Made in Japan

Along the country we could find some specific cultures, we named as subcultures. Japan have a variety of subcultures, as the following:

Kogals

Kogals are a subculture of girls and young women in urban Japan, one of several types of so-called gals. They are characterized by conspicuously displaying their disposable incomes through unique tastes in fashion, music, and social activity. In general, the kogal “look” roughly approximates a sun-tanned California Valley girl, and indeed, the similarities between the two extend to the linguistic, for both subcultures have derived entire sets of slang terms (コギャル語 “ko-gyaru-go”). Kogals are not to be confused with the ganguro subculture, although they are similar.

Lolita

Lolita is one of the more popular and diverse subcultures on the streets of Japan. The fashion is based on Victorian styles, and has slowly made its way to other parts around the world. There are different flavors of lolita style – gothic, sweet, decora, classic, punk, wa, and old-school. Each subsection uses a variety of colors, fabrics, and dress styles.

Rockabilly

Rockabilly is a fashion style that can still be found in Harajuku district in Tokyo. The rockabilly (or rokabiri in Japanese) is a strange import from America. Despite being in the style of Greasers, the fashion has roots in country and western music, dating back in the mid to late 1950s .  The music came with the American soldiers that stayed around after World War II.

Visual Kei

Visual Kei is a movement among Japanese musicians, characterized by its use of varied levels of makeup, elaborate hairstyles and outlandish costumes, often, but not always, along with an androgynous aesthetic. Some sources think that visual kei refers to a musical genre, with a sound related to J-rock, post-punk and heavy metal, however, visual kei bands play different genres, including those considered by some as unrelated. to rock like electronics, pop, etc.

Gyaru

The gyaru girl phenomenon is one the most interesting group of people in Japan.  It is a spot on example of the many unique types that Japanese people find themselves identifying with.

In native Japanese language, the word gyaru actually means “girl”. To say gyaru girl would be extremely synonymous to saying “girl girl”. However, since gyaru is often associated with girls, the Japanese became used to saying gyaru girl. The gyaru phenomenon, in short, is a form of cultural grouping used to define girls that fit the specific definition. An alternative definition of girl would be “gal”, which was a word used to describe a girl who is very cool and trendy.

What happen if a Japanese comes to Colombia for exchange program or for a temporal job? he could feel weird. That’s what the lewis model could help us to understand better each culture behavior.

Japan is classified as a reactive culture, they particularly, go over each point many times in detail to make sure there are no misunderstandings. They listen before leap and even concentrate when the speaker is talking, and respect others. Usually never confronts anyone and they are clearly that order is order.

Colombia is classified as a Multi-active people because often are late with delivery dates and when paying for services or goods received. They are less interested in schedules or deadlines than linear-actives and often move only when they are ready. Procrastination is common, unpunctuality frequent. Their concepts of time and discourse are decidedly non-linear and are amused or bewildered by the importance that timetables have for linear-active people. However they are flexible and frequently change their plans; they often do this to accommodate other changes elsewhere. 

In my opinion if a Japanese come here, maybe he doesn’t feel in comfort, because the colombian behavior is different to their country behavior. Maybe he won’t have bigger problems with that but with socialization it can be a little difficult.

This post is about a comparison cultures about both countries, taking into some specific topics which were taken.

1. POWER DISTANCE (PDI)

Power Distance is defined as the extent to which the less powerful members of institutions and organizations within a country expect and accept that power is distributed unequally.

At an intermediate score of 54, Japan is a borderline hierarchical society. Yes, Japanese are always conscious of their hierarchical position in any social setting and act accordingly. However, it is not as hierarchical as most of the other Asian cultures. Some foreigners experience Japan as extremely hierarchical because of their business experience of painstakingly slow decision making process: all the decisions must be confirmed by each hierarchical layer and finally by the top management in Tokyo. 

At 67 Colombia scores high on the scale of the PDI, so it is a society that believes that inequalities amongst people are simply a fact of life. This inequality is accepted in all layers of society, so a union leader will have a lot of concentrated power compared to his union management team, and they in turn will have more power than other union members. A similar phenomenon will be observed among business leaders and among the highest positions in government.

2. INDIVIDUALISM (IDV)

The fundamental issue addressed by this dimension is the degree of interdependence a society maintains among its members.

Japan scores 46 on the Individualism dimension. Certainly Japanese society shows many of the characteristics of a collectivistic society: such as putting harmony of group above the expression of individual opinions and people have a strong sense of shame for losing face. However, it is not as collectivistic as most of her Asian neighbours. The most popular explanation for this is that Japanese society does not have extended family system which forms a base of more collectivistic societies such as China and Korea. Japan has been a paternalistic society and the family name and asset was inherited from father to the eldest son. The younger siblings had to leave home and make their own living with their core families. One seemingly paradoxal example is that Japanese are famous for their loyalty to their companies, while Chinese seem to job hop more easily. However, company loyalty is something, which people have chosen for themselves, which is an Individualist thing to do. You could say that the Japanese in-group is situational. While in more collectivistic culture, people are loyal to their inner group by birth, such as their extended family and their local community.

