Tokyo First Impressions and Interactions

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One of the most fascinating aspects of this trip was seeing both Tokyo and Seoul. Although Tokyo was the leg of the trip I had been anticipating the most, my friends and I would constantly say, "I wonder what this would look like in Seoul" while walking around looking at Tokyo's buildings, subways and scattered patches of trees. Because everyone loves comparisons; it is just a matter of how you approach them. It is easy to get swept up in deciding which one is better. Then, my six days in each place would make these two cities unknowingly audition themselves for my opinion. It's just too negative. So, I went into the trip with the mindset of comparing them without a winner or loser. Just plainly recognizing differences, and not labeling them better or worse.

First, there are a lot of similarities between Tokyo and Seoul. Upon arrival, we got the same ground rules: be quiet on subways and buses, bow to show respect and absolutely no jaywalking. Seoul had the same sense of interconnectedness between nature and the city since it is a mountainous region and there were so many beautiful patches of greenery throughout. Both cities have neon-signed nightlife with arch-gated alleyways and bars that were anywhere but the ground floor. Both have coffee shops and department stores on every single block. Both countries' corporations treated us great and prepared gifts for us at the end. And of course, both countries love to talk smack about the other.

I realized the first key difference before even touching down in South Korea: media and culture. We flew Korean Air from Tokyo to Seoul, and every informational or promotional pre-flight video included a cameo from a different famous K-Pop group. There was one point where one of these groups made a specific jingle exclusively for Korean Air flights, and this toddler sitting a row in front of me was belting it out loud the whole time. K-Pop's impact is evident. Two of my close friends on the trip have family in South Korea, and both have visited quite a few times and knew plenty about the culture. There was one difference they kept emphasizing, everyone is more relaxed in South Korea. The word I would use based on my own experience: progressive.

The cultures of Japan and South Korea are both grounded by a collective respect for all things. It is just that the extent to which they commit to incorporating this respect into their daily lifestyles is vastly different. Japan operates at a remarkable level. South Korea is barely any different, but it is just enough where you notice it. The metaphor I'll offer up is this. Imagine you are waiting to walk across a busy street, but there are no cars in sight and the walking light is red. I'd argue 99 out of 100 Japanese citizens wait for the light to turn green before crossing (In America it is probably less than 10). As for South Korea, I'd say 90 would wait. It is still levels ahead of Western cultures in terms of this uncompromising respect, but there is a clear difference. This represents an ongoing shift in South Korean culture from collectivism to individualism. And you see it everywhere.

Take all these K-Pop groups for example. We got the amazing opportunity to visit and tour CJ Entertainment's office, which labeled itself the MTV of South Korea. We sat down with a few employees and got to learn a little more about the K-Pop industry and CJ Entertainment's place in it. The very existence of these large groups already represents a collectivist focus—there are even some groups in Japan with 10 or 11 members—but still, we noticed a shift towards individualism in the industry. CJ Entertainment treated us to get to watch a recording session of the K-Pop group KARD's performance for CJ's number one music show, Mnet (We even got access before their devoted fans who waited hours to see them). The group has four members and each one was aesthetically distinct from one another. Most of us had no clue who they were the whole time, so we looked them up after the performance. All their photos were from over two years ago because they were just coming back after one of their members served his mandatory two years in the South Korean military.

This gave us a unique peek at the difference in South Korean culture over just a two-year span. In these old photos, every member had blonde hair and the same style of clothes. They were homogenous and they did not sell. Two years later, their members now have colored hair, wear trendy street clothes, and could not look more different from one another. The dedicated management teams behind these groups work tirelessly to keep up with the trends in South Korean culture, and you can see the evidence in their talent: individuality sells.

So, is South Korea becoming more like the West? Yes and no. The people I talked to during the trip kept saying that South Korea was 10 years behind our Western culture's new wave of ideology. But I don't believe that is exactly the case. The internet has made the world so much closer and connected, so there are a large number of mainly younger South Koreans that are completely up to date with everything going on in the West. But with an older population whose average age is 42.8 years old, there are plenty more older South Koreans that have not even budged. So instead of 10 years behind, it is a mix of extremes between these two generations, making it a very interesting time in South Korea. Oh yeah and one last difference between these two cities. In Seoul, the food is a heck of a lot spicier. I found that lesson out the hard way.

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