Suppose you were in a huge box of culture in which there are some life styles, ideas, types of knowledge, behaviors, materials, and various other things. Even if you were to live in only that box of culture, don't you think it might be better for you to understand other values in other boxes of culture as well as the values in that box you were in? Especially the "conjuncture," the decision-making processes with values and criteria, certainly direct where the whole box is heading. Then, wouldn't you like to know how your values or criteria for decision-making are different from those in other boxes of cultures?

Two of the writer's seminar students, who had joined a home-stay program in California State, mentioned that the family they stayed with often made use of fast foods such as fried chicken, hamburgers, pizza, potato chips, and carbonated drinks like coke as main parts of their meals. They generalized that almost all American people are having such an eating habit. They were surprized in a way since their family usually have meals cooked at home and felt that making use of fast foods was the typical American style. The writer responded that they should not jump into such a conclusion. Later they found that none of the family members they stayed with were college graduates. Does an eating habit have to do with higher education among the people of the United States? What about Japanese people? Then what about some students at Himeji Dokkyo University? It was not such a great discovery for them after their home-stay experiences, but it became the beginning of their quest activity for the writer's seminar class called "Culturally Different Criteria for Decision-making."

One of the students became very interested in this topic of one's eating habit and decided to look into it further by comparing some students at Himeji Dokkyo University with some students at a rather famous university in the United States.

First, he thought up a situation that a student was getting hungry in an apartment as the sun was going down and that the school cafeteria was closed on weekends. Second, he set four alternatives. One is that the student would drink coke and eat potato chips that were only found in the refrigerator. The second alternative is that the student would go to the fast food shop nearby and eat something there. The third alternative is that the student would get some foods at the grocery shop nearby and cook something in the apartment. The fourth alternative is that the student would go to a restaurant to eat something there. Third, he asked some students at HDU which they would choose if they were in the student's situation. Fourth, he asked the same question of some students at S. University in the United States. The results he found were different from what he had assumed as follows:

At HDU 56 students would eat the potato chips and drink coke, 22 students would go to the fast food shop nearby and eat something there, 20 students would get some foods at the grocery shop and cook something in the apartment, and 15 students would go to a restaurant and eat something there. On the other hand, at S. University in California 2 students would eat the potato chips and drink coke, 1 student would go to the fast food shop and eat something there, 7 students would get some foods at the grocery shop and cook something at the apartment, and 4 students would go to a restaurant to eat something there. The data at HDU and S. university did not have any significant difference according to the gender, almost the same ratio between men and women.

The chi-square of the four numbers of the first table; p=78 at HDU; r=3 at S. University in California, of the item for eating the potato chips and drinking coke plus going to the fast food shop nearby; q=35 at HDU, and s=11 at S. university in California, of the item for cooking something at the apartment plus going to a restaurant was 12.2. The figure clearly indicates their different eating habits. 　　　　　　　 　　　　

Also the chi-square of the four numbers of the second table; p=56 at HDU; r=2 at S. University in California, of the item for eating the potato chips; q=20 at HDU, and s=7 at S. University in California, of the item of cooking something at the apartment was 9.8. This figure also supports empirically the different selection of their eating style.

Although the number of students he asked at S. university in the United States was small, he realized that his assumption of making use of fast foods is the typical American style did not apply in the case of the students at S. University in the United States. Furthermore, he actually heard the reason from them that fast foods are not good for your health as well as eating potato chips and drinking coke. The results certainly contradicted from what he had seen in his host family a year before.

On the other hand, he was surprised or even frightened to find out that most of the students at HDU would eat fast foods or eat potato chips and drink coke instead of cooking by themselves or dining at a restaurant. He discovered that the students at HDU would no longer follow the Japanese traditional eating style in the situation he specified. He thought that this change of eating habit means a lot to him and even to the Japanese people. Besides, his interviewing experience in the United States certainly enlightened him. He learned that the students at S. University in California are quite aware of their health and taking care of what they eat as consumers.

His survey activity and his presentation at the seminar class enabled the whole seminar students to be aware of what they eat as consumers and even to learn which foods are more nutritious and good for human health. Later they discovered the importance of growing and having organic foods as they were looking through some articles concerning foods and health. One interesting article found in Tensenjingo of Asahi morning newspaper dated March 17, 1998 (Asahi Evening News dated March 18,1998) was as follows:

"What follows is the story of a friend who toured the American West Coast recently. He saw a 'school vegetable garden' in the grounds of a public junior high school in the suburbs of San Francisco. In the garden were little plaques marked 'carrots,' 'potatoes,' 'Broccoli,' and so on.

It must have been a good 2,000 square meters in size. He was told that students were using organic farming methods to grow corn, cabbages, soybeans, tomatoes, and other vegetables. The students prepared their lunches using the vegetables they had grown. Near the garden, there were long wooden tables and benches which could seat 30 to 40 students.

Apparently, this school used to be a 'blackboard jungle.' The school's buildings were covered with graffiti, its windows always broken.

