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Q.: What did you like about America that you didn't about Japan?

A.: Well, it's hard to give concrete examples, but mainly I was satisfied with what you might call the smartness of life— the modernness of things. And also the simplicity and frankness of life. You don't have to worry about gimu-giri-on [obligations] over there ... In the United States you have to visit relatives too, but such visits are more personal, more real— more meaningful. Here in Japan they are for the sake of girt and righteousness and all that stuff.

Q.: Could you define the term "Americanized" as it is used by
Japanese students?

A.: Well, to be Americanized means to be indifferent to social position-indifferent to social formality — such as in formal greetings. It concerns points about how one acts socially.

This is about human relations — it didn't surprise me but it did impress me very much to find that relations with others are always on an equal plane in the U.S. In Japan I automatically used polite language with seniors so that this just seemed natural— and if I used polite words in
Japan I didn't necessarily feel that this was feudalistic— though some do.
At first in the U.S. when young

people, like high school students, talked to me as an equal, I felt conflicted, or in the dormitory it surprised me to see a boy of 20 talk to a man of 45 as an equal.

In Japan, my father and some of my superiors often told me that my attitude toward superiors and seniors was too rude. Here, though, my attitude doesn't seem rude— at least it doesn't appear as rude as I was afraid it would. It is easier to get along with people in America, because for one thing, Americans are not so class conscious and not so sensitive about things like status. In Japan, my conduct to superiors seemed rude, but the same behavior isn’t rude here. For instance here it is all right simply to say "hello" to teachers, while in Japan I would be expected to say “ohayo gozaimasu" [polite form of "good morning"] with a deep bow. In
Japan I did things like this only when I really respected somebody.

A main problem with me is the problem of enryo, or what you call modesty. Even in life in America you have to be modest, but in a different way from the so-called Japanese enryo. But the trouble is that I don't know when and where we have to show enryo in American life. You never can be sure.

The good thing about associating with Americans is that you can be friendly in a light manner. Not so in Japan. Japanese are nosey in other peoples' business—they rumor, gossip. It gives you a crowded feeling, after you get back. Of course in Japan friendships are usually deep— it is good to have a real friend to lean on— you know where you stand with your friends; it is the opposite of light associations.

I have few American friends— those I have are usually Americans who have been to Japan. I think the reason is that my character is somewhat backward.

I don't try to speak first, but let the other fellow open up. Those who have been to Japan know about this and speak first, and that makes it easier to start an association.

From the information on contrasting cultural norm and cue systems supplied thus far, it is possible to predict in a general way that
I when a Japanese interacts with an American, certain blockages to communication and to the correct assessment of status behavior may occur.
Japanese are likely to confront Americans with unstated assumptions concerning status differences, while the American may be inclined to accept the Japanese at face value—that is, as a person, not a status. In the resulting confusion it may be anticipated that the Japanese will retreat into what he calls enryo, since this form of behavior involving attenuated communication is appropriate toward persons of unclear or superior status.

THE NATIONAL STATUS IMAGE

For reasons usually found in the cultural background of the peoples concerned, and in the historical relations of nations, there is a tendency on the part of some to view other nations and peoples much as one would view persons in a hierarchically oriented social group. Modernization, which brings an increased need for knowledge of other peoples, has brought as well a strong sense of competition—a desire to know where one stands, or where one's nation stands relative to other nations in technological and other areas of development. This desire to know one's position and the tendency to view other nations hierarchically are probably found to some degree in all modern societies, but may be exaggerated among those nations that are in the middle ranks in the competitive race for modernization—and particularly in those societies which have incorporated into their own culture a strong hierarchical conception of status.

Thus, in societies with hierarchical patterns, there will occur certain established techniques which are defined as appropriate for governing behavior toward the nationals of countries judged either to be higher or lower than that of the actor. On the other hand, for societies with egalitarian ideals of social relations, while there may be a tendency in the national popular ideology to view other nations hierarchically in terms of power and progress, there will be no ready behavioral pattern to follow toward individual members of these other societies. Ideally, regardless of national origin, individuals will be considered as "human beings," theoretically equal. Such theoretical equality is often violated in practice, of course, but the violations are based not on systematic hierarchical conceptions, but on transitory and situationally determined attitudes.

