Essay on Comparison of Specific Elements of Japan and the US Culture
Number of words: 821
People describe others from a different culture with words such as chaotic, inflexible, late, inadaptable, or disorganized. It is quite likely to understand that their scheduling dimensions are the results of unexpressed assumptions concerning time which controls the behaviors and expectations in several cultures and they can be challenging (Nakayama et al., 2018). The food system, time, lifestyle, transport, and communication are some of the elements that distinguish Japan from the US culture. There are various similarities and differences in japan and US cultures that exist in various magnitudes as discussed in this comparison scenario after a 10-day virtual journey.
| Diet and Nutrition | Nature and World-life | Indigenous People | Soil and Crops | |
| Similarities between Japan and the US culture. | Both Japan and the US perceive rice as their traditional food. Street food restaurants are available in both the US and Japanese streets. | Both Japan and the US are facing a declining rate in the land fertility rate which poses population decline soon. Both have a variety of species of mammals, reptiles, birds, and freshwater fish. | Both Japanese and Americans believe in harmony with nature, respect, and non-interference towards others. | Volcano ash soils are common in both Japan and the US, they are light and porous with high water holding capacity. The soil has a high phosphorus fixation capacity. |
| Differences between Japan and the US culture. | The traditional diet in Japan is whole-food-based while in the US, the most common food diets consist of whole grains, nuts, and red meat. Rice in Japan is perceived to be “more than food” and is only grown in 12.2% of the inland area suitable for agriculture. While in the US, rice is grown on a large scale. Japanese consume fewer amounts of animal proteins than Americans who consume plenty of red meat. | Japan has a small land area with 130 mammal species, 633 bird species, 80 reptile species, and 200 freshwater species. Japanese terrain is rugged and mountainous that consists of 66% forest (Seo & Umeda, 2021), and thus there is no “nature in Japan”. The landscape in Japan is a result of the nature-human conflict. Volcano ash soil is the current fertile soil in Japan and is improved by aggregation knowledge and agronomy. The land area of the US is 26 times larger than Japan (Parr et al., 2020). The US has a larger animal species, for example, the US has over 462 mammal species, 390 birds species, 295 reptiles, and 790 freshwater species. The US has the best share of the world’s agricultural soil. The landscape consists of beaches, peaks, barren deserts, and rolling prairie lands. Many people have contributed to the landscape of the US. | The indigenous people of Japan were hunters, gatherers, and fishermen since ancient times. Japanese bow to salute. While in the US, the culture of people is characterized by a variety of activities and lifestyle diversity. They shake hands to salute in the US. | Japan has fewer vegetation species. Commercial production of GMOs is not permitted in Japan. Japan uses various methods are used to respond to pests and the freezing effects of plants such as the installation of low polythene sheets tunnels. The number of species of vegetation in the US is larger. GMO is approved for use in the US. |
In conclusion, Japan and the US have cultural profiles that are characterized by communication, scheduling, trusting, deciding, leading, evaluating, among others. As such, agriculture in both countries has also its cultures that are characterized by the soils, crops, farming methods, and pest control methods. Americans have lived in a multicultural society that embraces Japanese food and other elements of culture.
References
Nakayama, M., Kanayama, H., & Nasukawa, T. (2018). Cross-cultural comparisons of review aspect importance. International Journal of Informatics and Information Systems, 1(1), 46-59.
Parr, J. F., Papendick, R. I., Youngberg, I. G., & Meyer, R. E. (2020). Sustainable agriculture in the United States. In Sustainable agricultural systems (pp. 50-67). CRC Press.
Seo, Y., & Umeda, S. (2021). Evaluating Farm Management Performance by the Choice of Pest-Control Sprayers in Rice Farming in Japan. Sustainability, 13(5), 2618.