But when the vegetable garden and home-grown lunches began, the children gradually calmed down. The graffiti ceased and windows were left intact.

The experiment came to be talked about, and California State authorities incorporated the idea in their educational reforms. It is reported that there are now similar vegetable gardens in more than 1,000 public junior high schools.

The idea came from Alice Waters, who owns a restaurant which serves only organically grown vegetables. She had become worried about the devastation about the junior high school, which she saw every day on her way to and from her restaurant.

Waters, who had experience teaching at an elementary school, became acquainted with the junior high school principal and recommended a vegetable garden be created. 'The children are eating only ready-made fast food. That is bad for both their physical and mental health,' she said.

Bad eating habits must be somehow correlated to loss of discipline in the classroom and by extension, in society in general.

She told a friend who visited her restaurant, 'Opportunities for the whole family to eat dishes they have made themselves have decreased. Each member dines separately.

'The children should be able to learn consideration for living things and other people, perseverance and self-restraint from both the garden and the kitchen.'

Although I do not know the scientific basis, there apparently is a definite relationship between creating a vegetable garden and calm minds.

During his U.S. trip, my friend heard the following words many times, 'Under the present way of living, the world will be ruined. Let's try a different approach.' (Asahi Shimbun, March 17)"

The seminar students became interested in not only foods and health but also water, air, fuels, soap and washing detergent, cosmetics, and the whole environment which affect all living creatures as well as our human health. They learned how harmful the chlorine in the running water is and how much synthetic detergent for the washing machine is causing the water pollution. They have become much aware of Ecology and the environmental issues.

Also the seminar students learned that some of the assumptions they made towards overseas people could be mere prejudice and that they cannot come to a conclusion unless they do some research on what they are discussing. Their experiences through the seminar class enabled them to build their characters toward more internationally minded qualities with more global values (Karita, 1991) that could be defined as follows:

1. You should feel as comfortable with differences as you do with similarities in terms of horizontal feelings -- but not of vertical feelings, such as being superior or inferior.

2. You should not measure other things or others by only your own standards.

<3. You should be able to accept and describe as is both subjectively and objectively. If you can analyze reality thusly, the world will be benefited. Furthermore, if you can predict the future from accurate analyses, you will be lauded.

4. Never impose any idea, ideology, or behavior upon others, nor threaten to do so.

5. Don't judge others on the basis of superficial knowledge or of mere appearances.

6. Constantly strive to broaden and deepen your knowledge of whatever you might encounter.

7. Be sensitive, alert, and considerate towards those you encounter so that they may not feel left out, lonely, or ostracized; but never try to interfere in their affairs; above all, respect their decision-making and privacy unless you are invited to intervene. You should be cognizant of both of these concepts; (a)"Do unto others as you would have them do unto you"; (b)"Don't do unto others what you would not have them do unto you."

8. Be creative and constructive, and persist in trying to think up modi operandi to meet the needs of others.

9. Never consciously hurt anyone. Indeed, encourage all human beings not to hurt each other. But if you do or someone else should hurt another by mistake, ensure that said misstep is not repeated.

10. Remember that your point of view is only one -- among a googol of others. There are more points of view than you can possibly contemplate or anticipate. Abandon the notion that you are the center of the universe. Self-centered individuals are abhorred. Esteem the sentiments of those who are quiet, hesitant, and reserved.

II. The Seminar Students' Specific Findings on Culturally Different Values

Universal Traits

The Japanese students tend to form some stereotyped images toward overseas people, who could be different from what they usually act. However, through this seminar class the students learned that they are basically the same human beings. They try to be sensitive toward other people and care for others and that the feelings between men and women could be more similar to each other instead of assuming they could be exotic.

Some students discovered common traits instead of different ones as follows:

(1)Komada's Survey: Suppose you went abroad for the first time and were welcomed by your host family who had prepared nice dinner for you but that you had no appetite because of jet lag and nervous feelings, what would you do?

A: You would refuse to eat the meal, frankly telling them why.

B: You would be willing to eat the whole meal by all means.

C: You would eat the half of the meal and leave the rest.

(Japanese Students at HDU; A:16 C:27, American Students; A:8 C:15) no difference (chi-square=0.03)

(2)Kawaguchi's Survey: Suppose you had a son with a career but he had a habit of oversleeping. One day he had an appointment with his boss at 9:00am, but he was still sleeping at 8:00am. It would take him about an hour to get to the office. What would you do?

A: You would wake him up and lead him to go to the office immediately.

B: You would do nothing because he was grown up and would have to take care of himself.

(Japanese Students at HDU; A:41 B:7, American Students; A:14 B:3) no difference (chi-square=0.09)

(3)Itoh's Survey: If you and your boyfriend/girlfriend decided to go to a movie and asked him/her which film he/she wanted to see and then his/her response was different from what you wanted to see, what would you do?

A: You would not tell him/her what you wanted to see and try to enjoy watching the movie he/she requested.

B: You would tell him/her what you really wanted to see and try to convince him/her to watch the one you chose instead of watching his/her choice of film.

