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The Communication Gap Communicating effectively in Japan Preferred Communication Styles and Modes Western Washington University The U.S. Since the U.S. is an immigrant society, putting as much of your message as possible into words is important in order to let people know “where you’re coming from”. People try to remove the possibility of misassumptions as they believe everyone is different and the degree which they are involved in the majority culture varies. Japan Japanese view their country as racially and culturally homogeneous with a long history of tradition, so it is assumed that everyone knows and will play by the unspoken rules of the majority culture. Preferred Communication Styles and Modes Western Washington University The U.S. The ideal way to communicate is to speak directly and clearly about the issue at hand face to face with the person involved. Japan The ideal way of communicating is getting a message across by artfully speaking indirectly and hinting at the issue. Being too direct is clumsy. A go-between or middleman is often used with delicate or important matters. Preferred Communication Styles and Modes Western Washington University The U.S. Verbal communication is the dominant mode, although body language is also relied upon to a certain degree. Japan Words are not to be trusted as much as mutual feelings and non-verbal cues. Verbal communication is seen as only one of the many ways to communicate, as the use of silence, pauses, actions, facial expressions, body language, etc. is seen as a more direct expression of one’s heart. Preferred Communication Styles and Modes Western Washington University The U.S. The strengths of the English language are persuading others to see your point of view and explaining facts. Japan The strengths of the Japanese language are expressing relationships, solidarity, and feelings. Objective Reality Western Washington University The U.S. The reliance of facts, doing what is practical, and following their religious beliefs are what Americans tend to base their actions on. Japan There is a world of hard facts, but everyday actions are based on maintaining relationships with other, intuition and feelings, and actions prescribed by tradition. Objective Reality Western Washington University The U.S. When someone is late, they often explain what happened first to provide a factual reason for their lateness and justify their actions. Japan When someone is late, they express remorse and apologize to make sure the other person does not think their lateness means they don’t value the relationship. The reason for being late is not so important. View of Conflict and Conflict Resolution Western Washington University The U.S. Conflict is seen as inevitable, and the ideal way to view conflict is as an opportunity to promote communication, stimulate ideas, increase understanding, and to bring about positive and creative change. Japan Conflict is dangerous to relationships and is to be diffused beforehand or avoided at all costs. Harmony is the ultimate social ideal and conflict is completely at odds with it. View of Conflict and Conflict Resolution Western Washington University The U.S. There is a belief that the best way to resolve conflicts is to bring them out in the open and deal with them directly. Japan By anticipating actions, watching reactions, and to trying above all to keep harmony, the preferred way to resolve conflicts is to subtly diffuse them before they occur. My coworkers often say things like ‘Let’s hang out some time!’ or ‘Please come visit my house’, but it never goes any further than that. Did I do something wrong? It’s difficult for me to tell what’s going on around me a lot of the time. Sometimes when I am denied something that I ask for, there doesn’t seem to be any reason behind it… Often when I make suggestions, my JTE says things like ‘I see’, ‘You’re right’, and ‘Let me think about it’, but that’s the last I hear about the matter. When I first started working at my school(s), many of my coworkers came to my desk to introduce themselves. In April, there will be a lot of new staff. Should I approach them to say hello, or wait for them to come to me? I’m not sure who I am supposed to ask when I want things. I’ve heard it is rude if I don’t ask the right person first, so I’m nervous about messing up. I’ve heard that it is compulsory to attend enkai, but I feel really uncomfortable in those situations so I’d prefer not to go. Can I refuse? My coworkers never take holidays! I want to take a week off to go travelling, but I’m not sure if it’s really okay or not. Sometimes when I’m speaking to my JTE they randomly laugh and nod a lot in the middle of the conversation…