The Japanese tendency to locate other nations on a hierarchical scale is well known, and is observable even at the level of formal diplomatic interchange. With respect to the Japanese attitude toward the United
States, the tendency toward a superordinate status percept is very strong
—although qualified and even reversed in certain contexts (American arts and literature have been viewed as of questionable merit, for example) and in certain historical periods. The historical basis for this generally high- status percept may be found in America's historic role in the opening of
Japan; in the use of America as a model for much of Japan's modernization; and in the participation and guidance of the United States in reform and reconstruction during the Occupation. America, though not always a country for which the Japanese feel great affection, has come to be a symbol of many of Japan's aspirations, as well as a "tutor" whom the "pupil" must eventually excel (or even conquer). Therefore, whatever the specific affectual response, we have found that the Japanese student subjects often perceived America as deserving of respect or at least respect-avoidance
(enryo), and were further inclined to project this image onto the American individual. Evidence of these views available in our research data is sampled at the end of this section, in the form of quotations from interviews.

Within tolerable limits of generally, America may be specified as a society in which egalitarian interpersonal relationships are the ideal pattern and, in tendency at least, the predominant pattern of behavior. But in the United States, especially as the country emerges from political isolation, there also has appeared a tendency to rate other nations in a rough hierarchical order. Thus, some European nations in the spheres of art, literature, and the manufacture of sports cars would be acclaimed by many Americans as superior, and Americans are increasingly concerned about their technological position vis-a-vis Russia. However, this tendency to rate other nations hierarchically does not automatically translate itself into code of behavior for Americans to follow toward the people of other countries, as is the case for many Japanese. It may leave the social situation a little confused for the Americans, but in the background of thinking for many individual Americans is the notion that in social relations people should be treated initially as equals.

A CULTURAL MODEL OF INTERACTION

When a person from a national society with hierarchical tendencies encounters a person from a society with egalitarian tendencies, and moreover when the country of the latter is generally "high" in the estimation of the former, the idealized paradigm as shown in Figure 1 would be approximated. In this diagram, X, the person from a country with egalitarian views, behaves toward Y, the person from a hierarchically oriented country, as if he occupied the same "level"; that is, in equalitarian terms.

Figure 1.

But Y perceives X in a high-status position X1, "above" X's image of his own status in the relationship. Since from Y's point of view X does not behave as he "ought" to—he behaves as an equal rather than as a superior—Y may be expected to feel confusion and disorientation. The confusion can be resolved readily only by Y's assuming an equal status with X, or by X's assuming the position X1 assigned to him by Y; i.e., either by closing or by validating the "arc of status-cue confusion" shown by the arrow.

The reader will note that in effect we have already substituted
"average American" for X, and "average Japanese" for Y. We have found that the diagram has been meaningful as an ideal model for the analysis of interaction patterns between Japanese and Americans. In many cases the conditions denoted by the diagram were actually found: Americans do behave toward Japanese as equals, while the Japanese perceive the Americans as, and in some cases expect them to behave like, superiors. In this ideal situation since the Japanese is generally not able to respond as an equal, and since withdrawal and distant respect are proper behavior both for interaction with superiors and for interaction in situations where status is ambiguous, he simply retires into enryo and communication is impaired.
This model does much to explain what many educators and foreign student counsellors have come to feel as "typical" behavior of the shy, embarrassed
Japanese student on the American campus.

A revealing interchange on the matter of status imagery by some twelve
Japanese sojourner students was recorded during a two-hour group discussion planned by the project but not attended by Americans. A translation of part of this interchange follows.

M: As I see it, Japanese think of Americans as nobility. So, it is hard to accept invitations because of the status difference.

K: I don't agree fully. Americans are not nobility to us, but they do have a higher social status, so that it is hard to accept invitations. But there is a "category" of persons who are known and placed as "foreign students," and we can take advantage of this general foreign student status and go to American homes and places.

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