Unit 1 Journal Entry
If my company were to send me to Japan for a business trip and I noticed whale meat on the
menu while at dinner I would feel a bit shocked. Although, I would keep my feelings internalized
and not show any kind of reaction; contrarily, I would continue smiling and interacting with my
dinner hosts or guests as though I wasn’t fazed by the traditional whale meat on the menu. I
would be able to keep a calm outer appearance because I made sure to research the normal
customs of Japanese culture to ensure I landed this business deal. Due to me internalizing my
feelings about my recent discovery resulted in our dinner party running smoothly and pleasantly
because I maintained a professional and business-like demeanor making this business trip result
positively.
The cultural aspects of this scenario involve a very controversially topic. As the article provided
showed, even in current day Japan there are multiple views on the concept of eating whale meat.
In the United States and other countries there are environmental extremists that protest the
consumption of whale meat because they view it as ethically wrong and as the supposed cause
for some whale species going extinct. In reality Americans are largely to blame for whale species
numbers dropping so drastically. In the 1600’s, American started the whaling industry in order to
extract oil from the blubber and the whale bone usually throwing the meat and flesh back
overboard. It has also been documented that in the early days of American development the
crews of the whaling industry would prepare, store, and consume whale meat while on their
journeys in order to eat something other than the “worm infested food” on the ship. As American
continued to expand and upgrade people appeared to forget that we also ate whale meat at one
point in our history. Although we have forgotten this part of our ancestry, Japan has not and still
practices this tradition for cultural purposes. Aforementioned, Japanese citizens are
controversially about eating whale with part of the population for eating it, part against eating it,
Unit 1 Journal Entry
and another part simple just neutral about eating whale meat. I personally would not eat whale
meat simply because the description does not sound appealing to me. Even though I may not be a
person who eats whale meat doesn’t mean me or anybody else has the right to criticize Japanese
tradition. There is never a reason why it would be acceptable to criticize a different culture.
People should instead take the time to educate themselves on the different types of culture that
does exists so they can learn the true reasons behind why a particular culture continues to
practice certain traditions.
Unit 1 Journal Entry
References
Moran, R. T., Harris, P. R., & Moran, S. V. (2007). Managing Cultural Differences (Vol. 7th
ed). Amsterdam: Routledge. Retrieved from
http://search.ebscohost.com.proxy.cecybrary.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=nlebk&AN
=187429&site=ehost-live&scope=site
Shoemaker, N. (2005). Whale meat in American history. Environmental History, 10(2), 269-294.
Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3986115