Mr. Takiguchi talks about the fun of working together as a group. Is it true that people in Japan are more group-oriented?
----Shigeru
Shigeru----
You know, when you say that Japanese like to do things in groups, or feel identified with the group, I think you have to consider whether thereÕs anything special about that, and whether it is any truer of Japanese than of others...
I often hear Japanese people saying ÒWe are all the same; we are homogeneousÓ, or ÒWe are group-oriented; Americans are individualists.Ó Well, are we so different? Why do we think these things?
I think I had the most fun in graduate school with my classmates; I like working with others more than working alone; I like my family around me; I like playing team sports.....and IÕm American!
I remember seeing a documentary in which a Japanese fan of American Cowboy culture, complete with ten-gallon hat, chaps and spurs, said: ÒYou Americans like to think the cowboys were rugged individualists, like the Marlboro Man; we admire them because they really knew how to work together in a team!Ó
