Owing to the effects of globalization, depiction of cultures and identities has become a common feature across nations. A major consequence of this representation is the strengthening of cultures and distinctiveness across different people of different nations. The outflow of globalization has made nations alert to the fact that they have to emphasize and present their cultures in the right position as per the demands of globalization. A notable culture that has featured prominently across mass media is the Japanese culture. In attempts to shed light on the old traditions of the country, stereotypes have consequently featured. Through films and newspaper articles, efforts to revive the Japanese culture focus both on present-day accounts of history as well as some customs. Over and again, Hollywood has not presented very positive descriptions of Japanese people in its films while the newspapers have not been left behind in portraying the Japanese culture.
Since the Europeans’ first engagement with the Japanese, coverage of Japan culture has been peppered with stereotypes and irony. Although cultural dissimilarities and stereotypes occur universally, it is the adverse style in which information is presented concerning Japan that is disconcerting and negative (Levick, 2005). While the perspective of the media may have undergone changes over time, these misrepresentations still feature on the pages of some of the leading newspapers in the United States. Regardless of the increase in different forms of electronic media, everyday articles from newspapers and films often serve as the basis of broadcasting from which Internet sources copy and truncate
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Some of the newspaper articles contain broad views and all-inclusive expressions that stereotype Japanese individuals as monolithic people shorn of diversity, and remaining conservative over the years. For instance, an article from the New York Times (1999), indicates that the Japanese are a profoundly pragmatic individuals. The statement Japanese emphasizing that the Japanese are ‘profoundly pragmatic’ denotes all the Japanese populations as monolithic—the generalization of them as persons who all possess such particular traits. Alike tendencies can be detected in articles printed in The New York Times. For instance, the New York Times (1999) article indicates that the prominent capability for negotiation amongst the Japanese folk appears to have resigned them to the nearly irresoluble. That once the Japanese have had enough trouble with their neighbors, they do not murder their fellow citizen, as in America. Rather, they commit suicide. Such statements depict them in negative light and irreconcilable.
Such examples as above emphasize the assumption and stereotype that all Japanese have the same manner of handling things. Articles through which specific voices get repressed and generalizations are vehemently made short of adequate evidence of their reality are fashioned within a ‘tolerable’ context that replicates stereotypical imageries of Japanese people as a mysterious people. Newspaper and media representations may also cause prejudice by weaving ethnic threads all over the script in a bid to illuminate every occurrence. Such articles frequently presume a permanent irreversible cultural core, supposing that certain personalities uniquely and innately connect to the Japanese society and people (Singelis & Brown, 1995). For instance, following the economic collapse of the 1990s, and the recession of the Japanese economic threat, articles in quest of explaining the depression blamed the Japanese culture as the cause of the economic disintegration. In fact, an article from the Chicago Tribune scrutinized the association between Japanese organizations and government. It resorted to the ‘unusual’ cultural mannerisms of the Japanese that instigate the profoundly strong bond in Japan between corporations and bureaucracy, which permits such scandals to happen in the first place.
From the shared histories between the U.S and Japan, their transnational movement of values depict them as strong economies of the world. Nevertheless, Japan is frequently represented as unreasonable and inferior in comparison to the United States. Journalists and Scholars make such plain and implied assessments that eventually point out superiority with regard to the United States. For instance, the Japanese democracy is regularly showed as wanting as compared to the United States (Levick, 2005). Furthermore, the Japanese rule is portrayed as incompetent by ‘Western standards.’ For instance, The New York Times makes utterly disapproving contrasts between the United States and Japan. On the one hand, Japan is depicted as seeking a restoration to its place globally, as an average nation of massively diminished and still weakening reputation in the world. That Japan is still wallowing in denial regarding its dysfunctional governmental system constructed on traditional cronyism. Conversely, the United States is depicted as already experiencing strong stimulations of transformation only weeks into a business ethics crisis (Levick, 2005). The insinuation is that Japan ought to and will remain in its ‘rightful’ position globally until it manages to imitate the United States.
In as much as the media depicts Japanese culture in an adverse manner, intellectuals and scholars have asserted that the human mind is organized in line with the categorizations that work hand in hand with stereotypes. Such categorizations facilitate the analysis and understanding of reality. Stereotypes also lend to the task of classifying reality but they generally have additional effects as well. For most of the scholars, stereotyping takes place along the course of classification that in most instances infers an adverse assessment of the culture that is being explored.
Several values pertain to the Japanese culture such as Individualism-Collectivism and Masculinity-Femininity. The values of Individual-Collectivism concern human relationships with each other and its dimensions have been explored by numerous social scientists. From their perspective, Individualistic cultures place utmost value to the individual as compared to the group (Singelis & Brown, 1995). As such personal accomplishments, recognition, and such like aspects receive encouragement and rewards. On the other hand, Collectivistic societies, stress on the collective achievements instead of the individual. The significance of the individual is tied to their affiliation and membership to the group. Collectivistic cultures emphasize on collaboration among the members of a group and the prominence of collective goals as opposed to individual goals. Research has largely presented most of the industrialized nations such as the Sweden, Great Britain, and the United States are individualistic cultures. Conversely, countries such as Mexico, Thailand, and Japan depict a collectivistic culture. Furthermore, researchers have postulated that cultures have a tendency to evolve from collectivistic to individualistic as the countries increase in industrialization.
Regarding Masculinity-Femininity values, the dimensions deal with the degree to which one sex and its characteristics are preferred in the culture compared to the traits of the opposite sex. Therefore, this aspect recounts the extent to which a specific culture upholds qualities allied with males such as aggression, accomplishment, and control as opposed to the extent to which the culture accolades such feminine traits as helpfulness, affiliation, and nurturance (Sugihara & Katsurada, 1999). The Japanese culture is depicted as significantly masculine while the United States is to some extent centrally oriented on this aspect, but inclines towards masculinity than femininity.
In conclusion, stereotyping remains a dominant feature across cultures. A look into the Japanese culture shows that stereotyping depicts the Japanese people adversely. Other than being distinctive, the Japanese culture is portrayed as exotic yet mysterious. As for the values, the Japanese culture is oriented towards collectivity and masculinity. However, it should be emphasized that value inclinations may undergo adjustments over time. As formerly indicated, as cultures become more industrialized, a more individualistic approach is embraced. Such variations may be obvious in advertising. Scholars have revealed that in their advertisements, the Japanese tend to imitate the Western/American value of individualism as opposed to the collectivistic value inherent in the traditional nature of the Japanese culture.
References
Levick, J. (2005). Japan in the US Press: Bias and Stereotypes . National Clearinghouse for United States-Japan Studies, Japan Digest.
New York Times. (1999). Japanese Mark War Anniversary with Less Reticence . Retrieved on February 1, 2018 https://mobile.nytimes.com/1999/08/16/world/japanese-mark-war-anniversary-with-less-reticence.html?referer=https://www.google.com/
Singelis, T. M., & Brown, W. J. (1995). Culture, self, and collectivist communication linking culture to individual behavior. Human communication research , 21(3), 354-389.
Sugihara, Y., & Katsurada, E. (1999). Masculinity and femininity in Japanese culture: A pilot study. Sex Roles , 40(7-8), 635-646.