(Japanese students at HDU; A:33 B:20, British students; A:10 B:5) no difference (chi-square=0.09)

If you and your boyfriend/girlfriend decided to eat at a restaurant and asked him/her whether he/she would like to eat at an Italian restaurant or at a Japanese restaurant and his/her response was different from what you wanted, what would you do?

A: You would not tell him/her which restaurant you would prefer and try to enjoy having dinner at his/her choice of restaurant.

B: You would tell him/her which restaurant you would really prefer and try to convince him/her to have dinner at your choice of restaurant.

(Japanese students at HDU; A:22 B:30, British students; A:9 B:6) no difference (chi-square=1.46)

(4)Nakao's Survey: Suppose you fell in love with a boyfriend of yours. One day you noticed that your close friend loved him, too. She was your best friend for many years. What would you do?

A: You would give up loving him.

B: You would never give up loving him. (Japanese Students at HDU; A:16 B:26, American Students; A:8 B:13) no difference (chi-square=0.00)

Peculiar Traits among Himeji Dokkyo University Students in Comparison with Overseas Students

1. The students at HDU tend to consider that their work at their career has the primary importance. The ratios between their valuing their work and others are as follows:

(1) Watanabe's Survey

Your closest friend's mother died and your friend asked you to come to his/her funeral. But you had an important meeting on that day. Your salary was good and you liked your job very much. If　you missed the meeting, you might be fired. If you missed the funeral, he/she might not talk to you forever. What would you do?

A: You would go to the meeting of the company.

B: You would go to the funeral.

(Japanese students at HDU A:39 B:21, Australian students A:3 B:15) significantly different (chi-square=13.01)

(2) Yamashita's Survey

Suppose you were an employee of a company and that you were invited to dinner by your boss. The boss and other employees would expect your attendance and it was hard for you to refuse the invitation. But you had already planned to have a great birthday party for your wife/husband. What would you do?

A: You would go to the dinner set by your boss.

B: You would go to the birthday party.

(Japanese students at HDU; A:49 B:71, American students; A:0 B:15)significantly different (chi-square=9.61)

(3) Araki's Survey

Suppose you had a career and a nice family, and you just bought a new house, which was your dream. But your boss ordered you to go to another city. Although it is a good chance for you to be promoted, you would have to move to that city and live there alone away from your wife/husband and children. What would you do?

A: You would take the chance and move to another city, separating from your family.

B: You would decline your boss's order and live with your family even if you might have to quit your job.

(Japanese students at HDU; A:38 B:14, American students; A:3 B:15) significantly different (chi-square=17.5)

2. The students at HDU would probably feel more personally obligated to somebody who is really close than overseas people, even violating the exam rules but not to the extent that they have to express themselves aggressively.

<(4)Inoue's survey

Suppose your friend was being bullied by a group of people and you wanted to help him/her. If you tried to stop them bullying your friend, you would surely be bullied. What would you do?

A: You would try to help him/her anyway.

B: You would just watch them bullying your friend until they go away and then try to console him/her.

C: You would immediately walk away from the situation.

(Japanese students at HDU; A:7 B:36 C:0, American students; A:13 B:5 C:0) significantly different (chi-square=18.01)

(5)Matsumoto's survey

Suppose you went on a hiking with your classmates. You came to the point where there were three roads; the first one looked like quite a dangerous path along the ocean; the second one was a safe and wide road; and the third one also looked like a dangerous path toward the steep mountain side. Your girlfriend/boyfriend insisted on taking the first path; your friend of the same sex insisted on taking the third path; and the rest of your classmates decided to take the second road. What would you do?

A: You would take the first path with your boy/girlfriend.

B: You would take the second road with your other classmates.

C: You would take the third path with your friend.

(Japanese students at HDU; A:73 B:37 C:24, Non-Japanese; American Students; A:4 B:10 C:4.) (Compare the ratio 97:37 with 8:10) significantly different (chi-square=6.36)

(9)Ebihara's Survey

What would you do if your friend asked you to show your answers to him/her at the midterm exam? Your friend had often helped you in many ways.

A: You would not show your answer to him/her.

B: You would show your answer to him/her.

(Japanese students at HDU; A:5 B:28, Australian students; A:36 B:21) significantly different (chi-square=19.42)

3. The students at HDU would seek stability as their priority and would seek financial security rather than seeking dreams in their life.

(6)Furuta's Survey

Suppose your dream was to work for the people in a developing country although it seemed very hard and a little dangerous. There was also a common job that would be much safer and give you a good salary, and you would be sure to get the job if you wanted. Your family and boy/girlfriend suggest that you not go to the developing country. What would you do?

A: You would go to the developing country to work for the people there, which was your dream.

B: You would get the secure job in your home country.

(Japanese students at HDU; A:47 B32, British students; A:23 B:5) significantly different (chi-square=4.69)

(7)Mizuguchi's Survey

Suppose you had to quit your present job and you received about US$10,000 as severance pay. Though you had always wanted to have your own shop, you needed about US$40,000 more. If you decided to open a shop, your dream would come true but would have to borrow US$40,000. You were also offered to get a new job at another company; however, the salary would be rather less than the previous place. If you took the job, then you would probably give up your dream. What would you do?

