Cultural Globalization: Japanese Vending Machines (Research Paper Sample)

CULTURAL GLOBALIZATION IN JAPAN-A CASE STUDY OF JAPANESE VENDING MACHINES
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Comparison between the Japanese and the Western Drinking Cultures
Japan is among the countries in the world that consider drinking as morally acceptable. In a drinking attitude survey conducted in over forty different countries, Japan was at the top of the list with the highest positive response. More than a third of the Japanese population considers drinking as morally acceptable. Only six percent of the participants in the survey considered drinking as morally unacceptable. In the drinking survey in the United States of America, sixteen percent of the population voted that drinking is morally unacceptable while forty-one percent of the population voted that drinking is morally acceptable. Therefore, apart from those who argue that drinking is not a moral issue, both Japan and America showed a general perception that drinking is morally acceptable as denoted by the percentage rating. It is clear that both Japan and America have great drinking cultures, which would be compared in this paper.[Wakabayashi, Ichiro, and Yoshihiko Araki. "Influences of gender and age on relationships between alcohol drinking and atherosclerotic risk factors." Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 34, no. s1 (2010): S54-S60.] [Stickley, Andrew, Tanya Jukkala, and Thor Norström. "Alcohol and suicide in Russia, 1870-1894 and 1956-2005: evidence for the continuation of a harmful drinking culture across time?." Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs 72, no. 2 (2011): 341-347]
The Japanese observe etiquette when drinking. When two or more people go drinking together, they have to exchange kanpai (cheers) before they begin drinking beer. They also start at a friendly point of ostukaresema, an acknowledgment of the hard work of the day. Therefore, the Japanese consider drinking as a form of relaxation and entertainment after a day's hard work. They exchange cheers and chat as they drink to symbolize their transition from the formal and restricted state of emotions in the work environment to a relaxed and emotional relaxed drinking environment. The Japanese, therefore, exhibit different codes of conduct when working and when drinking. Alcohol is considered the center of the transition from the workplace to the relaxed and less guarded emotional state. Japanese exercise generosity and service to one another on a drinking social environment. One cannot take beer from a glass and empty it before another person refills it for him/her. The fact that beer glasses are always full can make a person lose track of the amount of beer he/she has taken. Furthermore, the Japanese can easily lose himself/herself in a drinking environment because the beer servers offer Nomi-hodai, an option in which one can get the highest amount of alcohol one can drink at the money one has.[Wakabayashi, Ichiro, and Yoshihiko Araki. "Influences of gender and age on relationships between alcohol drinking and atherosclerotic risk factors." Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 34, no. s1 (2010): S54-S60.] [Wakabayashi, Ichiro, and Yoshihiko Araki. "Influences of gender and age on relationships between alcohol drinking and atherosclerotic risk factors." Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 34, no. s1 (2010): S54-S60.]
Americans are not as social as Japanese. When they drink, they do not build a rapport with other people but rather drink on personal levels. It is rare for an American to interfere in the issues of another person in a drinking environment by cheers or to fill another person's glass unless they know each other well. The level of interference is different in the case of the Japanese in which all people belong to one group of friends which can share, cheer and buy alcohol for one another. The Japanese perceive the society as a large group of friends which have a sense of loyalty and commitment to one another. Drinking in Japan can be concluded as communal while in western countries such as America, it is considered personal. An American can only engage a friend in taking beer as opposed to Japanese who are likely to engage anybody equally as a friend.[Ames, Genevieve M., and Linda A. Bennett, eds. The American experience with alcohol: Contrasting cultural perspectives. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013.] [Stickley, Andrew, Tanya Jukkala, and Thor Norström. "Alcohol and suicide in Russia, 1870-1894 and 1956-2005: evidence for the continuation of a harmful drinking culture across time?." Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs 72, no. 2 (2011): 341-347] [Jayne, Mark, Gill Valentine, and Sarah L. Holloway. Alcohol, drinking, drunkeness:(Dis) orderly spaces. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2011.]
