"Japan has ranked as the shyest country in the world. There are some good sides to shyness. As Dr. Bernardo Carducci, Director of the Indiana Shyness Institute (and a shy person who has made efforts to overcome his shyness) points out, shy people will think more before speaking their minds, and therefore are often more reflective in what they do say, as well as less likely to cause offense than their bolder counterparts. Shyness, however, can also impose unwanted limits on a person’s life. Japanese can be just as shy with other Japanese as they are with foreigners; in extreme cases, some Japanese even hire benriya, or convenience-doers, to take out their garbage for them because they are terrified of running into their neighbors at the communal garbage drop-off.

But Japanese shyness is not inevitable. It is, rather, the result of contingent cultural factors, principal among them the lesson, imparted from childhood, that it is shameful to make mistakes or stand apart. Through their schooling, many Japanese learn to associate the very concept of society, or seken (a term for society that also connotes various ties within society), with a constant feeling of being monitored and watched by other Japanese. The three young Japanese who were taken hostage in Iraq in 2004 reported feeling more stress on their return to Japan, with most of Japan condemning them, than they had felt when they were under the guns of their captors! The three had taken high risks by working to build a civil society and a free media in Iraq, when they had the misfortune of being taken hostage. But from the perspective of the majority of Japanese, they had “caused trouble” for Japan, a condemnation that led their parents to bow apologetically before the national cameras. This acute sense of society’s gaze encourages excessive self-monitoring from a young age. Dr. Carducci puts it this way: “It’s like Japanese students are sitting in front of a mirror—with eyes on themselves all the time.” Self-monitoring encourages social withdrawal and ultimately fosters shyness, because “the less you do and say, the less people have to judge you.” Communication spirit is about spontaneity, but shyness and spontaneity do not go well together and, in fact, the latter is often discouraged in Japan. In contrast to the spirit of improvisation that once characterized, say, the earliest kabuki productions in Japan, there is now an extensive web of katachi (set patterns) and social protocols and forms of risk aversion; there are stock speeches at weddings, Japanese baseball players are reluctant to steal bases, and rakugo comedians tell the same jokes for years. Seating arrangements in taxis and restaurants—as foreign students in Japan can be advised—will often reflect hierarchies, from “worst seat” to “best seat,” assigned according to the seniority of the people in the room. Even humor is often frowned upon. As the former president and CEO of Nihon Sara Lee, ATARASHI Masami asks rhetorically, “We [Japanese] are taught that levity is inappropriate for school, for work, for meeting people, for conducting any kind of business, and so on. When are we supposed to laugh? When we die?” Even in some places where spontaneity is most expected, it can be converted into its opposite. A Japanese hip-hop dancer described the feeling of freedom she had dancing at a club in New York, where she no longer felt the obligation to copy others, an obligation she had felt while in Japan, and instead could express her own feeling."

http://books.google.ca/books?id=rV3MScF8n4...ntcover&dq=


Seems like Japanese have taken the concept of "saving face" to an extreme level.

Why do white professors get to write their lame Ideas about Asia all the time. this ones about Japan, but I've seen enough on every country. Not even fully accepted into a culture, they still write what they think based on what little they know and it becomes some 'insightful work'.

Japanese people do have their shy side. but not so shy that they don't make porno-could really shy people do that?. Or Go vacationing in all over the world without being able to speak. Japanese were the first Asians to go to college abroad in any numbers. Individual Japanese since early 18th century have gone to foreign countries like France to learn to cook, Italy to learn cheese making, Germany to become master beer makers. all this without a support network or community to fall back on.

Also, shyness can be confused for avoidance or Japanese etiquette. I think white people mistake avoidance for shyness when the truth is a Japanese person doesn't want to deal with them. another situation that happens a lot with white people is not speaking because of etiquette. This can be mistaken for shyness or in the case of an unanswered accusation, an admission of guilt.

^ I agree with chiuchimu. white people severely misread japanese.

many whites behave too physical and aggressive for asians. we don't like to even hear them talk so we withdraw from *them*. as from comments from japanese themselves, whites too feel the "social release" when they go to Asia...which goes some ways to explain their behavior I would say.

solid post.

white people often mistake humility for shyness or something. mistake respect for fear. its retarded. yes asians are so shy and so passive. like when Russia was beaten by Japan. or like Americas epic performance in Korea and Vietnam.

^ whats up Bro? you up late too?

yeah lol, i rummage around AF when im doing my online courses.