A: You would open your own shop.

B: You would get the new job at another company.

(Japanese students at HDU; A:58 B:84, American & European students; A:33 B:7) significantly different (chi-square=21.66)

(8)Reiko Matsumoto's Survey

Suppose you wanted to be a professional dancer, but it was highly competitive and seemed to be quite difficult. Your parents suggested that you get a job at your father's company and that it would be better for you to learn how to operate computers instead of taking　dancing lessons. What would you do?

A: You would never give up your dream and try to be a professional dancer.

B: You would give up your dream and start learning how to work on computers.

(Japanese students at HDU; A:11 B:25, American students; A:22 B:1) significantly different (chi-square=24.13)

(10)Sohn's Survey

Suppose you were going to decide on your major field before entering the university because you had to pass the entrance exam in the field you chose to be officially enrolled in the major field of the university. Your uncle advised you to get into the field of X so that he could assure you a secure career at his friend's company although you really wanted to study the field of Y, which would not assure you to get any job at all. You could be allowed to be enrolled only into one major field (under most of the Japanese university systems). Which major field would you choose?

A: You would get into the major field of Y as you had really wanted to study.

B: You would get into the major field of X so that you could be assured to get a secure job.

(Japanese students at HDU; A: 22 B: 17, American students; A: 22 B: 4 ) significantly different (chi-square=5.67)

4. The students at HDU would tend to keep away from taking aggressive actions or conspicuous behaviors and try not to interfere any other person's matter not to bring up personal negative aspects in life but to stay calm as much as possible instead of seeking one's being honest or persisting that something must be done.

(11)Odagiri's Survey

Suppose you were a new employee at a company and your senior employee(=someone who had been employed there longer)often helped you. One day the senior employee took some money from the company and invested it in his/her personal stock portfolio. You were the only person who knew the incident. You were also informed by the senior employee that his/her father had been hospitalized and needed a large amount of money to undergo an operation. On the following day your section chief was puzzled by the figures he was working on and asked all the employees in his section concerning the strange figures. What would you do?

A: You would report to your section chief about the senior employee's embezzlement.

B: You would advise the senior employee to return the money as soon as possible in secret.

C: You would do nothing and pretend that you saw nothing about it.

(Japanese students at HDU; A:3 B:25 C:22, American Students; A: 12 B:21 C:4) (A&B:28 C:22 vs. A&B:33 C:4) significantly different (chi-square=11.18) (A:3 C:22 vs. A:12 C:4) significantly different(chi-square=16.69)

(13)Hiraoka's Survey

Suppose you were to attend a meeting at a company in which a plan would be decided. Unfortunately the road was so jammed that you were late for the meeting. When you entered the room, the plan has just been decided on. You had thought about your own plan for a long time and you had a good idea. What would you do?

A: You would ask the participants of the meeting to hear your presentation and then make decisions.

B: You would follow their decision.

(Japanese students at HDU; A:24 B:14, Hong Kong; Singapore; New Zealand; A:20 B:3) significantly different (chi-square=4.04)

(14)Kimura's Survey

Suppose you had a question during class and you wanted to know about it, what would you do?

A: You would raise your hand and ask the teacher about it.

B: You would ask your friends about it.

(Japanese students at HDU; A:2 B:59, European students; A:27 B:0) significantly different (chi-square=79.24)

(15)Fukunaga's Survey

Suppose you entered the classroom quietly because you were late. Then the majority of the students in the class were raising their hands. Now what would you do?

A: You would go to the teacher and ask what the question was.

B: You would raise your hand, following the majority. Or you would keep sitting down without raising your hand.

(Japanese students at HDU; A:4 B:93, Australian students; A:15 B:6) significantly different (chi-square=57.88)

III. The Virtual Edutainment System using Active-X, the Great Opportunity for the Players (students) to Discover Where They Stand in the Culturally Different Value Scale

Since the survey results have turned out to be so interesting, the writer and his co-researcher have made a simulation game. Its applications, for the statistical figures alone are of groups, does not explain where a particular individual stands, or whether he or she cannot easily grasp the idea of his or her tendency toward the western type decision-making or Japanese type decision-making. Up to this point, unless the students have quite a few chances to be with those with different cultural backgrounds through their personal connections, they might have a difficult time looking objectively at the box of the culture they belong to, especially the values or criteria for decision-making. For Japanese students who do not have an easy access to those with overseas cultural backgrounds, it is quite hard to understand what is really meant by "Internationalism." So just to grasp the idea of being different when encountering other cultures, some devices to create a "virtual reality" might be quite helpful to them.

