When Germans Meet Japanese

Empathy is the key to build a harmonious world.

As a Chinese, I have lived in Germany for eight years and in Japan for about three years. For me, people in both countries are similar in many ways. They represent the “craftsman spirit” of the West and East respectively.

Germans often say that: “Japan is Germany in Asia”. As a response, the Japanese call Germany “Japan in Europe”. Probably few nations in the world cherish and appreciate each other so much.

What would happen if Germans met Japanese?

When Germans landed in Japan, like me, they wondered about the accuracy of the trains. In Germany, trains delay often, although the train timetable is accurate to the minute. (You can complain about the German Railways when the delay affected your connection to the next train. If you were lucky, you would get compensation).

As I mentioned in About me, my husband was sent to the Tokyo branch by his company in Germany. Whenever his German colleagues came to Tokyo, the Japanese director usually invited them for dinner. Out of politeness, he always asked what kind of food the German colleagues preferred. Most of them were eager to try Japanese food, which was not only exotic but also expensive in Germany.

But very soon they found out that the authentic Japanese food couldn’t fill their stomachs, despite the exquisiteness and deliciousness. They started to miss steak and potatoes.

They also missed their beds in Germany.

One day in the morning, two German colleagues complained that they couldn’t sleep well last night, because the beds in the hotel were too small and short.

However, those little troubles were not worth to be mentioned.

But what happened to a German lady was very different.

The German lady whom I met in a Japanese class and got along with was a professor and researcher at the university. One day, she came to the class with an unhappy look. After class, we talked about her experience.

She lived in an apartment on the campus. Two Japanese workers cleaned the apartment regularly. Last day, she found out that a paper box was missing. It was usually on the table beside the bed. She called the front counter, later, the two elder Japanese guys came over to her. They handed her a box and asked if this was the one that she was looking for.

She nodded and took the box. The two workers began to explain something with hands and feet. Finally, she understood, that they have nicely sorted out the clutter in the box and categorized them too. They also threw away stuff that they didn’t think were important.

“What? You throw them away? No, everything in the box was important. They are useful.”

The two Japanese guys were embarrassed. They apologized for it and then left.

“I could have accused them in Germany.”

When I heard this, I got shocked. She could tell them tactfully that she didn’t like what they did, but accusation would be too much.

She widened her eyes as she heard me. “Don’t you think it was a violation of privacy?”

Well, according to the Western value she was right. But Oriental people pay more attention to feelings. For sure, I wouldn’t like it either if a stranger touched my private stuff. But I would appreciate the kindness of the two Japanese workers.

We couldn’t persuade each other.

“Hell is other people”

— by Jean-Paul Sartre

Although Japan and Germany have different cultures, both are highly civilized societies and share similar values.

Despite this, conflicts occurred because of their distinct view on the same incident. Not to mention, what would happen among nations that differ greatly in their cultures and values when more serious conflicts took place.

“Asian hate crimes” or “BLM” movement that broke out in the pandemic reflected this kind of conflict. However, although the culture of every nation is unique, human nature is the same. To avoid these contradictions, we need to explore the good side of human nature to the greatest extent and curb the evil side as much as possible.

I think empathy is the key to resolve problems. Empathy belongs to human nature, but many of us have forgotten it. Hence, we could start to learn it. When there is friction between people who are not from the same culture, do not rush to blame the other party, instead, we should think from another perspective.

The road ahead is still long, but as long as we are willing to understand each other, there is hope to build a world with harmony.

Thank you for stopping by! I appreciate it if you share your opinions on this topic.

Do you like more story about Japan? Here you go.