Jan's Blog 2025

 Hello G'Day welcome to this instructional post on how to raise your children right. Coming from an absolute expert with less than 0 years of experience JohnnyBloggyBoy. Today we will take a look at different concepts of parenting here in Japan as well as some of my own beliefs. Let us start with  Amae, a japanese concept of dependence on others. While the western world values independence and tries to teach it young members of society as early as possible, here is a bit different. It is not so uncommon to spoil your child, to let it be the center of your attention and to "rule" the home. If I as a kid would say that I do not like take out trash and I would not do it, let me tell you the belt would swing (picture below to demonstrate this idea). Meaning that they did their best not to spoil us, which is quite opposite than what you see in Japan.   But at the same time when I would get older my parents would allow me to have more and more initiative given that I defended m...

Bonjour everyone, This is JohnnyBloggyBoy and welcome to yet another post about Japanese culture confronted with Polish culture through the lenses of Hofstede's Cultural Dimensions Model. Today we will be discussing Individuality Index  (IDV) in those two countries. First let us outline what this index actually measures. " This index explores the degree to which people in a society are integrated into groups". Otherwise said, whether we refer more to "I" or "We" in a given nation. Think of America for instance, their core value is independence, uniqueness and personal freedom - therefore it scores 100 in this index. Now think about the sworn enemies of the USA, the Soviet Union, China etc yeah as you might have already guessed their individuality index scores extremely low (chart below for the reference). Alright so now let us move to Japan and Poland. I'm guessing the picture of yet another chart might be useful eh? You don't have to ask tw...

Hello G'Day welcome to yet another blog about Japanese culture! My name is JohnnyBloggyBoy and today we will discuss the nightmare of each and every child, no matter of their nationality... I am not talking about dentists, but that was a good guess, you are right THE SCHOOL. [insert some dramatic sounds here, could be organs going da da daaaam] As you may imagine the school system is a bit different in Japan, than this one in Europe, or Eastern Europe to be more specific. I don't feel like writing Iliad or Odyssey here, so allow me to divide this topic into 2 main points of interest: school culture and extracurricular activities. Okay school culture, otherwise known as military prequel and unpaid child labor.  Ha! got ya, now after this hook you will read the whole paragraph with interest devouring you from the inside. Let's begin. Japanese kids actually do not spend so much time in the classrooms, as we could see on the graph presented during our last lesson, but it is no...

Welcome once again,  This is JohnnyBloggyBoy and today I will discuss the differences between Hofstede's Power Distance Index [PDI] in three countries: Japan, Poland and Canada. But before we begin, let us quickly review what this Dutch social psychologists was on about. During his years working in IBM (1967-1973) Hofstede decided to conduct an international study aiming to better understand the differences between cultures in the workplace. His model consisted of 6 different dimensions, each of which will be discussed in the foreseeable future, and still remains one of the most influential models in regards to cultural differences. Today we will explore only one dimensions namely Power Distance Index. PDI answers the question whether a culture respects more hierarchy or the strength of an individual. Or quoting the author himself " The Power-Distance Index (PDI) measure s how power is distributed and accepted within a specific group or society ".  Alright let us dive rig...

 Hello my dear reader, Welcome to this second blog. It is JohnnyBloggyBoy again and today I'm coming to you with the exciting topic of work ethic in Japan and my critical, as always, reflection on the subject.  Let me begin with one simple phrase: HOLY MOLLY! When you think that corporations are stealing our souls in Europe or America, you should probably visit Japan. Your highest respected value here is the company's good name. Yup, company first, then family, then friends. People here treat their workplace as an extention of their homes and families. Insane right? Do you remember that scene in Lord of The Rings where Saruman was making his army?  This one?  You can picture the guy who invented the  ie  system in his place creating generations of perfect workers. But jokes aside, let's be serious for a moment.  Comparing to what we are used to, as a Western Society, the work here could seem overwhelming. Let me enumerate the basic differences, that co...