To enable students to make full use of various communicational media and to meet with various kinds of people for more proper informational exchange and to educate them to be more creative in the twenty first century, it is important to provide students with several devices so that they can not only understand things as their knowledge but also experience and feel them whether they are real or virtual. This approach is intended to enable students to become not only interested in themselves but also to discover where they stand while they play this innovative simulation game called "VESAX=Virtual Edutainment Systems using Active-X," which is based on fifteen surveys and their statistical analyses and assisted by the inter-net and multi-media technology (The Collaborative Work done by Testuo Shimada & Masakazu Karita, 1998). The main advantage of this game is to enable students to realize cultural differences without going to overseas countries and to show that their own discoveries are so fascinating that their enthusiasm will stimulate further discussion.

The Brief Description of "VESAX":

This is a simulation game of balancing the work ethic and other values of life. (This simulation game was created on the basis of the seminar students' survey concerning the theme, "Culturally Different Criteria for Decision-making.")

Suppose you were a business tycoon and planned to open a new enterprise in a rather unfamiliar continent. Considering the society and the　environment in which the enterprise might grow, you would have to make　several important decisions. So far, fortunately or unfortunately, you have noticed that the country called Japan and her economy have had a great impact upon the area you are trying to get into.

Question: How much (What percentages) would you like to have the Japanese people's cultural influence be in the process of your decision-making?

Throughout all the questions indicated in the VESAX, the response A is always a positive factor, a good balance and the response B is considered to be a negative one. Japanese people are certainly hardworking people and they set their priorities on work, however, their other values of life do not seem to be so wholesome and pleasant. The enterprise must grow big but the society it creates must be wholesome, pleasant, and interesting as well.

In the VESAX, one can realize what a common Japanese and a common westerner's tendency of decision-making and their outcomes along with the size and shape of the globe which appears every time you click the box of the result sign. One can also realize where he or she stands in comparison with both a common Japanese and a common westerner's decision-making after having responded to the questions or checking A or B or sometimes C in every three questions under six criteria, which are (1)Growth of the Enterprise in terms of the People's Work, (2)Individual Care in the Enterprise and the Society, (3)Various Aspects of Development throughout the Society, (4)Fair Opportunities for Business and Employment, (5)Satisfaction of Family Members in terms of Having a Good Life Together, and (6)Growth of the Enterprise and Society in terms of Information Flow with the People's Understanding. The VESAX shows that if you stay as a common Japanese, you may be working very hard, and takes a great care of only those who are really close to yourself through the so-called personal connections, but do not grow into various aspects much; resulting in creating an uninteresting society, having only a few chances for good business and good employment, sacrificing your time more for the work instead of your family, and trying to do your best to conceal something obnoxious for face values whether you understand them or not. And the End result is that the globe crashes as if you felt so frustrated and your life became so uncomfortable and unhappy. Through the VESAX one can realize that a common Japanese decision-making does not lead to create a wholesome society. Of course, there are some negative sides in almost all cultures. But realizing them in one's culture and trying to improve them as an individual through his or her decision-making certainly means a lot to any Japanese individual who plays this game as one can see some negative examples in recent news because of the Japanese decision-making tendency such as sales of HIV apparently contained unheated blood, concealing the real situations of nuclear power stations, unfair stock markets for exclusively protected groups, monopolized special enterprises connected to public business for central and local governments, etc. and etc.

The goal for the VESAX is not to vanish all Japanese cultural decision-making elements but to enable each student to see things more with international views and more with global values after one's discovery and enlightenment in comparison with value systems of other cultures.

The VESAX is the tool for students to see cultural differences while looking at the shape and size of the globe. Since it is difficult to look at yourself and your decision-making objectively, if you are inside the box of a particular culture, this simulation game helps you. Why is it so important?

Looking at yourself and your decision-making objectively is not possible if you are inside the box of culture and not knowing other cultures. Especially for Japanese people with a comparatively homogeneous cultural background, it may become too late for them to realize that there are other views and other values of life after having had a few chances to meet with overseas people of different cultures. While young, whether and how much you could get to know or experience different values and points of view would certainly affect your whole life and enlighten your personal scope of life. More international and more global points of view are becoming essential part of education, especially in the field of ESL, EFL, or EIL.

How does this simulation game, the VESAX work?

First, you click "GO!", and you can start understanding your own decision-making criteria objectively in comparison with other people's decision-making with different cultural backgrounds. Second, you click "Example", and you can see a common westerner's decision making tendency and a common Japanese decision-making, and your decision-making tendency after you have responded to all the survey questions. As you click the six small boxes, you can see the six criteria when you, a business tycoon, ponder which aspects of enterprise and the society it creates are important. Click one of the six, and you can see three surveys under each criterion. Then, further clicking will lead you to have a conflict, for example, between the funeral of your friend's mother and an important meeting at the company you work for. If you click the result sign, you can see the shape and size of the globe depending on your selection of A or B or sometimes C. Then you move on to the second, and the third criterion up to the sixth criterion. In other words, you can see the immediate outcome of your selection if you wish to do so. In the final stage there are (1) and (2) situations. (1) refers to the situation you could keep the globe survive although its shape is rather flat. (2) refers to the situation you let the globe crash. Of course, one cannot say one culture is better than another. In any culture there are mixed aspects. However, if you could realize objectively which direction the whole box of culture or a particular group of culture is heading and discovered it wrong or at least discovered there is a better way, why not try to change the direction or values? And if you could provide students with that chance through this edutainment, I think it is quite meaningful. Of course these data inputs are not the absolute measurements, however, at least give the students the chance to reconsider their values and priorities.

