The title above is taken from an article I read in America some years ago. This article was showing an American view of Sweden, and the article writer thought our culture reminded of Japan. Is it really true? Well, having lived in all three places, Sweden, America and Japan, I fully understand the view that Swedes and Japanese have many similarities compared to American culture.

Then, what are those similarities? We both like to eat raw fish, but there is still a major difference here. Swedes eat pickled fish and raw vegetables, while Japanese eat raw fish and pickled vegetables.

The main similarity that is puzzling Americans is that both these weird people seems all willing to work hard without getting paid for it. They are both prepared to work hard because it is the honorable thing to do, and to work for the best of the group without asking for individual awards. There is also a strong sense of being modest in both countries, and not trying to stick out as an individual.

Swedish and Japanese companies both have a non-firing policy. People work practically their whole life for one company who takes care of their employees. Neither in Sweden nor Japan there is a formal life time employment, but it practically works that way, although the system to achieve it is different. In Japan it is more based on tradition, while in Sweden it is based on very strict job security laws.

Working for a Swedish-Japanese joint venture company I can say that the mix of Swedish and Japanese staff works very well at an office. The management style is very different between Japanese and Swedish companies. The Japanese manager is more authoritarian, while the Swedish manager is more like a friend and an equal. The Japanese manager tell people how to do things. The Swedish manager tell people what to do, not how. The Japanese staff are quickly adopting to the Swedish style in the company, and many of them do not want to go back to a Japanese company again.

After 3.5 years in Japan I have got the opinion that the Japanese are much less different from other people than the Japanese people themselves think they are. For example, Japanese people always talk about how group oriented they are. They are, it is true, but I also meet a lot of individualism in Japan. The difference between individuals in each country is larger than the general difference between two cultures.

I can even find examples where Sweden is more group oriented than Japan. The workers unions and other kinds of interest groups are more strong in Sweden. The Swedes always try to belong to a group who takes care of them. I have been active in the sport orienteering for more than 20 years in different countries. In Sweden everything, like registration for meets etc. is organized by the club for all their members. In Japan each individual have to take care of that themselves.
However, for Swedes living in Sweden Japan is perceived as something very distant and very strange. I think most Swedes know too little about Japan to see the similarities, all they know is what is strange.

Japanese-Swedish friendship associations in both countries can have a mission to fulfill here. They could work to make people in general understand that it is far more that unites people than keeps them apart. For me, the main problem living in Japan, or in any other country, is the language barrier. Behind that barrier people are surprisingly similar. They feel the same fear and pain, the same happiness and love.