Asking for a favour

Today we discussed about asking a favor in Japan and also in other countries. Base on experience and also living here for almost 4 months, it can be said that I know how Japanese culture are like. Asking a favor is very indirect, my opinion it happens because the last thing that people want to do here is bothering other people, and asking for a favor make them thinks like that. It also happens because the person that is being asked for the favor can't really deny it, so even though they didn't feel like it, big chance that still give the favor. Japan is a country where kindness and politeness are being met, being indirect is the result. Should i have an opinion about that, then I would say that giving a clarity like "yes" or "no" is better so that it doesn't make the other people overthink.

In Indonesia, being indirect is also one of the culture, especially in the main island of java, which where the capital is located. Again i would say that most of the people there didn't want to bother the others, so if they ever need a favor, they will not ask it directly. But one thing I notice is that different with japan is how we say "no". If we want to reject the favor, we usually just say that we have something else to do instead of saying "no", but japanese people will say "chotto" (which is the litreal translation of "wait"). 

Hofstede's cultural dimension talks about how cultural difference affect negotiating internationally in business related field, and also how cultures affect the values that it's members hold. We know this by seeing how to act differently in different person from different culture.

Comments

  1. ChielJuly 14, 2025 at 11:13 PM

    How do you ask for a favour?

    ReplyDelete
  2. AboodiJuly 14, 2025 at 11:19 PM

    In Malaysia I never really had to ask someone for a favor but I noticed my friends tend to be pretty direct, which is interesting because I thought indonesia and malaysia would have similar cultures, in the Middle East we are pretty direct but also polite and humble when it comes to favors, and it is seen as a great honor that someone came to ask you for a favor.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Indonesia as my country

Hello everyone, wherever you are My name is Ali Hadi Musawa. First of all, let me tell you guys where im from. I came from Indonesia, of course everyone knows Bali. So, my ethnicity is actually mixed of Middle Eastern and also Asian, but since i life in Asians country, my identity and also manner is mostly Asians. Indonesia is one of the most populated country, actually the fourth, and the correlation between that and our culture is that we are so diversed. We have black, white, and brown people all in the same country, and they are all called Indonesians. Not only that, we as an Indonesian are social people, im not saying very social, but we like to spend times with other people, and also meeting even new people. What makes Indonesia a bit famous is that they are known for their hospitality with foreign people. We in Indonesia treat foreign people specially, we make sure that they have the best experience as possible, thats why its easy to get help as a foreign people in Indonesia. Ev...
Read more

Shopping Culture Around The World and Masculinity vs Femininity

Today we talk about the comparison between shopping culture in Japan and our countries. There is not much to say here because its almost the same. The only significant difference i see is that in Indonesia there is nothing like self checkout cashier (if that what you call it). I think its because of the trust issues we have to the society, actually i would say Indonesia is as a safe country like not too much gun and crazy case happening around, but there is still a lot of stealing happening around.   Another thing is about the topic of Masculinity and Femininity. According to Hofstede it is one of the key dimension of how a society approaches gender role and values. In the modern era that we live in right now, i believe most of the people believe in whats so called gender equality. The way in interpret it is how different genders have the same responsibilities, should be treated the same, and should act the same. I kinda disagree with this concept, because god (or whatever ent...
Read more

Extracurricular activities & Uncertainty Avoidance

Living for almost 3 months already, it can be said that i know how Japanese lifestyle on different aspect. Like for example today we talk about the activities and extracurricular in Japan, and my assumption just by reading the title is, they train in a far more serious than most of the people, and it turn out to be true. Having 42 hours of study time, and 21 hours of training per week is something that only Japanese people can do. It took a lot of discipline, and dedication to do it. Personally i agree that of course we have to take thing seriously if we really want to, but chasing two things in the same time and without having enough time to have fun for yourself is what i call imbalance. First they practice so much for their club activities, which i think is good if they really want to take it into professional level. But at the same time they also study so much even sacrificing their own time, and this is the part that didnt align in my agreement. Because the person that i see in a ...
Read more