Question

What are some of the cultural differences among people of Asian descent? Consider at least three different Asian ethnic groups when constructing your response.

Answer 1

• Japanese culture has been greatly influenced by the Chinese culture, and yet they are almost as different from each other as any two neighboring countries can ever be.
• Chinese culture has a very long history, and the vast Chinese territory provides a plethora of varieties in each facet of culture, like dresses, food habits, local customs and dialects. The long history and exposure to several nationalities from Indians to the Europeans has brought in a lot of heterogeneity in Chinese culture. In comparison, Japan has remained isolated from external influence for the majority of its recorded history - a factor, which, along with its smaller size has allowed Japan to have a far more homogenous society.
• Unlike China, Japan also has a phonetic script, the Hiragana, which has little similarity with Chinese language. It is more like the Indo-European language group. Unlike China, Japanese people are far more religious, and follow both Buddhism and Shinto beliefs.
• Japanese culture places a lot of emphasis upon harmony in society. Thus, the level of self discipline that is expected from a Japanese person is very high. Even in conversation with each other, Japanese persons follow a very polite approach. In Japan, it would not be easy to come across quarrels in public, people yelling at each other, or other signs of social stress. In comparison, China poses the picture of a typical developing country, with level of politeness being less common.
• When considering their appearance in everyday life, fashion between the three groups i.e. Japanese,chinese and koreans, varies somewhat as well. Modern day Japanese men and women typically prefer subtle hues.Koreans on the other hand are known to choose brighter colors more often than the Japanese.In China, fashion varies greatly in urban and rural settings, but overall they take a more Western approach to their clothing and accessories
  
• In addition in terms of language differences, each Japanese word either ends in a vowel or “n,”.Korean, on the other hand, can end words in consonants other than “n.” They do have a simple syllabic and vowel system similar to Japanese.The official standard for China, contain multiple vowel sounds for each English equivalent, but their mannerisms and personality come into play as well. They seem to raise and lower their intonation and tone increasingly, and combine consonants where Japanese or Korean wouldn’t.