Have you ever wondered what life is like for a Japanese teenager? What is the difference between Japanese and Western youth? In this article, we will try to compare the 2 lifestyles.
Try to consider that this subject is relative and does not represent all young people. We are fully aware that every human being is different from one another. So let's leave words in bold that reinforce that we are not referring to everyone.
Japanese adolescent youth are completely different from Westerners to the point of being unrecognizable. While some may think that young Japanese are mature individuals, they may be completely wrong.
Some young people simply sleep, shout, or act up in the middle of the classroom, sometimes even more than in the West. They are young and do crazy things. like in any country, despite having glaring differences.
Table of Contents
The behavior of Japanese vs Western youth
Western youth tend to be disrespectful, rebellious, and do what they want without thinking about the consequences. In Japanese culture, being rude or disrespectful is something terrible and brings negative consequences both for the young person and for the whole family.
Western teenagers have much more freedom in relation to their social life. The Japanese, on the other hand, cannot do anything wrong, as this harms their social life and even their life in the labor market.
It is obvious that there are rebellious young people who manage to do harm without being harmed themselves. Many absurd things happen in the school life of Japanese adolescents, such as Ijime.
Some young Japanese have enormous freedom and do what they want, being present at home only at night.
Japanese teenagers tend to be more childish than Westerners. They like cute things, anime, make jokes and have reactions not so common among western teenagers.
In Japan you are only considered an adult after the age of 20.
Some young Japanese feel very uncomfortable talking to adults. They are quiet listening and rarely speak. Probably to avoid doing something wrong, but among young people they open up.
Other facts about Japanese teenagers
In high school, Japanese students tend to dedicate themselves heavily to their studies to enter the university and the job market. At this time things are taken very seriously and their routine becomes totally focused on studies.
Young Japanese tend to study hard, but in their spare time they go out in groups to shop or go to karaoke. They usually get into relationships only in high school.
Apparently, Western teenagers seem to consider themselves superior to others, with a certain authority, thinking they can do whatever they want. Japanese people, both young and adults, usually lower themselves before others as a sign of respect and humility.
The current modern Japanese culture is about being individual and expressing oneself. This contradicts traditional Japanese culture, which very much discourages individuality. This is one of the reasons we should not try to imagine that Japanese youth follow a standard.
Even though many Japanese teenagers isolate themselves on the internet and social media, in some cases, Westerners are spending more time chatting on their phones than the Japanese themselves, who don't use Line as much as we use Whatsapp.
Although the Japanese have a reputation for being perverted. The morals of young Japanese are very high compared to Westerners. Whether in conversations with friends or in romantic life. We can see this in anime and manga where even a kiss takes time.
Final thoughts on Japanese and Western youth
Teenagers tend to have different sub-cultures. Finally, below we will leave some articles that talk a little about these sub-cultures.
- Lolita - Meeting the loli and their style
- Gyaru - Meet the independent style in Japan
- Bosozoku - Japanese rebel youth
- Japanese Personalities - deredere + List of Characters
Of course, there are many other factors in Japanese culture that differentiate Japanese people from Westerners. Things like politeness, respect, humility and positive traits are well exposed in Japanese society, whether some want to or not.
I personally prefer to live in a society full of rules, morals and forced education than to live in a country that preaches a false freedom of speech that is responsible for a lot of misfortune and lets evil run wild.
Japan offers many more healthy entertainment options for Japanese teenagers. Perhaps this is one of the key points of the Japanese not being so interested in wrong things that harm others emotionally or physically.