However, Japan does have a huge number of people suffering from social-anxiety disorder or Hikkomori, and over 10 million "parasite singles"

"Social Anxiety disorder: Generalized social anxiety disorder typically involves a persistent, intense, and chronic fear of being judged by others and of potentially being embarrassed or humiliated by one's own actions. social phobics experience dread over how they will be presented to others. They may be overly self-conscious, pay high self-attention after the activity, or have high performance standards for themselves. According to the social psychology theory of self-presentation, a sufferer attempts to create a well-mannered impression on others but believes he or she is unable to do so.Social anxiety disorder is a persistent fear of one or more situations in which the person is exposed to possible scrutiny by others and fears that he or she may do something or act in a way that will be humiliating or embarrassing. It exceeds normal "shyness" as it leads to excessive social avoidance and substantial social or occupational impairment. Feared activities may include almost any type of social interaction, especially small groups, dating, parties, talking to strangers, restaurants, etc. Physical symptoms include "mind going blank", fast heartbeat, blushing, stomach ache. The groundless fear of making telephone calls is typical, both answering and picking up, due to conversing's social nature."

For such a shy country they sure do kick alot of @$$ when it comes to Judo, BJJ, and Kyokushin....

I don't think Japanese people are shy.
I just think they don't care enough to stand up for themselves.
.

sure, shy people can become extremely violent if they feel really humiliated. Some Japanese will just commit suicide.

^ Everyones has a right to an opinion

So, I shall 'shyly' abdicate.

Well why didnt the Japanes Kendo Team commit suicide when they lost to America back in 06?
Stupid remark bro.

I wouldn't say shy, more like reserved. They're respectful and not prone to random outbursts of emotions like Westerners.

I wouldn't call it shyness, but the stress from social pressure sounds bad. Glad I'm not Japanese.

Social anxiety = extreme form of shyness

shyness?
it is rather called shame culture
http://www.google.co.jp/search?hl=ja&q...mp;aq=f&oq=

Quite ironic since they are also known as the most perverted country on earth.
(not that there is anything wrong with that).

They're not shy, just reserved, in terms of being respectful. They care about showing manners.

I don't think Japanese are shy. I just think Japanese people aren't loud mouth idiots like Westerners. A guy in America will talk a bunch of garbage, but have nothing to back it up with.

My dad used to tell me that men in America are all talk, especially black men. They talk a good game, but deep inside they have nothing.

banned

banned

Shy my @ss...Japan is the least conservative country in Asia

Philippines deserves to be titled the shyest country more then Japan...I demand a recount

All you ever do is say nasty things about Japan and say nice things about Korea.

But your actually Filipino. That makes you a true NOBODY.

Go away and stop trolling here, your not welcome in J chat, no one here likes you or appreciates your sneering little comments, too bad I had to spell it out for you.

what r you a weaboo or a japanophile???

He claims himself to be japanese, but I doubt it. Just like any other fake users in this board.

Fake Users? Like whom? ^^;

Just be penoy.
If you think bashing Japan and protecting Korea is going to make you honorary Korean, YOU ARE WRONG! Japanese are Japanese by birth and Koreans are Korean by birth. You can get citizenship but never ethnicity. Your Filipino and nothings going to change that. Instead, you are turning yourself into FAKE person unwanted by anybody. Stop trolling. Leave J chat alone.




You never stated your ethnicity have you? You avoided it last time by saying something like "..Just because I live in Korea doesn't mean I am Korean.." State your ethnicity so next time you start flaming, we can send our retaliation to the right group. By flaming here and NOT declaring your ethnicity, you dishonor your race with cowardice.





You don't troll here. I have no problem with you nor do I have problems with K chat.

But lets be truthful here, the only group left flaming J chat are Korean trolls( or koreaphiles like Salamat ). No other group is flaming J chat right now since the crack down. As soon as these trolls stop flaming us here in J chat, we won't have to retaliate and say bad things about Korea. there is no way we are going to sit here and take crap.

I think the quote above gets it right, but allow me to elaborate. The first, and biggest reason is english. People in Japan are not good at English. They see foreigners and they run away from fear of having to speak english. Second reason is japanese etiquette, as mentioned above. More specifically, it means that in japanese society, we seek to minimize confrontation. Westerners are generally much more confrontational than other asians, and they see the desire to be non-confrontational as shy. This describes a good majority of japanese society. However, there's also a minority in japan who can speak english and do not mind interacting with foreigners.

I wish Americans would learn to be a bit more shy, geesh!