The middle ground

The middle ground should not be misconstrued as sacrifices of the self to gain favor. This would actually go against the hybrid identity model which seeks self-sameness or mutual acceptance, not the sacrifice of one for the other. When performed well, it will be seen as a win-win situation. The comfortable mutual establishment of a middle ground is necessary for, as Lee puts it, survival:

22 Maya Rhodan, Sept. 18, 2013, Study: ‘House Husbands’ More Common Than Ever http://nation.time.com/2013/09/18/study-house-husbands-more-common-than-ever/

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I think having multiple skills in any job or any situation is usually an advantage. In the case of foreigners in (another) country, I think the only option if one wants to survive is to find middle ground and you have to have an innate way of assimilating. As I say, having multiple skills is obviously advantageous in any situation most of the time and in Daniel's Kahl's case²³, obviously he has the best of both worlds, but again, it's sort of like a Jack-of-all-trades, master-of-none, situation really isn't it? You get by and, as a result of your multiple skills, you do have some success, and obviously there's varying levels of that success, but Jack of all trades, master of none, is perhaps how I might sum some of that up... (Lee: 3)

The complexity of the middle ground, as Lee tries to explain, is an interwoven set of skills and personal attributes which externalize into their own definition of the middle ground.

It forms into a dactylogram of longtime efforts. One example of this lengthy process is displayed when Edward illustrates his interaction with the Japanese coordination and

execution of an “emergency preparedness day.” Edward works as a firefighter at an American base and is knowledgeable about the steps to take during an emergency. He openly explains his journey through the Japanese system of leadership and event coordination:

Their system and the leadership, and I couldn't understand it and it took me years to actually to understand it. Now I'm okay, because I fully understand it, but sometimes it tends to be over complicated. For instance I go sometimes to the S---- prefecture

emergency preparedness meeting. So there is a governor, there is everybody and they simulate exercise, and for me it would be easier to simplify it and reduce the amount of people. They just tend to over complicate it and putting a lot of people in the

structures...and not, uh, just follow the orders basically. Not putting, not giving the opportunity for initiative or things like that... (Edward: 4)

He then explains his view on the difference in leadership styles.

Okay, being French, working on a US military base with Japanese, I see three different ways of thinking, and being, the line of work I am, the leadership is a crucial thing. And I would probably say westerners like, okay, European and American, tend to have a leadership, of actually a leader who will create leaders. Japanese, more in leaders create followers. I don't know if you can understand what I am trying to say. (Edward: 5) Edward is not an English native speaker and may have some linguistic barriers when explaining the complexity of the difference in leadership roles. But I think he laid it out in a simple and easy to understand concept. Westerners tend to define Japanese systems as overly complex and inefficient. This is one reason respondents like Theresa try to remain separate

23 This is a reference to an interview with Daniel Kahl from Komisarof’s (2012) At Home Abroad: The Contemporary Western Experience in Japan

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from such systems. This also applies to work situations as well. Never-ending meetings

without any apparent agenda are also a common complaint of the Japanese work environment.

Tim has done a lot to integrate into the Japanese work environment. He has learned the language and attained a PhD, but admittedly realizes expectations are different for western workers:

There are cultural differences, but there are individual differences too. It's an advantage for us in a way not being Japanese. We have that kind of window of opportunity to explain more. Middle ground, yeah, I'm not expected to be a Japanese person because I can't. I'm expected to understand Japanese culture which I try, but even then I don't like saying this is Japanese and this is non-Japanese, because everywhere is different no matter where you go. (Tim: 8)

Tim’s experience is revealed in the final sentence of his comment when he explains he does not try to draw the “us” and “them” line by labeling things “Japanese” or “non-Japanese”

and acknowledges the differences “no matter where you go.” Tim’s self-defined concept of the middle ground is one example how to balance out the relationship between the cultures. He knows if he is over-reliant on Japanese forgiveness, it may be beneficial in the short run, but over time the dependence becomes a hole difficult to escape for anyone who wishes to advance within the contrasted system. The flip side of that would be if one tries too hard to keep up with the Japanese, too many core feelings may need to be ignored, leading to frustration or even complete withdrawal from the cultural situations. Carlo has taken these differences head on and offers his take on compromise or lack thereof when he finds a need to express himself.

...Japan, I think, gets through the day on trying to achieve or maintain sameness and stifle, to a certain degree, originality and maverick-ism, if you will. We get through the day with originality and creativity and those things, if they're put in the same room, are going to knock heads a little bit.

If they're both respected by both parties to try to achieve whatever the goal may be at that time, then both parties have something to contribute to the task and that is a positive for everything, I think.

Even recently I was in a meeting with two Japanese bar owners, restaurant owners, as myself, and we were discussing an event that all three were invited to participate in; put up a booth, sell beer, do this and that. Their approach to the event, naiyo²⁴, the event profile that we were given, was these are the rules and they told me, "These are the rules

24 Naiyo means contents. It this case: the contents of the event.

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we've been issued and these are what we have to follow because the organizer of the event said these are the rules and we have to" and I totally rejected all that.

I said, "No, these are the guidelines we've been given and the event people are not experts in this field, in restaurateuring and all that stuff, even in event production, so our job, as experts in this field, are to examine these things and give them our best recommendations. If we agree with this it's cool, if we don't agree we should tell them why, but we should question all this stuff because questioning it now is the time to question it." Once the event is on and going, there's no questioning it, you have to roll with what's been decided. I was trying to convey that to them and that took a little bit of time. I don't think I did it successfully anyway.

Having sensed his comment as something that many Japanese may see as less than tactful, he replied:

I do, but I also realize sometimes that it's to my advantage to not be tactful sometimes and bark at them because I have that luxury to do so, being a foreigner. (Carlo: 3)

At the time of this interview, Carlo had been in Japan for more than 25 years and is very knowledgeable about the style of the Japanese service industry. He professed his Japanese level is fairly low for someone who has been in the country for so long, but culturally he is implanted in the community as much as any Japanese restaurant owner. He chooses his style of communication consciously to “not be tactful sometimes and bark at them (Japanese)”. He knows when he is going over the line and says he has the “luxury” to do so “being a foreigner.”

In this case, he means being a western foreigner. This consciousness extends from their experience. This is what distinguishes newer arrivals compared to LTWs. LTWs recognize when they are advancing beyond the boundaries of the formally acceptable with the intention to create an advantage within the situation and promote the need to seek compromise with host culture members. To make a lighthearted comparison, it could be equated to juggling chainsaws. The danger is apparent but if done properly it will entertain those involved. Carlo’s style is most definitely a personalized one.