Eva Comics: Cultural Differences between Japan & Other Countries
Recently a friend living in Australia who loves Japan as much as I do, sent me this link of a lovely comic compilation.
It is a compilation of comics by Evangeline Neo, a Singaporean comic artist who creates lighthearted comics depicting cultural differences between Japan and Singapore, as well as other countries like US, Malaysia, and Indonesia.
Like many of us, Eva wanted to experience life in Japan and did so through her pursuit of a master's degree at Waseda University in Tokyo. During her time studying in Japan between 2010 and 2014, Eva realized that there were a lot of cultural differences between Japan and back home in Singapore.
To deal with the culture shock, she started creating comic strips about them. As a foreigner living and working in Japan now, I could totally relate and find humour in them, even more so as a Malaysian who has also experienced life in Singapore. It feels nice to know that someone close to home has gone through the same and likely have had similar thoughts running through their minds.
Actually, this isn't my first online encounter of Evacomics, I have come across her works many years before while working in Singapore with wistful dreams of being in Japan. Her witty and self-deprecating style makes it an enjoyable entertainment while revealing a very realistic side of things.
A couple of years back, when I came across her book, "Eva, Kopi and Matcha" at MPH Bookstores back in Malaysia and I knew I had to grab a copy. Such materials of Asian foreigners sharing their experiences living in Japan were still rare back then so I knew it was going to provide a fun yet real insight of life in the land of the rising sun before making my way there.
To enjoy more of Eva's work and support Evacomics, you can find them on her website here!
How timely it is for this artist's work to resurface just when I've started work in Japan and still trying to get a grip on the work culture here.
To be frank, having worked in Singapore and Malaysia, and being an Asian counterpart, I thought work styles here may not differ too much from my previous experiences or those that I've grown up witnessing. Getting into the work culture in Japan and trying to assimilate, however, proved to be a big curveball.
While making a revisit to Evacomics, I found some sort of explanation to the mysteries that have been lurking in my mind since starting work. Apparently what was an internal shock in my brain which I initially perceived to be my own lack of ability to adult in the working world, was actually a cultural shock from a very unique work culture practiced in Japan.
While I may have been aware of two out three from the above, these two below were the most surprising revelations.
Still..trying..to..comprehend... (⊙＿⊙’)
Before coming to Japan, I did some self-preparation by doing research to understand the Japanese work culture, I must've missed the memo on the last two...LOL
Having the back knowledge of rigidities in a traditional Japanese organization, I did make a conscious attempt to side-step from those types during job hunting and am really glad the younger generation of Japanese society are slowly but surely trying to make changes from the old ways.
As for being in Goalist, I'm really thankful to be surrounded by young, open minds who have their own oddities and value each other's individual strengths while being accepting of each others' weird ways all the same. While the face of Japan's workforce is slowly transforming, I personally think it's still rare to find a workplace that accepts you for the way you are, allows you to work in your own natural way and be encouraged to share your thoughts and concerns as you deem fit.
And for that, I'm thankful for this fortunate first step in work-life Japan ☆
Till the next post, sayonara~!
...I...I mean, mata ne~~!
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