Option B

1. When sociologists refer to culture they refer to ones habits and actions or even
religious beliefs in different regions of the world. This means that it could mean
anything from saying thank you before a meal to even greetings people perform
to each other. Sociologists would even say that culture transcends boundaries
making culture a universal thing no matter where one goes. The definition for
culture is the characteristics and knowledge of a particular group of people,
defined by everything from language, religion, cuisine, social habits, music and
arts (Zimmermann, 2015). This definition becomes key for the meaning that
sociologists research communities and different subjects to find out similarities
among them to consider trends in culture and to figure out differences amongst
other cultures. Even people not associated to sociology gain knowledge from
knowing about them because if one cant communicate well with another it may
be due to the lack of understanding in culture. Thus making culture relative to all
of humanity and not just sociologists.
2. A) The culture I chose to do this research is the culture of japan. The reason for
my choice is because is home to a lot of cultural changes that I grew up with and
learned through. At first I found these things irresistible due to me being still a kid
and not understanding much of where they came from or how they were made
but then when I got older I grew to understand that the things that I grew up
loving were in fact from japan and not Canada astonished me and made me
really respect them.
B)

Material Culture
Theyre main food staple that

they eat in japan is rice and is

such as Shintoism and

most notable in the amount of

Buddhism and have temples all

usages in a lot of their recipes

around japan to worship.

They bow their heads as a form

(japanese food, 2015).

Another main food staple that

of greeting and also towards a

they consume a lot of is fish

which could be considered their

food, 2015).
Their architecture is quite unique

sumo, karate, and kendo as well

many houses because of the

as more (Japanese sports,

way wood lasts against

guide.com/e/e2111.html, 2013).
Japan has many different car
companies in japan even some
that we use such as Honda,

Nissan, Toyota and Subaru.

Japan is currently the most
influential in terms of animation
production.

respect.
They have many unique sports
that they partake in such as

and had used wood to create

earthquakes (http://www.japan-

form of apology.
Most Japanese pray before
eating their food as a sign of

main source of protein (japanese

Non-Material Culture
They have different religions

2015).
Japanese have many old
traditions such as theatre and
they have the unique feature for
being known for samurai.

3. Japan is quite unique in its own ways but it has some cultural impacts left by the
western world. Things such as praying before a meal was brought on heavily
from Christianity. They are different in many terms though such as how they bow
their head to greet each other as well as how they are quite formal when it
comes to mannerisms. This makes Japanese the most proper in terms of how
they greet each other and respond to certain problems. Not only that but since
they have such a unique culture a lot of their culture has yet to come over into
the eastern world. This may be because after WWII they were introduced to so
much of the western world that they lost most of their old culture and adapted
towards how Americans lived and basically ended up worshipping the new
culture they were introduced to. They then created many companies that support
the capitalism lifestyle and made new products for the North American public.
Culture in japan is quite historic now but it is a very interesting subject to
research about and gives many examples of how we affected them in life.

Bibliography
http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2111.html. (2013, August 15). Retrieved from travel
planning: http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e2111.html

japanese food. (2015). Retrieved from inside japan:

https://www.insidejapantours.com/japanese-culture/food/
Japanese sports. (2015). Retrieved from Inside Japan:
https://www.insidejapantours.com/japanese-culture/food/
Zimmermann, K. A. (2015, February 19). What is Culture? | Definition of Culture.
Retrieved from livescience: http://www.livescience.com/21478-what-isculture-definition-of-culture.html