Compare And Contrast Midwest And Japanese Culture

In our World, we have a diverse group of people and to think that there are approximately 7.125 billion people on Earth is unbelievable. The number of distinct cultures, societies, and ethnic groups among the inhabitants is unknown. For us to think about our own culture, the Midwest, and all the parts and pieces that make up our lifestyle are normal and natural to us, because we do not know of anything else. If we were to look at Japan, and their Japanese culture, how unique and different it is to ours, it’s astonishing. There are distinct differences in the way each of our cultures live through lifestyle choices, religion practices, education, and cuisine. The Midwest makes up one of the four regions in the United States and consists of
12 states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin. As a group we can characterize ourselves as one, because the majority of us share common interests, beliefs, and values. Most likely the same can be said for the Japanese culture, and that they coexist in similar ways as Midwest natives. The Midwest and Japanese lifestyles are similar, in the fact that we both grow up with parents or guardians, we are educated, and move on to careers and developing into individuals.
The process by which we get there has a few differences, For example, women and men play very similar roles in the Midwest. The average male and female both go to work and hold the same types of jobs. Some households may have a stay at home parent, it all just depends on the financial stability of the family and what they believe is best suitable for their family. In Japan, you would be more likely to find a family with a stay at home mother, who helps take care of all things domestic. This entitles the wives to take care of the finances and household expenses, take care of the children, and complete daily household
chores. The typical home of a Midwestern would be a three to four bedroom home with at least two bathrooms, a living room, possibly a dining room, a kitchen, and more than likely a basement. These homes included a garage, maybe a huge backyard, but space for outside activities. Completely different to the typical Japanese home, where they shared their living space with their sleeping space. Futons would be unfolded and laid out on the floor at night, then folded and kept in a cupboard during the day. There was not a huge kitchen table, but similar to what we call a “coffee table”, would be used for meals. Where they simply kneel down and sit on a cushion of some sort and eat their meal. The floors of a Japanese home were covered in springy mats, called tatami, and in the Japanese homes it was disrespectful to wear shoes in the house. They would be taken off at the front door and house shoes, or slippers, would be worn while walking throughout the house. In the Midwest, most families practice either Christianity or Catholicism.
These are the most dominant religions found in our region, but we also have groups practicing many others. Our culture practices religion by attending church on Sundays, and by participating in activities through their church or group. The Japanese practice mainly Buddhism or Shinto. Buddhism was imported to their culture in the sixth century and Shinto is as old as the culture itself. They are both similar in ways and compliment each other. Japanese natives could register themselves as one or both, although religion does not play a very significant role in the everyday life; most Japanese still follow the rituals and ceremonies on special occasions. They may even visit a shrine or temple, very similar to how our culture visits the
church. There is a pretty significant amount of differences in the way the Midwest and Japanese educate their people. Both cultures have the basic levels and years required for students to attend. From ages 6-18 children go to school on a daily basis. The specific times are different, where our school year is from August to May with breaks. Whereas most Japanese schools are in session for their first term, which goes from early April to late July, then Summer break (usually 6 weeks), then comes the second term from early September to late December, followed by Winter break (usually 2 weeks), then the third term from early January to late March, and ending with a Spring break (usually 1 week), then the cycles begins again. In America we have public and private schools, where the students that attend the private schools have to wear uniforms, but the ones in public schools do not, they just have dress codes. In Japan, they do not require a standard uniform until the children enter junior high. While most students in the Midwest would travel from classroom to classroom, the Japanese students typically stay in one classroom with the same group of kids. The teachers migrate from class to class-teaching general subjects. Only with a select few classes, like physical education, music, home economics, or any class that requires the space beyond a simple to desk to complete. There are numerous ways to cook and come up with certain combinations of foods. There are certain foods and entrées that are more native to one culture than the other. We have restaurants in the Midwest who cook “Japanese” food and I’m sure it's vice versa in Japan.
The traditional dishes made in Japan include sushi, tempura, rice, rice noodles, teriyaki flavors, and amongst others. Their diet consists primarily of rice, fresh and lean seafood, and pickled or boiled vegetables. Midwestern’s are more likely to be seen cooking and eating barbecued meats and poultry. They consume an abundant amount of carbohydrates and vegetables, like loaded mashed potatoes or grilled asparagus. There are so many variations and choices of food that the Midwest natives consume. I would like to believe that our Midwest culture is flexible and we explore other cultures through their cuisine. These two very distinct cultures have unique qualities. They each go about life in way that is native to their region. The details of ones culture may vary, but we all have the same life goals. That goal in life is to be successful, happy, loved, or happy. We all can agree that these are the key achievements we wish to reach; some may just have a different way of doing so.

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