The Direct American, the Indirect Japanese:
Why and How Intercultural Miscommunication Occurs
Fig.1 Japanese and Americans are talking in a business seminar.
(from Japan-America Society of Indiana. 1 Nov. 2011.)
“When the differences in linguistic structure and cultural background are wide, as between the English-speaking people and the Japanese, the use of a common language is often misleading (Haneda and Shima 14).”
It is true that communicating with foreign people is difficult and it sometimes has misunderstanding even if they speak the same language because social context are very different between them. However, since modern technologies have let the world become a much smaller place, encouraging increased interactions between peoples of different nations and cultures (McDaniel 1), intercultural communication is unavoidable. In fact, there were 5,784 students from America in Japan from 2008 to 2009, and 29,264 Japanese students were in America at the same time (Institute of International Education). Even if the number of Japanese students who go to US has decreased 50 percent in recent 14 years as Clinton said (Japan Times), the scale of student exchange between the two countries is not small. Also, all the Japanese people who live in America including non-students were 384,411 and Americans in Japan were 52,149 in 2009 (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan). It means that there are many encounters of mutual culture in both countries, and almost everyone potentially has chances to meet them. However, such intercommunication sometimes creates some conflicts because of misunderstanding and less understanding of each other. For example, in 1970, Japanese prime minister Sato replied “I will take a favorable action (善処します Zensho shimasu)” to American president Nixon. It was regarded as Yes for political suggestion by America, but Sato was mentioning No by that phrase. Hence, he said he had never agreed with the policy and Nixon got angry with that (qtd. in Fengping 4; Yang and Cao 2.3; Yamada 90-91). In order to overcome such struggles and to communicate effectively, both Americans and Japanese should study more about their culture and communication style. In addition, setting communicative rules within an international organization would be useful to exchange information and opinions smoothly.
First, Americans tend to speak directly compared with Japanese. They value clearness and simplicity greater than harmony in communication, and the sooner reply is better even when they say “No” (Haneda and Shima 7).Professor Dean C. Barnlund of the School of Humanities at San Francisco State University says the ideal of American society is that people express their ideas vividly and powerfully (113). The form of academic essay represents the characteristic. In a typical student essay, the structure is very clear and thesis statement is written in the introduction. Besides, it is repeated in conclusion. To give one more basic example, they distinguish subjects specifically in conversation. In other words, who do it (they or we?) is stated in most sentences. According to Edward C. Stewart of the Human Relations Resource Office at George Washington University, it is more remarkable in America than in other countries which use English as an official language although this is one of the linguistic characteristics of English (49). This way of communication is based on the assumption that each person is different and it is the best way to face the diversity in order to respect and unify the people (Barnlund 113). Americans consider it is important to protect the right of each person to express himself/ herself in distinctive ways (Barnlund 130). This attitude has been implanted since they are very young. Even at school and at home, children are given a lot of opportunities to debate and discussion (Barnlund 113). Therefore, Americans mainly use direct communication style.
On the other hand, Japanese communication is famous for its indirectness, so it sometimes confuses American. At the ELP-JLP discussion class which Japanese students and non-Japanese students talked about various topics on October 14th, one non-Japanese student said that she had been confused by the way of ambiguous communication when she came to Japan, and another student was nodding to her. For example of the indirectness, obscuring expressions such as “~かも kamo” are used frequently in daily conversation. This word originally means “maybe” in English, but Japanese add it to a sentence which expresses his/ her opinion about something. For instance, “これいいかも kore e kamo” is “I like it” plus kamo. Although the Japanese should have a clear feeling about the thing, he/ she often uses this word (Yang and Cao 2.1). This characteristic of ambiguousness also arises in business communication. Japanese often say “I will consider your request very carefully (よく考えておきます。 Yoku kangaete okimasu)” to refuse a suggestion. They do not like to say “No” straightly (Hall and Hall 61). Those phenomena tend to be difficult for people who live in direct communication cultures to understand, but of course, they are not intended for irritating others. This indirectness reflects Japanese traditional context that values hierarchy and social harmony. To avoid any discord, the vagueness spreads among Japanese people and society (McDaniel 2). As a result, Japanese became well-known as the country of an indirect communication culture.
