Understanding Korean-Japanese interpersonal relationships

• Main Author: Koike, Rika
• Language: English
• Published: 2009
• Subjects: Koreans > Japan; Interpersonal relations > Japan
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/5369

The purpose of this study was to investigate "themes," patterns of accounts related to the lived experiences of interpersonal relationships between Koreans and Japanese living in Japan. The research question was: What is the texture of the voices of Koreans living in Japan and their host Japanese in their interculturally lived experiences of interpersonal relationships? Individual interviews were conducted in Japanese with six Koreans living in Japan. In addition, interviews were held with three Japanese who had interpersonal relationships with three of the Korean interview subjects. The relationships varied from low, to moderate, to high intimacy. Four themes emerged through interpretive analysis of the participants' accounts of their relationships: Japanese attitudes towards Koreans, a sense of commonality, cultural differences, and involvement. In the first three theme categories, two to three subthemes were identified. Japanese discriminatory attitudes towards Koreans seemed to have negative influences on some of the Korean participants. Also, the way the participants perceived cultural differences rather than the differences themselves appeared to be important in developing interpersonal relationships. The educational implication of this study is the implementation of a curriculum of Japanese-as-a-second-language that focuses on cultural awareness and appreciation of cultural difference among cultures as well as those within Japanese culture.