Foreigners Feeling Isolated in Tokyo (and Japan)
Posted: Sun Oct 17, 2004 4:10 pm
Some quite fascinating topics were coming up under an unrelated topic so I kind of wanted to shift discussion to a new topic more in line with it.
When you travel on business to Tokyo, do the people you are doing business with like to go out to bars or restaurants or anything to make your stay and the business more enjoyable?
I read that people under 35 are more into adopting and understanding western customs. Have you found younger people there more open to some kind of less formal personal interaction?
I found these website which talk about customs etc:
http://www.geocities.com/traveljapaneasily/jpeq.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/
http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/
This is fascinating. Let me ask you Lost In Boston, does your company provide education on customs and ettiquete or language for foreign countries or have you studied it on your own? Does it help?Lost in Boston wrote:I’ve traveled extensively in five continents and Tokyo is unique in terms of the isolation that one experiences as a foreign traveler. In Europe things are only marginally different than the U.S. Same for Australia and Latin America. Even in China, India or other parts of Asia a smile is a smile and body language is the same or similar to body language in U.S. culture. As different as China or India are from the U.S. you can find common elements, overlap, connections.
In Japan body language is different. Customs are different. Social values and fundamental systems like the family are different. As a westerner I look different. I’m a foot taller than anyone else on the subway. My hair isn’t jet black. I’m isolated by my physical differences with those around me. I don’t speak the language. And I can’t even make eye contact and share a smile or a nod with someone like I can in almost any other country. The contact with Japanese is formal and not entirely understood by the westerner. The ritual of giving gifts is captured perfectly when Bob arrives at the hotel jet-lagged and is greeted by the same contingent of people who will pick him up the next morning. The exchange between Bob and the translator during the photo shoot captures the sense you have that more is going on than you understand. As a westerner in Japan you're left feeling a joke is being played on you and you're the only one not getting it.
I’ve traveled to maybe fifty countries and Tokyo is unique in terms of the isolation and remoteness I feel when traveling there. You arrive jet-lagged and spend the sleepless nights sitting on the window ledge at the hotel looking out at the skyline with its flashing red lights. You flip through the channels on the television and watch the bizarre talk shows or recognize a western movie that’s been dubbed in Japanese. You find yourself starring at other westerners in the hotel restaurant or bar, looking to make some connection. The film has all these elements.
Japan provided the perfect setting for the film. The perfect backdrop for two people, both isolated in their marriages, to meet and connect. The film wouldn’t have worked for me if shot anywhere else.
I also think Coppola is paying homage to Tokyo in the film, not mocking it as some have suggested. Just as Woody Allen’s Manhattan will always make me think of New York in black and white with Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue playing in the background, I will also picture Tokyo at night with Girls by Death in Vegas playing in the background. A stunning film.
When you travel on business to Tokyo, do the people you are doing business with like to go out to bars or restaurants or anything to make your stay and the business more enjoyable?
I read that people under 35 are more into adopting and understanding western customs. Have you found younger people there more open to some kind of less formal personal interaction?
I found these website which talk about customs etc:
http://www.geocities.com/traveljapaneasily/jpeq.html
http://www.japan-guide.com/
http://www.japan-guide.com/forum/