Cultural Adaptation, What It Is and Isn't

Lately in America, there have some pretty stupid assertions about names and how they are to be pronounced. I haven't followed the details, but at one point some lame politician insisted that a Chinese person simplify their name so it's be easier for "Americans" to pronounce and someone else more recently said that Supreme Court justice nominee Sotomayor should allow people to mispronounce her name if it was easier for them to do so.

Personally, I think America is multi-cultural enough and most people are smart enough to learn how to correctly pronounce a name and these issues are just lame publicity trumped up to pander to people with an extremely narrow notion of what "American" means. There are fewer of these myopic sorts than most non-Americans think, and more of them than most Americans would like to believe.

At the root of issues like this are notions of cultural adaptation (or worse "assimilation") of those of what they view as external origin. In a country like the U.S., which is full of nothing but the relatively recent descendants of immigrants, the notion that a name is "American" or not is laughable. In a country like Japan, which has a largely homogeneous population with a similar cultural heritage, it's an entirely different kettle of fish.

That being said, I think a lot of people who live in Japan for awhile are not clear on the concept of what cultural adaptation is and is not. Most of them think that adapting means allowing the Japanese to do and say whatever they want because it is the Japanese way to treat foreigners in a manner which objectifies them either positively or negatively. People who embrace the notion that "prejudice is a right for the Japanese" would fall into this category.

Cultural adaptation in Japan is a matter of following the same rules that the Japanese do when dealing with the Japanese. That is, you need to say your name backwards because that's the way it is done in this country, and you need to write it and say it in a manner which suits their phonetic alphabet so that they can pronounce as close an approximation of your name as possible. You need to at least try to curb the tendency among those in your culture to be blunt and straightforward and communicate your intentions indirectly so that you don't offend people unnecessarily. You also need to follow the neighborhood rules in regards to trash handling, noise, etc. And you at least have to expect to communicate in Japanese with them when you are applying for services or dealing with the bureaucracy.

Cultural adaptation does not include having to eat Japanese food all the time, enjoy their entertainment, or take part in cultural activities like tea ceremony or flower arranging. It doesn't mean you have to make Japanese friends or try to integrate with Japanese people. You should get along with them, but you don't have embark on a futile attempt to become one of them. Adaptation only applies to your behavior in society where it is important that you endeavor not to trouble other people or place a burden on them which is not placed on them when dealing with the Japanese. It does not apply to your private life or interactions with friends, family, or how you spend your time when you're alone.

It also doesn't mean the Japanese have the right to treat you with prejudice because you're different and you have to defend it or accept it with good grace. The Japanese have the right to treat you like other Japanese people, which granted is sometimes not very nice. One of the big mistakes foreign folks sometimes make is assuming they are being treated badly because they're foreigners. Sometimes, the Japanese treat each other badly and they're just doing the same to you.

The notion that adapting to the culture means you have to surrender your identity or tolerate prejudice is one that those who have identity issues and are desperate to be accepted spout on a regular basis, but the truth is that choosing to be more like the Japanese in every respect has nothing to do with cultural adaptation. The person you are in the privacy of your own home has nothing to do with Japanese people or getting along in their society. It's really none of their business.

Trying to be like the Japanese in every respect is a matter of cultural and personal validation, not adaptation. The Japanese love foreigners who love their culture because it makes them feel that their culture is important and attractive on a global scale. Foreigners who get praised for their Japanese ability, chopstick prowess, etc. feel that they are personally valued and accepted. In both cases, it's more about an insecure individual receiving a reassuring pat on the head than about adapting to life in a different culture.

If we're going to measure people's cultural adaptation, then let's use a yardstick that matters rather than sets of arbitrary criteria rooted in the personal psychological issues of each individual. Let's look at how they get along with the outside world and not how they make us feel about our personal tastes and choices.