The Japanese attach no stigma to being drunk after taking alcohol. However, western countries such as America regard alcohol as a drug. It is, however, less evil because it is not too addictive or too lethal as compared to other drugs such as tobacco and cannabis. In Japan, tobacco and alcohol are not regarded as drugs. They are not considered addictive or hazardous and are therefore open to all populations to experiment with, including children. Japanese view all drugs as dangerous and recommend avoidance with exception to tobacco and alcohol which are not regarded as drugs. Therefore, drug abuse is rapidly increasing in Japan but has not surpassed the drug prevalence level in the western countries such as America. For example, half of American citizens have abused marijuana as compared to only 1.2% of Japanese who have abused marijuana in their life. In Japan, it is very easy for an individual to indulge in alcohol abuse because it is morally acceptable and people are allowed to drink in public.[Wakabayashi, Ichiro, and Yoshihiko Araki. "Influences of gender and age on relationships between alcohol drinking and atherosclerotic risk factors." Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 34, no. s1 (2010): S54-S60.] [Ames, Genevieve M., and Linda A. Bennett, eds. The American experience with alcohol: Contrasting cultural perspectives. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013.]
In western countries such as America, the society expects the personality of an individual to remain consistent across all the social environments in which people interact. Maturity is accorded to a person with the ability to remain the same irrespective of the social environment. Americans expect a person to have behavioral attributes that are not subject to change with personal relations and circumstances. The American self is expected to be impermeable and not bounded to circumstances, and thus a person is supposed to interact with different groups and different settings with an insignificant behavioral alteration. Americans accord a lot of stigma to getting drunk, which has increased the concern about the amount of alcohol that is safe to drink. The American drinking culture, therefore, recommends the consumption of small quantities of alcohol at intervals through a day to avoid getting completely drunk. However, the Japanese case is different because they can drink as much alcohol as they wish to drink and hardly tells the quantity of alcohol they have taken in a group drinking ordeal. They have the service culture of filling each other’s glasses with beer before they get empty thus making it difficult to check the amount of alcohol one has taken because glasses are always full.[Ames, Genevieve M., and Linda A. Bennett, eds. The American experience with alcohol: Contrasting cultural perspectives. Springer Science & Business Media, 2013.] [Jayne, Mark, Gill Valentine, and Sarah L. Holloway. Alcohol, drinking, drunkeness:(Dis) orderly spaces. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2011.]
The Japanese self, however, is subject to change depending on the social setting of an individual. Japanese can hardly describe their behavior without making reference to their current situation. While Americans tend to maintain their person irrespective of the situation, Japanese flexibly adapt to the social setting as an important factor that determines their personality. The personal fluctuation is evident in the drinking culture in which the behavior at work may be different from the behavior at recreational environments such as bars and hotels. Japanese tend to exhibit different persons in different settings while Americans tend to be behaviorally consistent.[Jayne, Mark, Gill Valentine, and Sarah L. Holloway. Alcohol, drinking, drunkeness:(Dis) orderly spaces. Ashgate Publishing, Ltd., 2011.]
Moreover, many Japanese expats perceive drinking as a responsibility and a condition under which one can become successful both professionally and socially. As a result of the significant effect the social and environment has on the Japanese population, there exist theories that are how specific situations work, which are formulated in the pattern of assumptions. The spirit of drinking alcohol oeuvres in the Japanese environment making drinking a practice that does not require thinking and which cannot be ignored. Japanese experts, therefore, find themselves relying on alcohol more than they depend on other social practices.
In Japan, drinking makes people lose and social. After a long time day of commitment and restriction at work, drinking alcohol is considered a form of release that relaxes individuals who have overworked. Alcohol is the most popular weapon that is found in taverns, pubs bars in Japan. It is also a major dish that is served at welcome parties and farewell parties. The fact that alcohol is not regulated makes it open for abuse by all members of the Japanese population. It is normal for Japanese students to get drunk thus affecting a better part of their education and career life. In contrast, western countries regulate d...