Journal Ryo Tanitsu

The reading of this week is about the difference of the Individualism and Collectivism society. I agree with some points while reading. However, I cannot totally agree with the contents of the reading because some expressions of the reading represent stereotype toward each culture. I would like to  especially mention some points of family about the stereotype in the reading.
The reading mentions that in the collectivist family, personal opinion do not exist; opinions are predetermined by the group. Also, he mentions the loyalty to the group is essential element of the collectivist society when compared to the individualist society. I think this opinion applies to the most cases in each culture, however, it not absolutely correct. One example that show this is the change of Japanese people’s perspectives to their family. In the past, Japanese family tend to consist of the extended family including grandparents, aunts, and so on. Due to the urbanization or the shift from agriculture or work in the field to the office work, many people are drifted apart from their parents or other family members who tend to live in the local areas. As a result, most of the Japanese people are nuclear family and they are said to be loose relationship with other family members recently. In the reading, Japan is considered to be collectivism society and the unity of the family members is strong. However, this stereotype does not necessarily applies to almost all cases. In addition, the U.S. people have more strong unity with their family members in my feelings. Almost all of my friends from U.S. contact their parents more frequently than me even they live in the same places with their parents. Also, they tend to spend time together in the holiday such as Christmas. Therefore, I do not think that we should divide culture into the individualism and collectivism. Although each culture have tendency of the collectivism or individualism, they all have both element of the collectivism and individualism to a greater or less extent. We should not judge their culture only based on whether they are from collectivism society or individualism society.