Discovering the differences between Asian and western culture is at first difficult because the definition of “Asian culture” is an extremely broad and varied classification. Truly there are many Asian cultures from the Shinto, Mahayana Buddhist, Capitalist culture of Japan to the Confucian, Buddhist, Christian, Shamanistic traditions of South Korea to Marxist, Buddhist, Taoist, ancestor worshiping China with Hindu, Buddhist, Spiritist Thailand and many other cultures along the way. In reality, it is vary difficult to define a larger “Asian culture” based on the geography. There is simply so much variation within the area both in terms of economic development and in terms of cultural and historical influences.

Broadly speaking, most of Southeast Asia, excluding Vietnam, was historically most influenced by India and Indian Cultural traits can be seen in this area to this day. By contrast, much of the rest of East Asia, including Japan, Korea, Mongolia, and Vietnam were influenced predominantly by China. However, every area in this region has had its own unique culture, which plays a powerful role in the expression and identity of each of the modern successor states.

Economic development is also an important factor to account for. The effect that economic development can have on culture is easy to over look. However, it can be seen at work throughout the region and the rest of the world. In places like Burma, where development stalled in the last century, the culture tends to be fairly relaxed and easy going. This is because the main concerns of life, apart from surviving under the brutal dictatorship, deal with rice growing and harvesting. This is only highly time consuming at certain times of the year and thus there is a lot of free time available. The culture develops accordingly. By contrast, Japan, which went through its industrial revolution a long time ago, is the type of economy where only the hardest working and most determined can clime to a high level. People make sacrifices accordingly. In this way, economics has a vary heavy impact on cultural development. With the large differences in economic development in East Asia, it is only natural to see great cultural differences also.

Despite all this qualification, in the sense that we can talk about “western culture” despite all the diversity between the many European and American nations, we can make broad generalizations about Asian culture and from these discus the differences between western and Asian cultures. From my experience in East Asia, (I was a volunteer and NGO worker in Thailand and an English teacher in Korea. I have also visited several other Asian countries.) I have drawn a few observations about some constants in most Asian societies.

Perhaps the most striking is the subjugation of the individual to the greater society. This is not unique to East Asia. Placing greater emphasis on society than the individual is common in many cultures that were not heavily influenced by western philosophical ideas of individualism and personal identity. However, it has seen its greatest acceptance and longest history in this region. It is normal in many of these societies to put the good of the larger societal unit before the personal desires of the individual. This is not necessarily a bad thing. In its positive sense, it expresses it self in such great achievements as South Korea’s rise from one of the poorest nations on earth to one of the world’s leading economies in the space of only one generation. This would not have been possible had people not been willing to sacrifice their own plans and dedicate their lives to building the industries and infrastructure that made this rise possible. For many it took on a more personal meaning. I remember talking with one South Korean man who said, “me generation gave up so much. We worked so hard and had no life of our own, and all for our children”.

This type of sacrifice also has its dark side. The popular support for the Japanese militarist establishment is an example from the past as the incredible levels of violent nationalism in China is an example from today.

This kind of sacrifice for the greater society weather it is for good or bad can be found in the west, but not as frequently. Adolf Hitler rose to great power through popular support and America mobilized to transform itself into the industrial and military power that won WWII. However, the greatest and most raped changes and levels of development the world has ever seen are in East Asia. These are made possible by the ability of people to cooperatively work for the common interest.

Another powerful element that has been a factor in the rise of several economies in the region is a cultural attitude of pragmatism. Contrary to the popular idea that Asia is focused on tradition and rooted in the past, the rise of Japan and then South Korea, China, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand and several other regional states to become powerful and dynamic economies, shows that the Asian culture is fully capable of making huge brakes with tradition and embracing completely new ideas because they work. Japan went from being the first live testing ground for a nuclear bomb to being the second largest economy in the world in a matter of decades. South Korea went from being one of the poorest states in the world at the end of the Korean war to being a great technological innovator and leading world economy in just one generation. China, almost as if it is conducting a grand historical experiment, has gone from monarchy, to Marxism and is now experiencing great results with regulated capitalism. It is set to be the dominant economy in the world as well as the new super power. All of this is because the culture was willing to brake with the past and do whatever was needed to succeed.

In comparison, the west seams culture bound in its slow development and implementation of new ideas. It took 200 years for the US to do what Japan did in a few decades in terms of industrialization. Granted, Japan was able to copy what the west had worked so long to build. This may be the key difference between these two great cultures. Like no where else on earth, the East Asian countries and cultures are able to implement new and powerful ideas and blend them with there own native concepts. Indeed they have had great success. American student now study the management principles of Toyota as well as Chinese government, Singaporean Business and all the technological innovations that have come from this region.

As this region gains more power and prestige, the student will increasingly become the teacher. However, there will always be valuable lessons that both can learn from each other. Both cultures have great and traditions and continued sharing between the two can only be a good thing.