2025 Emilija’s Blog

This week we looked at how different cultures handle the unknown - Hofstede’s idea of Uncertainty Avoidance. In simple terms - some societies hate surprises and build lots of rules to feel safe, while others roll with the punches and improvise. Japan is a classic example of high uncertainty avoidance. In my experience (and from our class videos), Japanese workplaces love clear plans, formal procedures, and careful consensus-building. Meetings can be long because people want everyone on the same page - it’s about predictability and keeping harmony. When it comes to Lithuania, I think we sit somewhere in the middle-high range. I believe many people here value structure and clear expectations, especially in traditional companies. But I also feel Lithuanians can be more flexible than the Japanese - younger businesses and startups are willing to experiment, change quickly, and accept a bit more ambiguity. The “10 Minutes With…” video really showed how much this comfort level with uncertai...

This week’s lesson on Business Culture helped me understand how Japanese workplaces focus on harmony 和 ( wa) , respect for hierarchy, group orientation, and very high levels of punctuality and detail. These points from our 8th lesson made me reflect on similarities and differences with my own culture, Lithuania. While Lithuanians value respect and teamwork, daily life is generally less formal and group decisions are usually quicker and more direct. The video " A Day in the Life of a Japanese Retail Worker"  clearly showed how important customer service and precision are in Japan. The worker checked every detail, greeted customers politely, and followed routines very carefully. In Lithuania, customer service matters too, but the expectations are not usually as strict. For extra research, I looked at the famous Japanese concept Kaizen 改善, which means "continuous improvement." It focuses on making small, steady changes every day. As Sarah Harvey (2019), a writer on K...

This week’s lesson helped me understand how cultures lean toward either “masculine” values (competition, achievement, clear roles) or “feminine” values (care, cooperation, balance).  What I found interesting is that no culture is completely one or the other — they exist on a spectrum.  When I compared Lithuania and Japan using The Culture Factor tool, the contrast was surprising: Japan scores 95 , one of the highest in the world, while Lithuania scores 19 , which places it on the more feminine side. Seeing the numbers helped explain things we discussed in class. In Japan, long working hours, strong pressure to succeed, and more traditional parenting roles still play a big part in daily life. This matches the idea of a highly masculine culture where achievement often comes before personal time. So Lithuania, with its much lower score, leans toward a more balanced lifestyle. Parenting there tends to include more emotional expression, flexibility, and shared roles between paren...

This week’s class about  Parenting in Japan and the World  really made me think about how culture shapes the way we grow up. Watching  “A Day in the Life of a Japanese Working Mom” was very informative in terms of understanding the role of a mother in Japan. The mom in the video somehow managed to work, cook, clean, and still take care of her child with calmness and care. It showed how strong Japanese mothers are, and how much effort they put into keeping everything balanced. In Japan, parenting seems to focus on harmony and togetherness. I learned about the concept of  amae  (甘え), which means a child’s natural dependence on their parents — especially the mother. It’s not seen as being spoiled, but as an important emotional connection. The “ baby emperor ” phase also surprised me — Japanese kids are treated like royalty in their early years, receiving a lot of love and attention before slowly being taught social rules and empathy for others. Children learn to th...