A Comparative Analysis of Aging: American and Japanese Cultures

This paper offers a comparative analysis of American and Japanese cultures, focusing on their differing approaches to aging and elderly care. It highlights how cultural beliefs influence the perception of the aging process, with Americans often taking proactive measures and viewing aging negatively, while Japanese culture considers aging as a time for relaxation and social connection. The essay explores demographic data, social gerontology perspectives, and the roles of family and society in caring for the elderly, ultimately contrasting the American emphasis on independence with the Japanese emphasis on interdependence and family responsibility. It touches upon the cultural roots influencing these perspectives and concludes by summarizing the key differences in attitudes, social structures, and care models between the two cultures, drawing on references from academic sources.

Cross Cultural Paper

Introduction
In this present paper, we will discuss the comparison of American culture in the twenty-first
century with another culture, namely, Greeks in terms of responding to the elderly and aging
process. The American culture in mainly western but it is influenced by the Native American,
Latin American, Polynesian, and African. The country has its own culture and social
characteristics, for example, arts, music, cuisine, habits, and others (Landy et al., 2016).
Comparison of American and Japanese culture in 21st century
The culture of America in independent due to which the individuals separated from their old
ones in order to achieve personal goals and objectives of their lives whereas the culture of Japan
is independent due to which they are socially connected with each other.
Response of aging process
The cultures play an important role in the aging process and the cultural beliefs towards the
aging process impacts on the lives of an individual. There is a different perception of aging
across the cultures. The proactive measures are taken by the Americans in order to reverse the
aging process whereas the reactive approach is used in the Japanese culture. The aging has more
benign meaning in the Japanese culture than the American Culture (Barney et al., 2013).
According to the field of social gerontology, the Americans are more discomfort with the aging
process whereas the Japanese considered the aging as the relax time of time and they enjoy after
retirement benefits.

According to the demographic data, the Japanese people are aging faster than the Americans
people. In the twenty-one, the Americans are considered aging as the major problems, but they
are very confident about their adequate standard of living in the old age whereas the Japanese are
not treated old age as a problem. The Americans are primarily responsible for their wellbeing in
the old age whereas the Japanese are more dependent on others for their wellbeing. According to
the study, it shows that the people in the Unites States grow aging at the slower rate than the
people in Japan. The Americans are less dependent on the shrinking working population than the
Japanese. In the projection of the pension and health care expenditures of the American by 2050
is approximately 6.8% whereas the japan has 15% (Moran et al., 2014).
In the American culture, aging is a type of discrimination which includes negative views related
to the elderly because they are more focus on the independent care whereas the Japanese are
independent of each other. In the United States, death is considered as the loss due to aging has
negative views whereas the Japanese considered as the relax time which is enjoyed by them. The
aging has a different perception which is based on the value of the culture. The high score is
showed by the Japan on personal growth as compare to the midlife adults whereas the in the
United States opposite score is founded. The Japanese culture has more social interaction among
the people than the American culture. In the Japanese culture, it is the responsibility of the
children to take care of elderly parents whereas in the American culture aging people are
independent and they are responsible for their own wellbeing.
The age-graded tasks and social roles in the Japan are clearer than the United States. The
Japanese culture related to aging is rooted in Confucian, Buddhist, and Taoist whereas the
American culture related to aging is rooted in western culture (Arnett et al., 2014). In the
American culture, mostly aging people are shifted to the old age home whereas in the Japanese

culture children used to care their elderly parents by themselves. The importance of relations and
social interaction in Japanese culture is higher than the American culture.
Conclusion
It can be concluded that the American culture is influenced by the western culture and it is
independent whereas the Japanese culture is interdependent. The American culture considered
aging as the major problem whereas the Japanese found it as relax and happy time. The
Americans are more confident and self-dependent in the old age whereas the Japanese are
dependent on their younger ones. The Japanese have socially interacted with each other whereas
the Americans more believe in achieving personal goals of their respective lives. The age-graded
tasks and social responsibilities are clearly defined in the Japanese culture than American
culture. According to the survey, Japanese has a higher rate of the old population then
Americans.

References
Landy, F. J., & Conte, J. M. (2016). Work in the 21st Century, Binder Ready Version: An
Introduction to Industrial and Organizational Psychology. John Wiley & Sons.
Barney, G. O. (2013). The Global 2000 Report to the President of the US: Entering the 21st
Century: The Technical Report (Vol. 2). Elsevier.
Moran, R. T., Abramson, N. R., & Moran, S. V. (2014). Managing cultural differences.
Routledge.
Arnett, J. J., Žukauskienė, R., & Sugimura, K. (2014). The new life stage of emerging adulthood
at ages 18–29 years: implications for mental health. The Lancet Psychiatry, 1(7), 569-576.