Like most Americans, I suppose, I used to equate our country with “the world.” Though I didn’t really know better, I guess I had somehow persuaded myself that if anything newsworthy happened abroad, I would probably hear about it on CNN. I never seriously considered whether I should live or work abroad. I didn’t know any foreigners and had only taken a little Spanish in high school, so really – what was the point?
Well, since last August, I’ve been teaching Public Administration on American military bases with Troy State University in the Pacific region (i.e., Japan, Okinawa, South Korea, and Hawaii) and, in the process, I’ve come to answer that question. Differences in language and culture (off base) have obviously taken some getting used to. But, since I can resist no longer, I should say that my experience overseas has renewed my fundamental confidence in humanity. Though I had never previously taken the liberty of thinking this way – I have come to develop, of all damned things, a much stronger appreciation of the American way of life. Bear with me.
I went through an initial period of examining whether life abroad was really “all that,” but have become eventually persuaded that it was (and that it continues to be). In the process, however, I’ve found that I had not only changed my “hierarchical” assumptions of how other societies were probably trying to “imitate” life in America, but very subtly, I had changed the basis of my personal identification. As I have come to know in no uncertain terms, being a minority in Japan is entirely different from being a minority in the states. For once in my life (thank God), I have come to feel as if I might not be punished for putting my guard down, exhaling (to use a cliche) and simply being “me.” Don’t get me wrong – there is a stigma of sorts attached to being a foreigner in Japan, but it has nothing to do with one’s race, religion, -class or gender. All foreigners are called “gaigen” – a term which (I’m tempted to say) is relatively neutral in that it means “non-Japanese,” but as with other terms used to make such distinctions, “gaigen” serves to support their traditional views and values.
This article hopes to encourage other academics to look more carefully and perhaps take more seriously the personal and career-growth opportunities that may be available to them abroad. Contrary to that which many academics hold as an article of high faith: you don’t have to sit around, wondering and waiting for opportunity to knock – you can indeed make it happen. There are, however, a few things you might want to know, at least about Japan and the M.P.A. students you are likely to encounter.
Japan
With more than 126 million people in an area about the size of Montana (17 million of which live in Tokyo alone) there is a strong sense of “social control” in Japan. Unlike the U.S., however, the mechanisms of control are more firmly situated in a shared sense of cultural norms than in a legal-administrative system. Japanese police carry no firearms and violent crimes are, in comparison to the U.S., almost non-existent; women, children, and elderly couples walk the streets of Tokyo at all hours of day or night.
M.P.A. Students
Most students of Troy State University, and of the other American universities with a presence in the Pacific region, are American military personnel (officers and enlisted). Most of them are well-trained and have, at a young age, developed years of experience in administering perhaps the most diverse workforce to be found in the American public sector while managing multi-million dollar budgets. They are mature, dedicated, clearly committed to a career in the public’s service, and (as one might suspect) they are orderly and highly respectful.
Other Differences
At the risk of sounding like John Travolta describing Amsterdam to Samuel L. Jackson in the beginning of “Pulp Fiction,” I’ve listed several thematic differences that, for personal reasons, captured my attention during my first year in Japan (my apologies for problems with formatting):
Theme: U.S.A. approach Japanese approach
Basis of personal identification
[Japan] Primarily as an individual, and then as part of a larger group. Always as part of some larger group (family, school, work, nation).
Communication styles
[USA] Explicit, verbal representation of information, requests, instructions, etc.; vagueness and ambiguity can be irritating.
[Japan] Implicit, non-verbal (through observations of others and the situation) and some verbal presentation; vagueness and ambiguity are valued in that they provide latitude for interpreting situations and avoiding conflicts.
Qualities valued in working relations
[USA] Talent, experience, flexibility; specialists are often sought.
[Japan] Ability to get along with others, to evoke and respond to trust; inflexible but dedicated (will work as they should when they should); generalists are cultivated.
Family versus organizational loyalties
[USA] Immediate family (spouse and children) come before job, if in conflict; loyalty to profession may take precedence over loyalty to organization, if in conflict.
[Japan] Organization may take precedence over immediate family, if in conflict; task orientation is subordinate to organizational goals, if in conflict.
Social interaction
[USA] Some manner of spontaneity, novelty is desired; repartee and “one-upmanship” may be enjoyed; disagreements can be basis for desired social conversations and stimulation.
[Japan] Predictability and ritualized interaction valued until very clear friendships or working relations are established; repartee, “one upmanship” and sarcasm can be embarrassing or threatening.
[USA] Decision-making Top-down; relatively fast; where consensus is desirable, it is not expected and often, is not sought; decisions are often made on a cost-benefit basis; face-saving does not openly matter.
[Japan] Upward (from middle or bottom of organization); relatively slow; consensus sought through long discussions; decisions are often made to save someone from embarrassment; may fudge management reports so as to always provide a “positive report,” even at the expense of changing (from month to month) the types of data provided; face-saving is crucial.
Persuasion
[USA] Argumentative when right or wrong; impersonal when arguing; practical when presenting arguments.
[Japan] Not very argumentative; quiet when right; respectful and patient; modesty and self-restraints are highly valued.
Conflict and confrontation
[USA] Regarded as inevitable, though not necessarily desirable; problems should be dealt with directly and frankly; power games are played all the time; litigation, not so much conciliation; to be strong is highly valued.
[Japan] To be avoided if at all possible; harmony in interpersonal relations is a primary goal; conflicts may be dealt with indirectly through an intermediary or informally in “after hours” socializing; good administrators are aware of problems before they are openly presented; subtle power plays; conciliation is sought.
Because of nation’s small size (geographically) and high population, most organizations are unable to provide such things for their employees. Instead they provide incentive cash awards, compensatory time off, hostess bars, excellent employee assistance programs, etc.
On the whole, I’ve found that the differences are decidedly outweighed by the similarities that may only become apparent upon closer inspection. Short of throwing the first stone, it is perhaps impossible to say that any one group of people are, or that they behave, “better” than another group. I think it safe to say that we all mistreat one another in various ways, and, if pressed for an answer, we can usually come up with some justification for the mistreatment. This is not to smooth over the various ways in which women, minorities and other groups have been systematically abused in our own country, far from it. Rather, it is to say that the same happens around the world and that if we have learned anything from past generations, we have learned that the problems before us cannot effectively be shifted back and forth between the individual, organizational, and societal levels. They must be shouldered at all levels, such that the project before us is not whether, but how, we might share our burdens. Ethical action for the responsible administrator then requires a personal commitment to “do the right thing” regardless of what others do or fail to do. It’s just funny that, by living and working in other societies, we gain perspective on our identities as individuals or as educators. Others aspire to live the “good life” as much as we – their ways of going about it are neither better nor worse. It’s just that getting used to raw fish is probably going to take me a little longer than I expected.
Konnichiwa
Author: Steven A. Maclin, Ph. D.
About the Author: Dr. Maclin has been a university professor of public administration and policy since 1994. Recently, from 1998 - 2004, he lived and worked with American military troops in Japan, Okinawa, and South Korea. He has previously edited and published dozens of articles in professional administrative journals and recently, in his ‘spare time,’ he’s been building websites for distributing materials to his graduate students. Hes now stateside, teaching graduate students online, writing articles and developing a small online business (see
http://buyfromart.com); he can be reached at info@buyfromart.com.