IV. The World's Reactions as well as the Seminar Students'

e-mail correspondence

All of the seminar students felt that they liked corresponding with people abroad concerning culturally different issues. They have several reasons for their positive attitudes toward their projects. First, they could have the direct communication with people abroad. Second, they had their specific goals, finding out whether they have culturally different criteria for decision-making under their individual situations. Third, every time they received their responses from the people abroad, they felt that they were learning something new. It was mainly because they were surprized to find out that the people abroad usually stated their reasons for selecting the choice of A or B.

Also the people who responded to the students' questions are quite curious about their projects and wanted to know what the seminar students could reach by doing the survey. Also they were curious about how the seminar students obtained their e-mail addresses. In other words, they were quite positive toward the information exchange, both expressing themselves and wanting to find out what they do not know or to get the new information. The seminar students at HDU seemed to have been less aggressive toward the information exchange as one can see this point even from their surveys such as few students' asking their teachers directly concerning what they were curious about. Even through the e-mail correspondence the seminar students could learn about aggressive English communication.

classroom connections and discussion

The people, who showed their interest in the theme, culturally different criteria for decision-making, were not just students. Dr. Steve Carver at Leeds in United Kingdom, whose speciality is Geography, became very interested in what the seminar students were doing and wrote them a letter concerning the collaborative study with the theme called cultural differences in approaches to spatial and non-spatial decision-making & use of information technology to assist in decision-making as shown in the appendix-1. 　　　　　

Through IECC, the classes of Cross-Cultural Psychology at Hiram College in Ohio and St. Olaf College in Minnesota and the class of Intercultural Communication at Spokane Community College in Washington showed their interest in this project. The seminar students not only exchanged the information but also had meaningful discussions concerning their findings. Although it was the classroom connections, they could contact with the seminar students individually. These experiences did enlighten the seminar students and enabled them to recognize that there are always different views on the other side of the earth about things they encounter. And they commented that it is necessary to have different views as they try to make best decisions or try to solve problems in their life. The examples of their exchange are shown in the appendix-2.

the direct interviewing experience

Although not all of the students in the seminar students could have the direct interviewing experiences with the people abroad, those who did have the experiences were certainly enlightened by the sensational exchange of their live conversation. One of them who was extremely fascinated by this interviewing process to find out about other cultural values, even after having completed the seminar paper, went on a trip and did have the interviewing. As a whole, he traveled over other Asian countries, North and South America, Europe, and Africa. He commented that through this seminar project, he gained his confidence to communicate with different peoples all over the world and felt that his personality was growing by finding out other people's different values and felt necessary to keep on doing so.

Throughout the seminar course on Culturally Different Criteria for Decision-making, as a whole, the students did gain enthusiasm in aggressive English communication. The future project for theseminar class would probably be creating an international community, a virtual reality game in the inter-net, and enabling students from all over the world to interact both orally and visually, using English as a means of communication.

Appendix-1

1 refers to a common westerner's decision-making. 2 refers to a common Japanese decision-making. 3. You (only today) refers to the one who made ideal choices.

4 through 7 refers to what percentage you applied the common Japanese decision-making, meaning tendency to choose B or C in the criteria from 2 to 6 except the first criterion, hardworking aspect. You can see the outcome of each level of percentage and you might change your value to see how it works in other cases, which is also quite meaningful to discover other selections and other outcomes.

図１．は VＥＳＡXシステムの初期画面

The First Page of the VESAX Simulation Game (Drawing#1)

図２．はActiveXドキュメントファイルを起動するための初期画面

The Starter of the Document Active-X file (Drawing#2)

図３.は６つの大テーマを選択するためのフォーム画面の一つの例です。

In this game the theme, "Culturally Different Criteria for Decision-making" is supported by six criteria, and you can choose any criterion to start from. (Drawing#3)

図４.はそれぞれの大テーマ１から６のテーマ別に画面（１）から（６）が対応しています。

You can see the six criteria, and you can also see three pictures of the three situations under each criterion. (Drawing#4)

図５．は各テーマにはＨＤＵの学生の調査に対応した３つの具体的な設問の画面

You can see the actual questions of the three surveys made by the HDU seminar students. (Drawing#5)

図６．は実際のアンケートに対応し、設問に対して答える用紙画面

You can respond to the questions by selecting A or B or sometimes C. (Drawing#6)

図７．は設問に対応して、あらかじめ定められた判断基準をもとに地球のひずみを表した画面

Depending on the responses, the shape and size of the globe changes; the smaller and the flatter, the worse. (Drawing#7)

図８.はシミュレーションの最終画面の２つの状態で(1)はセーフの状態(2)はアウトの状態

The last scene of this simulation game (Drawing#8): (1) is probably the flattest and somehow managed to survive, and (2) is the crashed globe.

