The survival kit for East Asia

Languages
In Japanese, people have a hesitation to say something clearly. People have tended to avoid saying anything directly; a listener needs to read between the lines. Recently, in lectures and speeches, Japanese people use more and more direct speech but still politicians would use a vague language.
“I’d love to” means no in Japan. They expect others to be very sensitive to their facial expressions and changes in tone. Once a person fails to meet their expectations and misses the signal, this person is recognized as “unsocial.” Hereafter, he will not be expected to understand the proper Japanese conversation.
“You” exists in 5 forms in Japanese. To the elder, people used another “you” to show the respect. The number 8 is lucky because the Chinese character of 8 signifies a broader future.
In Korean, as well as in China, 4 is also a number to avoid because its pronunciation resembles to the death. 7 is the good number. “You” exists in 4 or 5 forms in Korea.
However, Chinese has only 2 forms of “you” because the most important thing is to show the respect towards the elder. People of the same age are mainly called by the same manner.
In order to maintain the harmony, the business meetings are normally

Education
In East Asia, the education tends to be more hierarchical. Confucius and the traditional value taught the Asians that the education is a pivotal element of good governance. Teacher is a highly respected profession. Students are not encouraged to challenge teachers’ authority or speech.
Beyond the respect for the educators, the students need to compete with each other in order to get into a good university. Normally, students have to pass an entrance exam or several ones to get the admission. Hence, the students of good universities are proud of their academic background but at the same time they should be humble despite their achievement.

Geography
The isolation of the four islands of Japan means a lot. It’s not easy to let another culture come in. 1350 years ago, Chinese culture came into Japanese culture and Japan tried to integrate the Chinese culture into its own culture. After Edo period, Japan isolated themselves for 250 years. Japan was forced to open its borders to the American, and the Japanese average perception, even till now, is that the American or the foreigners in a broader sense is a threat.
On the contrary, China has many subjacent countries, and there are many minority peoples with China’s territory. This creates an open attitude towards the foreigner and to other cultures.
Korea is the bridge between China and Japan. Therefore, Korea has always been either China’s or Japan’s colony before the Republic of Korea was established. The culture is a mix of continental and oceanic culture.

Real life practices: How do you fit into the East-Asian life?
Dos and taboos…

 A wedding
If you are invited to a friend’s wedding in Japan, you have to be careful. There are many customs to follow. The bride will dress in pearly white, and the groom will dress in dark-colored clothes. To congratulate the couple, people will give money with a white and red envelope with the gold and red strings, which is only used for the funeral in China.
In China, red is a good color, so wearing a red dress is one of the traditions for the bride. Guest who attended the banquet would give a red envelope with money inside to congratulate the newly-weds. The wedding is for two people so everything should be in pair. You should avoid the singular number like 1100 or the number 4.
In Korea, the wedding dress is the traditional dress. The bride wears a green and red skirt. The traditional wedding ceremonies surrounding the events have deep Confucian roots, symbolizing the importance of the families involved. To give your blessings to the couple, you can either prepare a gift or the money, but the money should be put in a white envelope.

 The New Year celebration
As we know, this year is the dog year. New Year’s Day is on 29th January this year. How do the Chinese celebrate the Chinese New Year?
Chinese and Korean both celebrate the New Year according to the lunar calendar. In Taiwan the celebration lasts for 15 days. The Chinese New Year’s Eve is marked by the hot pot and the red envelopes. Parents and the elder in the family would give money to the younger ones as long as the young people are not married. For the first day, people would go to a temple, wishing for good luck for this year. The people who have the first prayer done would be very lucky.
In Korea, people will thank their ancestors in the morning of the New Year. Ddeu-kkuk, a rice-cake soup, will be prepared for the New Year’ Day.
In Japan, people only celebrate the New Year. They will eat with the family members. They would go to a shrine and make a wish after ringing the bell and then clapping hands.

 Sadou, the tea ceremony
The purpose of the tea ceremony is to provide a good time. They share the atmosphere together; for example, you can go to have a tea and . It’s a special way to treat an important guest. When you are served a tea, you should take the tea with your two hands with respect, say thank you, and turn the tea bowl three times before you have a sip. After having the tea, you should return it to the host and say some praise for the good tea.
　　In Taiwan, the tea ceremony is completely different although they both demand the respect. When a Chinese treat a guest a tea, he is showing the hospitality and a guest should accept the tea. In Taiwan and China, it’s also the host that makes the tea. However, people use two cup to taste the tea. The first cup is taller and is only for the smell; the guest will drink in the second cup.

 The colors
The yellow and purple used to be the colors for the royal family. The white is a color for funeral in China and in Korean. On the contrary, for a Japanese funeral, people will dress in pure black. The envelopes would be white for all occasions in Korea.