On the other hand, Japanese communication is famous for its indirectness, so it sometimes confuses American. At the ELP-JLP discussion class which Japanese students and non-Japanese students talked about various topics on October 14th, one non-Japanese student said that she had been confused by the way of ambiguous communication when she came to Japan, and another student was nodding to her. For example of the indirectness, obscuring expressions such as “~かも kamo” are used frequently in daily conversation. This word originally means “maybe” in English, but Japanese add it to a sentence which expresses his/ her opinion about something. For instance, “これいいかも kore e kamo” is “I like it” plus kamo. Although the Japanese should have a clear feeling about the thing, he/ she often uses this word (Yang and Cao 2.1). This characteristic of ambiguousness also arises in business communication. Japanese often say “I will consider your request very carefully (よく考えておきます。 Yoku kangaete okimasu)” to refuse a suggestion. They do not like to say “No” straightly (Hall and Hall 61). Those phenomena tend to be difficult for people who live in direct communication cultures to understand, but of course, they are not intended for irritating others. This indirectness reflects Japanese traditional context that values hierarchy and social harmony. To avoid any discord, the vagueness spreads among Japanese people and society (McDaniel 2). As a result, Japanese became well-known as the country of an indirect communication culture.
As mentioned above, American and Japanese cultures have completely opposite theory of communication, so misinterpretations and conflicts can occur between them. What should people from the one country do when they need to exchange their opinions with people from the other country then? Needless to say, it is very important to learn about each other’s culture and manner of communication. Knowing more about them gives people expansive views and encourages accurate perception of foreigners. The Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology of Japan should not only focus on teaching English language, but also include more curriculums for educating manners of foreign countries. Some schools such as Setagaya-Sogo High school in Tokyo already have had intercultural understanding classes which international students teach their culture to Japanese students several times in a year (Kokusai-Rikai Shien Kyokai), but those curriculums should be applied to almost all the schools and more frequently. In addition, it is also useful for American to make school have special classes of studying current foreign ways of thinking.
Another possible way to avoid cultural conflict of communication is to set the rules among people in an intercultural organization. For example, in a business scene, it should be very efficient to create mutual format of e-mail and paper like scientific research papers. Prepared templates of meeting records and clearly stated patterns of contact in case of emergency (Hironaka) would facilitate workers to avoid serious communication mistakes. Also deciding the structure of them, receivers can read information clearly without being irritated or confused. Moreover, this way can be applied to discussion and meeting. Determining the rules of making a statement is useful to avoid occurrence of confusions during the conversation.
In conclusion, Japanese and American have struggled to understand each other, but their differences of communication style have sometimes prohibited accomplishing it. American way is based on direct expression and sharp manifestation of idea is most valued in their society. To the contrast, Japanese prefer to use indirect way of communication. This indirectness was created by the spirit of social harmony and hierarchy. The most important matter in Japanese society is to avoid conflict and hurting others in order to maintain a pleasant atmosphere. To overcome this difference and misunderstandings occur from it, there are two possible ways of solution. One is to know more about other culture. Increasing intercultural teaching at school can be a powerful way to realize it. Also, the other way is to create the domestic communication rules in a multinational organization such as templates for documents.
The focus of this essay is the difference and difficulty of communication between Japanese and Americans, but this theme refers not only between those two countries but also among all cultures and countries. It is one of the most difficult things to solve and as the number of intercultural exchanges increase, the more often the problem will happen. However, since international communication in modern society is unavoidable whether the situation is nationwide scaled or casual, people have to overcome this issue as long as humans have various cultures around the world.
Works Cited
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Yamada, Haru. Shaberu America-jin Kiku Nihon-jin [American Speak, Japanese Listen]. Tokyo: Seiko-Shobo, 2003. Print.
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