SIETAR Europa Congress

2007 April 25-29, Sophia

Intracultural Diversity
Japan at the beginning of the 21st century

Judit HIDASI
Budapest Business School
Faculty of International Management and Business

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Challenges at the turn of the 21st century

 International
 Global issues
 Regional challenges

 Domestic (Japan)
 Recovery from the economic recession
 Bank-finance issues
 Societal changes

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Traditional ethical standards

 governed by Confucianism

 influenced by Buddhism

 controlled by strong societal

cohesion
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Changes in cultural values

Shifts
 from collectivistic to
individualistic attitudes
 from masculinity towards
femininity
 from long-term orientation to
short-term orientation

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Consequences of value shifts

Ethical standards and norms change

 on the level of the individual
 on the level of the family
 on the level of the society
 on the level of corporations

Overall loosening of social responsibility

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Corporate scandals

 the onsen (Japanese spa) scandals

 the earthquake prevention false d
ata scandal
 the BSE American beef-import sca
ndal
 illegal building practices hurting ri
ghts of disabled persons…….

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Societal challenges in 21st century J
apan

 Ageing-graying society
 Shrinking work-force population
 Growing female potential
 Educational issues – generation gaps

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Traditional gender roles:

 the working man

 the home-maker woman

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Stereotypical gender role
expectations

What are the best three

things in the world?
American house, Chinese
cuisine and Japanese wife

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Female power

 Covert, hidden in the past:

limited to family affairs and budget

 Overt, emerging at present:

encompassing more and more
areas of social activity

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Emerging changes in women’s
lifestyles

have lead to the growing number

 of working women
 of single women
 of divorced women
 of childless women

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 What happened to the institution of
marriage?

Marriage as an institution has lost its

attractiveness

 material safety that a marriage would

once guarantee – disappeared
 independent economic power of wome
n has increased

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Greatest change

 economic independence of
women

 female consciousness

 the
level of assertiveness of
women

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Crisis in education
 Diminishing number of children
 Socialization problems of children

 Deviations: Hikikomori
Otaku
NEET-s
 Violence in the community
in the family
in the school

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Difficulties in handling the cultural
changes

1. Psychological discrepancy
2. Generation gap
3. Domino effect
4. Rigidity of the social institutions
5. Change-resistant psyche
6. Limits of receptiveness
7. Worry for cultural identity

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1. Psychological discrepancy

the changes registered in surveys of i

ndividuals show a discrepancy with
behavior patterns in real life situati
ons

the divide between

“who I want to be” <> “who I am”
is too great

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2. Generation gap

the younger generation is mentally swit

ched on to the changes

the elder generation experiences identit

y-loss

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3. Domino effect

trying to alter one element in the valu

e system of the culture without rea
rranging the rest is difficult

>>many fear of the “domino-effect” of

the changes

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4. Rigidity of the social institutions

the society as a whole with all its i

nstitutions is prepared neither ps
ychologically nor structurally for
the absorption and implementati
on of too many changes at a tim
e

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5. Change-resistant psyche

whereas the need for changes is ackno

wledged , the core values of Japanes
e culture inhibit change

hence the process itself becomes a mor

e difficult and painful one than in
those cultures, which ab ovo encoura
ge change

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6. Limits of receptivesness

the intensity
the speed

of the changes is overloading

the receptive capacities of th
e society

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7. Worry for cultural identity

there is a general fear of

loss of cultural identity

losing “Japaneseness”

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Countermeasures on the level of
administration

 Government level

 Corporate level

 Community level
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Government level

 To strengthen legal control

 To reform education>
laws to be rewritten
 to stress family and
community values
 respect for Japanese culture
and traditions (including
ethics)

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Declaration of the Kansai business
leaders summit

“….with corporate scandals and

social problems causing public
unease, the country is losing its
sense of ethics….Thus this
seminar decided to focus on how
to respond to Japan’s basic
problems.”
(2006 February 9-10.)

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Results

“intracultural gaps” in society are

widening as a consequence of div
ersifying life-styles and life-paths

the once “homogeneous” society i

s becoming more complex than e
ver before

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References 1/3

 Davies, R. J.& Ikeno O.: （ 2002 ） . Danjyo Ka

nkei: Male and Female Relationships in Japa
n, In: id. (eds. The Japanese Mind. Tuttle, To
kyo, 61-70.
 Davies, R. J.& Ikeno O.: （ 2002 ） Ryosaikenb
o – “Good Wives and Wise Mothers” , In: id.
(eds.) The Japanese Mind. Tuttle, Tokyo, 179
-186.
 Hidasi, Judit (2003) On the capacity to Comm
unicate in Intercultural Settings: Reflections
on Japanese Communication Strategies, Hum
an Communication Studies, Vol.31. 81-90.

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References 2/3
 Hidasi, Judit (2005) Gender Role Changes
in Japan, In: Eschbach-Szabo, Buck-Albul
et, Eifler & Horack (eds.) Aktuelle Arbeite
n and Vortraege an der Fakultaet fuer Kul
turwissenschaften der Universitaet Tuebin
gen, Bd.1. pp.79-94.
 Hofstede, Geert （ 2001 ： 2nd ed. ） Cultur
e`s Consequences: Software of the Mind.
Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
 Hofstede, G.J., P.B. Pedersen & G. Hofste
de (2002) Exploring Culture. Yarmouth, M
E: Intercultural Press

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References 3/3
 Liddle, J. & S. Nakajima (2000): Rising
Suns, Rising Daughters – Gender Clas
s and Power in Japan. , London: Zed
Books
 Matsumoto, D. (2002). The New Japan
– Debunking Seven Cultural Stereotyp
es. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press
 Sakai Junko (2003). Makeinu no Toob
oe (The Howl of the Loser Dogs). Tok
yo: Kodansha

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Thank you for your attention
Prof. Judit Hidasi, (MA: English/Russian Philology; PhD:
General and Applied Lingiustics) is Dean of the
Budapest Business School, Faculty of International
Management and Business Studies. 1998-2001
sheworked as a civil servant at the Hungarian Ministry
of Education. From 2001 to 2006 she was professor
ofcommunications at Kanda University of International
Studies, at Waseda and Shirayuri Universities. She
served on the Council of EAJS (European Association
for Japanese Studies) from 1966 until2003. In 2005
she was decorated with the Order of the Rising Sun,
Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, for advancing Japanese
language education and developing ties between Japan
and Hungary. Field of specialization: FL teaching,
Japanology and Intercultural Communication.
hidasi.judit@kkfk.bgf.hu

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