Nonverbal Communication: Japan And the US

We always use a lot of nonverbal language for the purpose of assisting our communication. Nonverbal communication is gestures, for example moving the hands, or expression in the face. Some gestures have almost the same meanings in different countries; on the other hand, there are also many differences in the same movement between the countries. In this essay, I would like to introduce a comparison and contrast of the nonverbal behavior between Japan and the US.

First, concerning gestures, there are some similar points between these countries. For example, people express “I got it” or “That’s great” with their thumb up. And also, when people say hello or good-bye to friends, they raise their hand and show their palm. On the other hand, we can see the different meaning of the sign “OK” by making the circle with thumb and index finger. Sometime Japanese will recognize that this circle to mean money. Moreover, the direction of the palm is totally opposite between the countries when people call someone over.

Next, facial communication has also some similarities and differences. No matter what their nation of people's are, almost all facial movement such as joy, anger, sadness and happiness or fear are alike. However, due to cultural background, many Americans are willing to smile and show their teeth even in the formal pictures, some Japanese tend to smile with their mouth closed. Some older Japanese consider to laugh with their mouth wide open as disgraceful.

Finally, the aspect of eye contact between Japan and the US could be almost same. If people know each other a lot or they are attracted to each other, they try to look at their eyes while talking. Furthermore, when people feel guilty or something, they tend to turn their eyes away.

In conclusion, there are some differences in manual gestures between Japan and the US, but we use almost the same facial expression in communication. In addition, our view of eye contact is almost similar to each other. Japan is one of the most influenced countries regarding American culture, so we have many opportunities to be exposed to their gestures in Japan. Therefore, the differences of gestures between Japan and the US might be decreasing.