Cultural Tidbits on Italy:

Italy has a long and robust history. The Etruscans and the Romas have both called Italy home.  Italy was also the place where the Renaissance began.  The Catholic Church is also centered in Rome, the capital of Italy.  Modern day Italy is a democratic republic with the 7th highest GDP in the world.  Italy didn’t exist in it’s current form until 1861 when the country was unified.  There are still very unique customs and influences from the regional structure of Italy prior to this unification.

Increastingy, Italy has become a destination for immigration.  A full 5% of the population now consists of foreigners.  The most recent influx has come primarily from Eastern European countries but also from North Africa as well.

Italy has played host to some of the most wonderful artistic and intellectual movments in the world. Several famous Italian artists are world famous such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Donatello, Rapheal, Botticelli and many many other.  Italy has also produced a long list of literary stars such as Dante Alighieri, Petrarch and Boccaccio among many others.  Scientific and mathematic achievement has also been a hallmark of Italian society.  Galileo Galilei, Enrico Fermi, Lagrange, and Guglielmo Marconi among many others were masters in their subjects.   

As the Vatican is centered in Italy, one can understand that it is the major religion with 85% of Italian born citizans being Catholic.  Church attendance has been declining but the church still plays a primary role in the lifes of most Italians. There are also small Jewish, Muslim and Protestant communities. Prior to Italy adopting Christianity the Romans worshipped the Roman gods. 

The family is the center of the community and social structure.  It is not unusual for multiple generations to live with one another.  The younger generation has great respect for the older generation.  Family and relationships are also important for business.  Greetings are enthusiastic but can be formal.  When two people know each other well they will greet with an air kiss on both cheeks. 

Italy is very style conscious and first impressions matter.  Appearance and clothing are important to Italians and they are very fashion conscious.  Confidence, clothes and demeanor are all part of the Italian sense of style.  Italians are extremely expressive commumicators and often use their hands, facial expressions and passionate speech to get the point across.  Often the free flow of ideas will errupt into an argument, but this is only to further the discussion and will mostly end well.  Working on relationships and networking are very important in the Italian culture. Be honest and forthright in your development in relationships with Italians and you will be respected. 

Cultural Tidbits on Japan:

Japan is the “Land of the rising sun”.  The characters that make up the word Japan mean “sun origin”.  Japan has over three thousand islands with the largest four making up 97% of the total landmass.   Japan adopted it’s constitution in 1947 and maintains a constitutional monarchy. The first mention of Japan was in the Chinese book of Han in the third century.  The Nara Period of the eighth century was the first strong centralized Japanese state.  This period was characterized by the start of written language.  Japan was first introduced to Buddhism from Korea.  After some initial resistance Buddhism was adopted by the ruling class and became the norm.  During the Heian period (starting 794) the distinctive Japaniese culture began to emerge.   Japan’s isolationist Feudal period was characterized by a ruling class of warriors.  The Japanese were successful in repelling Mongol invasions from 1274 through 1281. A civil war erupted in 1467 and started a century long Sengoku period.  During the 16th century traders and missionaries reached Japan for the first time and began trading.  The nation was united in 1590 with many battles and positioning by multiple groups.  In 1639 the shogunate began the declared isolationist policy that lasted for 250 years.

In 1854 the United States Navy led by Commodore Matthewe Perry forced Japan to open to the outside world.   With the shogunate resignation the Boshin war led to the emperor centered government. Japan adopted a Western parliamentary system and Ito Hirobumi served as the first Prime Minister.   Japan went on to become an industrialized nation that went on a number of military operations designed to increase access to natural resources.  Japan gained control of Taiwan and Korea through these campaigns.  Japanese expansionism and World War I allowed the Japanese to join the side of the Allies to allow it to expand it’s influence in the region. Japan continued it’s expansionist policy by occupying Manchuria in 1931.  Based on international condemnation of this action, Japan joined with Nazi Germany and joined the Axis powers in 1941.  The United States placed an oil embargo on Japan during the second World War.  The Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and declared war on the United States, the United Kingdom and the Netherlands.  The United States joined the war and ultimately dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945.  Japan adopted a new pacifist constitution in 1947. Japan has since contributed to the global economy with high quality goods and electronics.  Japan has the second largest economy based on nominal GDP. 

The Japanese language is spoken and when written it consists of Chinese characters (Kanji) and syllabic script (katakana and Hiragana).  Romaji is the use of the Latin alphabet in modern Japanese writing.  The Japanese language was originally written with smooth flowing strokes of a brush.  This led to fantastic works of painted art that are stylistically unique to Japan.  Japanese architecture was originally very influenced by China with unique Japanese styles originating thereafter.  The Kimono is a traditional long flowing Japanese garment worn by women, men and children.  Japanese cuisine has become popular throughout the world with the advent of the airplane.  Sushi (fish, raw fish and rice) and Sashimi (Raw fish) along with Teriyaki and other favorites originated from the Japanese island geography.

Japan had a long feudal period goverened by the Samurai class.  These warrior methods developed into various martial arts and Sumo. More recently baseball and football (soccer) have become very popular sports in Japan. Japan today has many contributions to popular culture world-wide.  The creation of manga in Japan has become a phenomenon in many places.