine speech. Japanese language has several incredible ways of saying the pronoun I dependent on the formality of the situation. The pronoun I is said different when used by a different gender relative to the listener hence the Japanese culture has a tremendous emphasis on empathy. Therefore, the status expectation of the Japanese culture is that a person should not speak without considering the other. In the Japanese culture, people greet each other in a polite manner that is predefined by hierarchy. Being a hierarchy society, a person has to keenly observe who he or she is addressing to determine what speech pattern to use during interaction (Lusting & Koester 126). Japanese have a high value for time and hold an incredible record of punctuality in their activities. For instance, Japanese people tend to rush to catch a train or bus even there is a possibility of catching another in a few minutes time. Different cultures in the world use nonverbal communication during interaction, similarly the Japanese also use nonverbal communication techniques. Unconsciously, people maintain some distance between each when they are interacting. This is referred to as the interpersonal distance. The Japanese hierarchy culture requires a person to keep a relative distance assuming the person is superior or inferior to the addressee. The degree of distance or respect is regarded as a part of a polite conversation in the Japanese culture. In most cases, Japanese people uphold an unemotional expression during interaction. The most common nonverbal communication used the Japanese people include, rubbing the eyebrow, tilting the head and breathing in with the teeth clenched. The Japanese sparingly use eye contact dependent on the formality of interaction. For instance, Japanese avoid eye when addressing an elderly person since it is deemed disrespectful. In public or crowded places, the Japanese people avoid eye contact to retain privacy (japanintercultural.com). The intercultural information concerning the Japanese people is a chain of its relation with other cultures in business as well as diplomatic relations. In the field of consultancy, most Americans express a concern of how Japanese are reluctant to share information. These concerns are genuine although the Japanese do not literary refuse to share information. In fact, the Japanese experience difficulties while interacting with the Americans. The main cause in communication strain between Japanese and English speaking people is the difference in communication style and language barrier. More often, the Japanese are worn out trying to communicate due to their struggle English hence they give up before successive interaction has been achieved. In some instances, the Americans frustrate the Japanese due to their communication style, which is characterized by nonstop talking at a fast pace (Lusting & Koester 206). This trait of American communication style has a great impact on interaction ending up in making Japanese retreat from conversations without communicating crucial information (Lusting & Koester 170). Works Cited Lusting, M & Koester, J Intercultural competence: Interpersonal communication across culture (6th ed.), Boston, Allyn & Bacon publishers (2010). Print. .Web. 30 Nov 2011. . Web. 30 Nov 2011. .Web. 30 Nov 2011. .Web. 30 Nov 2011. Read More