Similarities of US & Japanese Families: Divorce, Care for Elderly - Essay Sample

Introduction

Similarities between a Family in the United States and in Japan

There are various ways in which the families in the United States are similar to those of the Japanese people. Divorce is one of the common similarities that is drawn from the two families since both families have the highest rate of divorce couples that normally arose due to family violence and lack of misunderstanding. Moreover, both the Americans and the Japanese people are caring, as seen in how they treat elderly people. They usually offer adequate care to elderly people through the provision of health coverage, therefore, helping them to have a longer lifespan. Furthermore, the Americans and the Japanese people view marriage as an important institution among them because it acts as a bond between one community and the other, thus leading to cultural exchange from one community to another.

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Major Differences between a Family in the United States and in Japan

There several differences that exist between a family in the United States and in Japan. Firstly, a family in the U.S may differ from that of Japan due to the cultural norms practiced by each country, for instance, marriage. When it comes to marriage, most of the people in the United States agree that the primary purpose for marriage was the relationship between the married couples thus forming the family whereas the Japanese consider marriage as a place of where children grew up; therefore, the married couples have the responsibility of taking care of their children.

In terms of attitude towards one partner specifically in the field of the workplace, American people believe that women have the freedom of deciding whether to offer their services at home or outside their family boundaries while in among the Japanese people, women are limited to exercise their freedom of choice by their respective husbands such that they are restricted to family duties, i.e., taking care of their children and performing any other duties related to their families (Korpi et al. 20). The rate of childbearing in the United States is very high due to the increase in the number of immoral behaviors as compared with the rate of childbearing in Japan which is slightly low because most of the people adhere to traditions norms hence it is difficult for to engage in any kind of immoral behaviors.

There are certain things that are prioritized by the American people as per their culture, for instance, the issue of individual time while working whereby their culture prioritize each of the individual time while in Japanese, people view work as their sustenance (Hendry, Joy, 25). Therefore, they valued it more than themselves. When socializing, the Americans people associate with one another individually, whereas the Japanese individuals socialized with each other on the basis of groups on occasions such as parties.

The View on Education and Work

The Americans people view education as an important tool of their lives because it will enable them to get more access to job opportunities, unlike the Japanese people, whereby people have less concern on the issue of education since job provision is based on their communities hence, they can easily be employed.

The View on Work

Also, education among the Americans people plays a key role by enabling them to work in various fields of work while education in japan is considered to be of less concern since when a person is employed he or she will offer the services needed to the company working for almost the rest of his or her lifetime.

The View on Elderly People

The elderly people are respected through the fundamental right in the United States, whereas in Japan, the elderly people demand their wisdom and respect, for instance, it is a routine to maintain the appropriate eye contact while talking with an elderly person. Elderly people are also respected through the bow, whereby people usually bow before greeting an elderly person to signify respect. The United States has put more concern on the provision of care to the elderly people by introducing health coverage among the people who are 65 years old and above to help them to get easier access to medical services and other health facilities thus reducing the rate of suffering that results from the disease infection.

Moreover, the older people in American are cared for by the State through the provision of essential services that would help them to gather for their basic needs hence helping them to continue with their life (Anderson et al., 28). Among the Japanese people, the elderly people are cared for by the older son in the family, whereby one is supposed to fully provide much care to the elderly person.

The View on Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer (LGBTQ)

The American family has a negative view towards the identity of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer, thus leading to their harassments and discriminations in various fields such as their workplace, whereby they have rare access to promotions unlike other groups of people who have the normal identity. The Japanese families view lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer on a positive perspective such that they protect their rights by rarely offering any kind of discrimination to them.

Individuality and My point of stand

Families in the United States are said to be more individualistic because they have the freedom to make their own choices with the main aim of attaining their set goals. The family structure that I prefer in Japan is the issue of the good relationship that exists between a husband and a wife. What I like most about these relationships is that each one of them offers respect to their other partner, thus leading to mutual love. The family structure that I advise the U.S family to adopt is the issue of respect to the elderly people, whereby the Japanese people respect their elders by bowing while greeting them.

Works Cited

Anderson, Alistair R., Sarah L. Jack, and Sarah Drakopoulou Dodd. "The role of family members in entrepreneurial networks: Beyond the boundaries of the family firm." Entrepreneurial Process and Social Networks. Edward Elgar Publishing, 2016.

Hendry, Joy. Understanding Japanese society. Routledge, 2019.

Korpi, Walter, Tommy Ferrarini, and Stefan Englund. "Women's opportunities under different family policy constellations: Gender, class, and inequality tradeoffs in western countries re-examined." Social Politics: International Studies in Gender, State & Society 20.1 (2013): 1-40.