It is evident that even though people from various countries share some universal values, there are some aspects of cultural background that differ significantly from culture to culture. Therefore, it is of high importance to explore and investigate these peculiarities to obtain a more profound understanding of how other cultures define and regulate people’s behavior and attitude in various situations. Arguably, one of the most apparent representations of such cultural regulations is traditional rites and customs of each country, which reflect the nation’s perception of what could be considered appropriate behavior. Thus, the primary purpose of this assignment is to retrieve meaningful observations from an interview performed with a person from a different cultural background.
I decided to interview my friend George (the name is changed), who is half-Japanese. He grew up in Japan, and thus he possesses enough knowledge about Japanese culture to complete the interview. It could be stated with certainty that it is not possible to capture the full range of numerous Japanese traditions in one interview. Therefore, my decision was to focus on the concept of hospitality, which is immensely important in Japanese culture. I did some research before the interview, and in the article, by Al-Alsheikh and Sato (2015) it was stated that hospitality (or “omotenasi” in Japanese) is the “the main concept of service delivery … in all areas of the Japanese service industry” (p. 123).
George has proved this assumption, and he explained that this concept is highly important due to various reasons. One of the most relevant explanations is that Japanese culture has borrowed the philosophy of Confucianism that states the immense significance of harmonious hierarchy as the foundation of social relations. Therefore, people in Japanese service industry consider hospitality as the expression of respect.
Reference
Al-Alsheikh, A., & Sato, Y. (2015). Characteristics of the hospitality, omotenashi in the traditional Japanese inn: A case study of Kagaya. Business & Accounting Review, (16), 123-142.