“Japan is an integral part of my life”: a scientific training of an Assistant Professor, Sergey Geraskov in Japan

31-3-2017    International Cooperation   1494   

Dear readers (visitors of our website),

we would like to present to you the second interview with a PhD, Assistant Professor Sergey Geraskov. Sergey has recently returned from Japan, where he did a research “The image of Ukraine in Japan: factors of formation”.

Sergey, can you tell us about the Japan Foundation?

The Japan Foundation has been giving support to the foreign scientists who study Japan for many years by giving them a possibility to do their research in Japan. There are several types of the programs for training in the humanities and social sciences: a short-term one (21-59 days) and a long term one (from 2 to 12 months), and another one for doctoral students (from 4 to 12 months).

What requirements do the candidates have to meet in order to get a grant from the Japanese fund?

The candidates have to meet a number of requirements: they should be involved in studying the Japanese culture for a long time, be fluent in the Japanese language, etc. The foundation covers all the costs for your stay in Japan and makes sure you have comfortable conditions for doing research. I would like to express my gratitude to the Foundation for the given opportunity as it is not possible to do research of this kind in Ukraine and it is even inappropriate.

Can you tell us about the university where you had your training?

In Japan, the researcher has to have a supervisor at a certain university. In my case it was Kwansei Gakuin University (the city of Nishinomiya), which is a private university. It was founded in 1889 by American missionaries on Christian principles. Nowadays, the university specializes in the humanities in economics. It is considered to be one of the most prestigious universities in western Japan. At the moment, there are about 20,000 students in eleven common faculties (law and politics, political science, sociology, social welfare, theology, humanities, economics, pedagogy, business administration, international relations, science and technology) and two separate ones (language, communication and culture, business and accounting). In addition, the University has several institutions. The university system also includes preschool and school education, as well as two colleges. The university doctorate has all sorts of specialties. The university has seven campuses, three of which are for training. They have all the conditions for learning and leisure. Excellent sports facilities and a large number of creative clubs provide the student and staff with opportunities for leisure activities. The university library has 1.9 million of books.

The scope and methodology of my research meant to study at the Department of Sociology under supervision of Professor Masahiro Ohino. The faculty administrations created all the necessary conditions for training and free access to all the resources of the University.

Can you tell us about your most vivid impressions of Japan?

First impression was the climate, as it is very difficult to get used to even though you think you are ready for that. First of all, it is the season of rains, typhoons and constant earthquakes throughout the year. I somehow imagined that the humidity there would be different. I also underestimated the actual number of insects and not at all expected that it would be so cold inside in winter (even though it is very warm outside when you compare that to Ukraine). Second, it is the culture of communication. It is sometimes said that the Japanese are very reserved people who seem to care a lot about politeness. In fact this is not true, but even if it is so, this is the level of communication and culture, that you should have. If people show respect for each other, this respect makes the Japanese culture of communication much higher than ours, for example.

The Ukrainian and Japanese culture of communication culture is quite different. Our readers would like to learn about the peculiarities of the Japanese culture of communication, including business communication. Can you tell us about your experience of business communication with your Japanese colleagues?

The business contacts I had all the peculiarities of the business culture and etiquette of the Japanese. Given that I’m quite knowledgeable in this area, I didn’t have any particular problems in communication. I would like to highlight the most salient points.

The most significant factors of communication are still the same: the reserved manner of the Japanese and their tendency to collective behavior, when a single person can’t make a decision without a prior consent of the relevant group or a permission of the supervisor. This process can take for a long time, because this is the way they make decisions, and you can’t speed it up, and foreigners may often think that the Japanese deliberately delay the process of negotiations.

Another point that I should mention is famous punctuality of the Japanese: they are hardly ever late (even a minimal delay is perceived as a deviation which is condemned by the society, therefore it is undesirable). Also, they still follow the same rules of exchanging business cards when meeting. A bow is less likely to be used as a traditional form of greeting as it is increasingly replaced with a handshake.

It is very traditional of the Japanese business communication to listen carefully to the views of the people they are talking to without interrupting them and without making any comments. No wonder that at the early stages of negotiations it is often impossible to predict their opinions. During the meeting the Japanese can nod their heads or say a few neutral words of agreement, but this does not mean that they agree with you, it only indicates that they clearly understand what you said. Patience is considered to be one of the main virtues in Japan. So, discussing business matters often starts with talking about minor details and the conversation may go very slowly.

The Japanese tend to avoid confrontation with you. In the Japanese tradition it is not accepted to say “no”. They tend to say “it will be difficult.” In order not to upset their partner with a negative answer, they may refer to different and sometimes strange things.

You spent quite a long time in Japan and had an opportunity to become acquainted with the system of education. What are your impressions of the system of higher education in Japan?

The Japanese system of education could be still a model for Ukraine despite its national peculiarities (actual autonomy of universities, which enables them to develop by paying attention to the issues and problems which are important to them, flexibility and balance of the training process for students and university teachers, a really significant place of research at universities, etc.). Of course, there is a noticeable focus of higher education system in Japan on the Western model, but they never leave behind their national characteristics. This explains the high quality of Japanese education which is recognized all over the world.

How are you going to use the results of your training in your work in DonNTU?

During the training I learnt a lot of information and ideas which can be used in the curriculum of Bachelors whose specialty is Sociology, namely the following: “Methods of collecting sociological information”, “Methodology and methods of sociological research”, “Sociology of Culture”, “Sociology of Religion”, “Contemporary sociological theories”, “Political sociology” and others. I also discussed the possibilities of joint research projects with Kwansei Gakuin University (the city of Nishinomiya) in the fields of sociology and cultural studies.

 

Oksana Vereshchak, 
Head of Department of International Relations

Return