図９．は平均的な文化的な相違をもつ２つの集団およびあなたとの比較 　　　さらにはグループＢの考えをあなたが取り入れたときのシミュレーションの選択画面です。(Drawing#9)

1 refers to a common westerner who tends to choose A under the 2nd through 6th criteria but B under the 1st criterion.

2 refers to a common Japanese who tends to choose B under the 2nd through 6th criteria but A under the 1st criterion.

3 will be the analysis of your responses, but here was the tentatively created "ideal you."

4 through 7 refers to what percentage you applied the common Japanese decision-making and its outcome.

図１０．はシミュレーションの途中結果の表示です。 You can see the shape and size of the globe even if you are in the middle of the simulation game. (Drawing#10)

図１１．はシミュレーションの最終結果の表示で(1)はセーフの場合(2)はアウトの場合

These are the final stages of the simulation game (Drawing#11). In (1) you could manage to survive the globe, however, in (2) you let the globe crash.

Appendix-2

Date: Wed, 30 Jul 1997 12:04:07 +0100 (BST)

From: Steve Carver

To: arise@himeji-du.ac.jp

Subject: Public participation in decision-making

X-Sun-Charset: US-ASCII

Dear CDCD Group,

We conversed over email quite some time ago re: your CDCD web-page and the work we are doing here at Leeds on GIS and SDSS on the WWW. I was interested in your work and its potential relevance to a project just starting here at Leeds 'Public participation in local decision making: evaluating the potential of virtual decision making environments'. This is being funded by the UK's Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) over the next two years as part of their 'Virtual Society' research programme. In conjunction with this I have details of a 'Japan Council Collaborative Research Project (CRP) Award' from the British Council in Tokyo. Further details are available on:

http://www.refund.ncl.ac.uk/Sub/Issues/Iss08/Items/I08-2-26.html

and from:

brendan.barker@bc-tokyo.sprint.com

I would like to inquire with you as to whether your group would be interested in formulating a collaborative agreement for exchange visits as part of our shared interests? This may be at least part funded by such a CRP award.

The latest address for our GIS decision support system is:

http://www.ccg.leeds.ac.uk/mce/mce-home.htm

I look forward to hearing from you in due course. I am away on my annual holiday from tomorrow until 14th August, so please accept my apologies for any late response to a reply from yourselves.

Yours sincerely,

Dr Steve Carver

School of Geography

University of Leeds

Leeds, UK, LS2 9JT

Appendix-3

From: fischergb@HIRAM.EDU

Date: Mon, 10 Nov 1997 14:08:41 -0600

Subject: Project: "Cross-Cultural Psychology Course"

Precedence: bulk

To: iecc-he@stolaf.edu

Precedence: bulk

Request from: -------------

Name: Gwen B. Fischer

E-Mail: fischergb@hiram.edu

Institution: Hiram College (higher-ed)

Location: Hiram, Ohio, USA

Summary: Cross-Cultural Psychology Course

Other Comments: ---------------

I'm teaching a cross-cultural psychology course an intensive (3 hrs/day, 4 days/week for 3 weeks) format. I'd like to have students (in small groups) be able to "talk" to young adults in other countries about some of the cultural issues we'll be reading about---gender roles, cultural attitudes towards health, communication problems (verbal and non-verbal), stereotypes, attitudes towards work, education, child rearing, love and marriage, freedom and individuality. I'd be happy to talk with any teachers who want to discuss or suggest any projects related to these topics. Suggestions or references would be appreciated. --

The preceding was posted through the St. Olaf College World Wide Web gateway to the IECC mailing lists. For more information about searching IECC or submitting information to IECC, see: http://www.stolaf.edu/network/iecc/ ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- --- -- -----

IECC-PROJECTS is intended for teachers seeking classroom partners for an intercultural e-mail project. To subscribe or unsubscribe from this list, please send an e-mail message to: "iecc-projects-request@stolaf.edu" More information is available at URL: http://www.stolaf.edu/network/iecc/ ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- ----- -----

IECC-HE is intended for teachers seeking other teachers for international and intercultural classroom e-mail partnerships in HIGHER EDUCATION. To subscribe or unsubscribe, please send an e-mail message to: "iecc-he-request@stolaf.edu"

More information is available at URL: http://www.stolaf.edu/network/iecc/

Dear Masakazu Karita

From: Gwen Bredendieck Fischer

E-mail: Fischergb@Hiram.edu

Institution: Hiram College

Location: Hiram OH USA

Seeking partner:

I have posted a request which you might see on the mail list, but being new to this exchange and trying to settle my course syllabus for an intensive 3-week course that begins December 1, 1997, I'm attempting to see whether you are still interested, given your request from earlier this fall.