At a score of 13 Colombia is amongst the lowest Individualist scores; in other words, it lies amongst the most collectivistic cultures in the world, beaten only by Ecuador, Panama and Guatemala.
Since the Colombians are a highly collectivistic people, belonging to an in-group and aligning yourself with that group’s opinion is very important. Combined with the high scores in PDI, this means that groups often have their strong identities tied to class distinctions

3. MASCULINITY (MAS)

At 95, Japan is one of the most Masculine societies in the world. However, in combination with their mild collectivism, you do not see assertive and competitive individual behaviors which we often associate with Masculine culture. What you see is a severe competition between groups.

At 64 Colombia is a Masculine society – highly success oriented and driven. Colombians are competitive and status-oriented, yet collectivistic rather than Individualist. This means that competition is directed towards members of other groups (or social classes), not towards those who are perceived as members of your own in-group.

4. UNCERTAINTY AVOIDANCE (UAI)

At 92 Japan is one of the most uncertainty avoiding countries on earth. This is often attributed to the fact that Japan is constantly threatened by natural disasters from earthquakes, tsunamis (this is a Japanese word used internationally), typhoons to volcano eruptions. Under these circumstances Japanese learned to prepare themselves for any uncertain situation. 

At 80 Colombia has a high score on Uncertainty Avoidance which means that as a nation they are seeking mechanisms to avoid ambiguity. Emotions are openly expressed; there are (extensive) rules for everything and social conservatism enjoys quite a following. This is also reflected in religion, which is respected, followed by many and conservative.

5. LONG TERM ORIENTATION (LTO)

At 88 Japan scores as one of the most Long Term Orientation oriented societies. Japanese see their life as a very short moment in a long history of mankind. From this perspective, some kind of fatalism is not strange to the Japanese. You do your best in your life time and that is all what you can do. Notion of the one and only almighty God is not familiar to Japanese. People live their lives guided by virtues and practical good examples.

With a low score of 13, Colombian culture is classified as normative. People in such societies have a strong concern with establishing the absolute Truth; they are normative in their thinking. They exhibit great respect for traditions, a relatively small propensity to save for the future, and a focus on achieving quick results.

6. INDULGENCE (IND)

Japan, with a low score of 42, is shown to have a culture of Restraint. Societies with a low score in this dimension have a tendency to cynicism and pessimism. Also, in contrast to Indulgent societies, Restrained societies do not put much emphasis on leisure time and control the gratification of their desires. People with this orientation have the perception that their actions are Restrained by social norms and feel that indulging themselves is somewhat wrong.

Scoring a very high 83 in this dimension, Colombia is shown to be an Indulgent country. People in societies classified by a high score in Indulgence generally exhibit a willingness to realise their impulses and desires with regard to enjoying life and having fun. They possess a positive attitude and have a tendency towards optimism. In addition, they place a higher degree of importance on leisure time, act as they please and spend money as they wish.

This is how could see some differences and similarities about each culture using these topics, and we could know how punctuation have each one.

When we talk about gender roles in both countries, we could describe in a way the Japanese men and women and on another way Colombians:

Japanese wifes keep track of finances, make economic decisions, and give their husbands an allowance. They budget carefully and keep meticulous records of where the money goes and make decisions about the children’s education. They shop frugally and buy fresh produce daily and take pride in cooking nutritious meals. Many women take classes in flower arranging, kimono wearing, tea ceremony, and cooking in order to prepare for their career in household management. In large urban areas the husband has a long commute, gets home late, and rarely sees the children except on Sundays. Some women say it’s easier when their husband’s not home—he’s just one more child to take care of. While the japanese husbands do the hardworking, going to work everyday and standing behind a boss in a corporate company or independently.

On the other hand the Colombians are likely the same in some parts of the country, but in the big cities, now they have an equal role because the majority of woman go out and they do the same hardworking as men, and both, if they have a children, take care of. That fact we could see in young woman of today, but in the past was exactly like the Japanese, although in some parts still being like this.

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Somtimes mostly of the people think about how japanese is and what things do all the time. Some of the could be:

Eat sushi everyday

Although sushi is the most internationalized japanese food, and it is undoubtedly best known and acclaimed around the world, the thruth is that japanese people only eat sushi on special occasions or celebrations.

They wear Kimonos

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We think that the japanese people usually wear kimonos as a normal outfit everyday, but really is used mostly on special occasions, because the kimono is the traditional dress, so normally they put their casual outfits and formal dresses for business.

They are polite and disciplinate

This is completley right, they are nice and polite people who cares about their enviroment and others, and for their discipline, this is how japan is one of the most advanced countries in the world.