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Judit HIDASI Budapest Business School Faculty of International Management and Business

SIETAR Europa Congress 2007 April 25-29, Sophia Intracultural Diversity Japan a t the beginning of the 21st century. Judit HIDASI Budapest Business School Faculty of International Management and Business. Challenges at the turn of the 21st century. International Global issues

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Judit HIDASI Budapest Business School Faculty of International Management and Business

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  1. SIETAR Europa Congress 2007 April 25-29, Sophia Intracultural DiversityJapanat the beginning of the 21st century Judit HIDASIBudapest Business SchoolFaculty of International Management and Business

  2. 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

  3. Traditional ethical standards • governed by Confucianism • influenced by Buddhism • controlled by strong societal cohesion

  4. Changes in cultural values Shifts • from collectivistic to individualistic attitudes • from masculinity towards femininity • from long-term orientation to short-term orientation

  5. 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

  6. Corporate scandals • the onsen (Japanese spa) scandals • the earthquake prevention false data scandal • the BSE American beef-import scandal • illegal building practices hurting rights of disabled persons…….

  7. Societal challenges in 21st century Japan • Ageing-grayingsociety • Shrinking work-force population • Growing female potential • Educational issues – generation gaps

  8. Traditional gender roles: • the working man • the home-maker woman

  9. Stereotypical gender role expectations What are the best three things in the world? American house, Chinese cuisine and Japanese wife

  10. 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

  11. Emerging changes in women’s lifestyles have lead to the growing number • of working women • of single women • of divorced women • of childless women

  12. What happened to the institution of marriage? Marriage as an institution has lost itsattractiveness • material safety that a marriage would once guarantee – disappeared • independent economic power of women has increased

  13. Greatest change • economic independence of women • female consciousness • the level of assertiveness of women

  14. Crisis in education • Diminishing number of children • Socialization problems of children • Deviations: Hikikomori Otaku NEET-s • Violencein the community in the family in the school

  15. Difficulties in handling the cultural changes • Psychological discrepancy • Generation gap • Domino effect • Rigidity of the social institutions • Change-resistant psyche • Limits of receptiveness • Worry for cultural identity

  16. 1. Psychological discrepancy the changes registered in surveys of individuals show a discrepancy with behavior patterns in real life situations the divide between “who I want to be” <> “who I am” is too great

  17. 2. Generation gap the younger generation is mentally switched on to the changes the elder generation experiences identity-loss

  18. 3. Domino effect trying to alter one element in the value system of the culture without rearranging the rest is difficult >>many fear of the “domino-effect” of the changes

  19. 4. Rigidity of the social institutions the society as a whole with all its institutions is prepared neither psychologically nor structurally for the absorption and implementation of too many changes at a time

  20. 5. Change-resistant psyche whereas the need for changes is acknowledged , the core values of Japanese culture inhibit change hence the process itself becomes a more difficult and painful one than in those cultures, which ab ovo encourage change

  21. 6. Limits of receptivesness the intensity the speed of the changes is overloading the receptive capacities of the society

  22. 7. Worry for cultural identity there is a general fear of loss of cultural identity losing “Japaneseness”

  23. Countermeasures on the level of administration • Government level • Corporate level • Community level

  24. 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)

  25. 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.)

  26. Results “intracultural gaps” in society are widening as a consequence of diversifying life-styles and life-paths the once “homogeneous” society is becoming more complex than ever before

  27. References 1/3 • Davies, R. J.& Ikeno O.: （2002）. Danjyo Kankei: Male and Female Relationships in Japan, In: id. (eds. The Japanese Mind. Tuttle, Tokyo, 61-70. • Davies, R. J.& Ikeno O.: （2002） Ryosaikenbo – “Good Wives and Wise Mothers” , In: id.(eds.) The Japanese Mind. Tuttle, Tokyo, 179-186. • Hidasi, Judit (2003) On the capacity to Communicate in Intercultural Settings: Reflections on Japanese Communication Strategies, Human Communication Studies, Vol.31. 81-90.

  28. References 2/3 • Hidasi, Judit (2005) Gender Role Changes in Japan, In: Eschbach-Szabo, Buck-Albulet, Eifler & Horack (eds.) Aktuelle Arbeiten and Vortraege an der Fakultaet fuer Kulturwissenschaften der Universitaet Tuebingen, Bd.1. pp.79-94. • Hofstede, Geert （2001 ：2nd ed.） Culture`s Consequences: Software of the Mind. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage • Hofstede, G.J., P.B. Pedersen & G. Hofstede (2002) Exploring Culture. Yarmouth, ME: Intercultural Press

  29. References 3/3 • Liddle, J. & S. Nakajima (2000): Rising Suns, Rising Daughters – Gender Class and Power in Japan. , London: Zed Books • Matsumoto, D. (2002). The New Japan – Debunking Seven Cultural Stereotypes. Yarmouth, ME:Intercultural Press • Sakai Junko (2003). Makeinu no Tooboe (The Howl of the Loser Dogs). Tokyo: Kodansha

  30. Thank you for your attention Prof. Judit Hidasi, (MA: English/Russian Philology; PhD: General and Applied Lingiustics) is Dean of theBudapest Business School, Faculty of InternationalManagement and Business Studies. 1998-2001 sheworked as a civil servant at the Hungarian Ministry ofEducation. From 2001 to 2006 she was professor ofcommunications at Kanda University of International Studies, atWaseda and Shirayuri Universities. She served on the Council of EAJS(European Association for Japanese Studies) from 1966 until2003. In2005 she was decorated with the Order ofthe Rising Sun, Gold Rays with Neck Ribbon, for advancing Japanese language education and developing ties between Japanand Hungary. Field of specialization: FL teaching, Japanologyand Intercultural Communication. hidasi.judit@kkfk.bgf.hu

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