In the modern world there are a lot of nations and each of them has its own customs and preferences. However, every country has several principles in common. In fact, most of them are based on the human’s nature. For instance, there are many people with hazel or brown eyes, light or dark hair, and etc.
However, this paper will be about elders in the American and Japanese culture. Truth be told, elderly people cause different feelings that are understandable for every person in the world due to the fact that it is one of the step of our life. Nevertheless, every country has its own rules and orders due to the various historical and cultural background as well as mental training. Therefore, in order to illustrate this difference, two countries will be compared by the place of the older people in their culture.
Elders in American Culture
In fact, we can observe easily that in modern society American culture is positioning as the family-oriented one. However, older people have their special place in it. Actually, in 2013, almost 14 % of citizens in the country were 65 or elder years old (Aoa.acl.gov, 2016). However, this number is not so big in comparing with the future one. Actually, according to some calculations, there will be almost 22% of elderly population in 2040 (Aoa.acl.gov, 2016). Taking into account all of these numbers, it is obvious that older people will demand more support and care in future.
However, in order to see the modern situation clearly let us discuss the key principles of the older people living conditions in America nowadays.
It is a well-known fact that people in the age of 65+ need more care and comfort then other adults due to the variety of aging changes in the body and mind. In the previous century, the role of the person who takes care of the older people in the family was mostly performed by the woman (Bookman & Kimbrel, 2011). However, in the modern world women have their own careers; therefore they do not have enough time to perform this difficult task anymore. Thus, nowadays there are a lot of caregivers. These people are not members of the family, but their main responsibility is to take care of the older people in the house (Bookman & Kimbrel, 2011).
Moreover, in a few decades new generation of older people will be heathier and it will also live longer than the previous one due to the development of the different medicines especially for this age. For instance, recently scientists found out that nowadays adults will spend more time by taking care of their parents than of their children (Bookman & Kimbrel, 2011). Truth be told, I assume that this example is very persuasive one and it shows to us several points about elderly people in the American culture at once.
Another interesting thing about elders in the American culture lies in the core principles of the Western civilization. In fact, according to it all people are independent individuals and they have to always remember about this great gift. Therefore, a lot of older people in the United States live separately from their children and grandchildren (Weaver, 2001).
In addition, America does not have a socialistic party; therefore some kind of citizens do not get enough financial, material, and medical support from the government (Weaver, 2001). Obviously, older people are in this painful list.
Therefore from what have been discussed about the older people in the American culture, there are several points that are crucial to this paper. First of all, modern young adults and adults do not have enough time to take care of their older family members. Therefore, there are a lot of people who work as caregivers in the country. In addition, some older people prefer to live without their family due to their independent characters and the core principles of the Western civilization.
Elders in Japan Culture Comparing with American One
Many people consider that Japan and the United States are the brightest representatives of the West and East societies nowadays. Therefore, the comparison of these different cultures will bring fuller picture about elders from different parts of the modern world. In addition, Japanese people have a very long life due to the special lifetime diet and other interesting local features. Thus, let us look deeply into this comparison of two very different cultures in order to see the difference and the similarity between them.
Nowadays, there are a lot of older people in Japan. Those who live with their families are cared by the woman in the house. Unlike American women, Japanese one have to take care about housekeeping, children as well as older parents by themselves. As a result, such older people are protected by the family: however, women are lost in their own rights (Afe.easia.columbia.edu, 2016)
However, there is also another unique feature of the older Japanese people. Due to the fact that they live longer than many other people from different countries, sometimes they have a lot of habits of young adults (Institute on Aging Blog, 2014). Moreover, older people in Japan tries to feel real life because usually they work a lot in the younger ages.
Unlike the United States, Japan has more benefits and useful bonuses for their elderly citizens. For instance, they created special system that helps to take care about older people from all over the country. Such system is especially very useful if children live far away from their parents. Moreover, in some cases town do not have such system in their local structure. Nevertheless, local elders will get fully support and care as those who live in a large cities due to this special program (Institute on Aging Blog, 2014).
Finally, taking into account all of these questions and examples from thus interesting and magnificence culture, here is the conclusion about comparison of Japanese and American culture and their attention to the elderly people.
First of all, they have something in common. For instance, their elders have to work hard during their young ages. Therefore, these people want to have a rest and to find themselves in such great age in order to feel the real life. However, truth be told, Japan is more attractive than the United States in this question due to some national features.
Moreover, both of them have great family traditions in their cultures. However. The Western part of modern society is more independent one and it is more concentrated on career development than on simple family issues. On the other hand, Japan is more family-oriented country. Moreover, in most of cases, children take care of their parents by themselves whereas in the United States there a lot of special caregiving services instead of the real family members.
In addition, Japan has more attractive program for older people than the United States does. For instance, Japanese people are more protected in their late adulthood than their Western friends. Japan also has special program for the elders in order to support all of them in any part of the country. On the other hand, in the United States these programs are not well prepared.
In fact, the question about comparison of the two different cultures is often much-debated one due to the huge amount of the information and personal expectations about it. Nevertheless, both countries has a unique culture that teach children and young adults to be polite with elders and to take care of them. In fact, this is the key principle of the every successful culture in the world.
References
Afe.easia.columbia.edu,. (2016). Contemporary Japan: Society and Culture | Asian Topics on Asia for Educators. Retrieved 13 February 2016, from http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/at_japan_soc/common/all.htm
Aoa.acl.gov,. (2016). Aging Statistics. Retrieved 13 February 2016, from http://www.aoa.acl.gov/aging_statistics/index.aspx
Bookman, A., & Kimbrel, D. (2011). Families and Elderly Care in the Twenty-First Century. The Future Of Children, 21(2), 117-140. http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/foc.2011.0018
