Assignment #6

In Japan there are two distinct personality traits that are unique to the Japanese culture: chinmoku and honne/tatemae. Chinmoku is silence, honne is one’s personal intention, and tatemae is one’s intention that is shaped by majority norms. Although there is silence everywhere in the world, it is more common and lasts longer in Japan than in the United States. As for honne and tatemae, they serve to show how Japan dislikes direct expression much more than the United States does. With these two large differences in communication norms, it makes sense that there would be quite a bit of miscommunication between Japan and America. This miscommunication could potentially lead to many consequences between Japan and US relations, because Japan could easily misunderstand America’s forwardness and America could easily misunderstand Japan’s reserved communication.
One negative consequence that could result from America misunderstanding Japan is that Japan may take Americans to be extremely rude and greedy if they unintentionally respond in an inappropriate way. The example in the book states that if in Japan one is asked, “Won’t you dine with us?” the guest knows that the appropriate response is, “Thank you very much, but I am not hungry.” If one was to accept the offer, it could potentially be seen as very thoughtless and impolite. If an America visits Japan and is asked this, they would most likely not respond in the appropriate way, because that is not how things work in America. Although this example would not be seen in business relationships, it serves to show how easily Americans can misunderstand the Japanese. This miscommunication could lead to the Japanese feeling disrespected or uncomfortable, which could potentially lead to undesirable consequences within the international relationship between Japan and America. The miscommunication between Japan and America could go the other way as well, where Americans might mistake Japan’s reserveness for rudeness. In America we do not use silence “as a communicative skill” like in Japan, we use it more as a “form of emptiness between spoken words.” The book uses different scenarios to describe the many different ways in which Japan uses silence. One example is, “Thus a man of few words is trusted more than a man of many words.” In America I believe that it is quite the opposite, normally one is seen as less trustworthy when they are sit back and observe a conversation, then when they are active in a