The subject matter of my course is "Cross-Cultural Psychology." My class will consist of 16-18 students, all 18-20 years old. We will meet 3 hours/day, 4 days/week for 3 weeks (Dec. 1-20). I am using a text called "Culture and Psychology" by David Matsumoto (from San Francisco State University) and a text called "Love and Sex: Cross-Cultural Perspectives" by Elaine Hatfield and Richard Rapson.

We'll be talking about what culture is, self and personality, child-rearing, attitudes towards work, Stereotypes and intergroup relations, ethnocentrism, attitudes towards health, gender roles, communication.

I'd be interested in any kind of interaction my students might have with your students. I can't guarantee continuation of contact beyond December 20, but would be very willing to build in a course requirement for my students to maintain regular contact between December 1-20.

----Gwen

Date: Tue, 2 Dec 1997 23:08:06 -0500 (EST)

From: COULTERHC@HIRAM.EDU

To: arise@himeji-du.ac.jp

Subject: Re: Multicultural Connections: Info.about survey

Dear Mr. Karita,

It is not any trouble at all for me to send the results of the survey to the individual students. I am still waiting to receive all of the responses and to compile the results to send you but I will send them as soon as possible.

If your students would like additional practice in writing and speaking English they can feel free to e-mail me at any time. I am a student assistant in the Center for International Studies here on campus, and I am planning to have a career in cultural anthropology so I would really enjoy hearing from them and possibly having friendships develop. The e-mail messages that would be sent to me to practice their English will not be shared with other students or faculty. It will be simply communication as friends.

The only e-mail messages that I will share will be the ones which are about the survey and the class subject matter.

I hope to be able to send you the results soon. Please feel free to let me know if you have any questions. I will be happy to help you in any way possible. Also, thank you for your quick response to my message. I was really excited to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Honey Coulter

P.S. Thanks for the compliment on my name. You can address me simply as Honey if you wish. I do not mind at all. Have a good day.

Date: Thu, 18 Dec 1997 23:55:33 -0500 (EST)

From: COULTERHC@HIRAM.EDU

To: arise@himeji-du.ac.jp

Subject: Thank you from Honey and the rest of Cross Cultural Psychology Class

From: HIRAM::COULTERHC 18-DEC-1997 23:52:29.23

To: COULTERHC

CC:

Subj: Final letter 3rd Test ccpc

Dear Mr. Karita,

Thank you for allowing me to be the contact between our classes. I have thoroughly enjoyed corresponding with you and your students over the last three weeks, and I have learned many new and interesting things about Japan.

Our class is coming to an end now, with out last class meeting on 19 December, and I would like to thank you and your students on behalf of my classmates and Professor Fischer for helping us to learn about your culture.

Professor Fischer has asked me to tell you about one thing I have learned from our book: _Culture and Psychology_ by David Matsumoto. As I was trying to decide which of the many things I have learned to tell you about, I realized it should be the one that best relates to your students' questions and subject matter. It is for this reason that I am going to attempt to distinguish for you the difference that individualistic and collectivistic cultures have on their members' sense of self.

While "our sense of self, or self-construal, [has] influences [on our] perception of the world" (37), the way various cultures view it can be totally different. In individualistic cultures, the main goal for people is to remain independent as a "separate, self-contained entity" (38). Thus, "under this independent control of self, individuals focus on personal internal attributes--individual ability, intelligence, personality traits, goals, or preferences--expressing them in public and verifying them in private through social comparison" (38). In such cultures, achievement motivation refers to the desire for excellence that is closely linked to individual successes (43), and "it is for the sake of 'me' personally that the individual strives to achieve" (44). This form of achievement was named "individually oriented" by Yang in 1982 (44). Along with these characteristics, a false uniqueness effect occurs individualistic cultures. This is the "tendency to underestimate the commonalty of an individual's desirable traits" (45). That is, a person believes a desirable trait that they find in themselves is unique to them when in fact it is quite common.

A collectivistic culture, however, views the self as interdependent. The primary goal is to fit in and "these cultures emphasize what may be called 'fundamental connectedness of human beings'" (39). The interdependent construal of self can be illustrated by the phrase; "the nail that sticks up shall get pounded down" (40). A collectivist culture has socially-oriented achievement motivation in which "the individual strives to achieve for the sake of relevant others such as family members" (44). There is no false uniqueness effect in collectivist societies because the emphasis is to fit in, therefore self-esteem comes from belonging rather than being an individual(45).

I hope that this information can be useful to you and your class in some way. I want to thank you once again for your co-operation and for including us in your class activities. We really enjoyed participating in your forget year party, and I feel it was a great year to close this term of our semester. I wish you the best of luck in the remaining days of this year and throughout the new year. Enjoy your up-coming vacation.

Sincerely,

Honey Coulter

Name: VAL Clark

E-mail:vclark@ctc.edu

Institution: Spokane Community College

location: Spokane WA. 99207 USA

PARTNER TYPE: CLASS INTERCULTURE COMMUNICATION

Instituion Type: higher-ed

Language: English

Time Frame: Fall 1996 and Winter 1997

Number of Partners: Fall:33 / Winter:27

Other Comments:

Teacher would like to participate Decision-making survey with class members

Fall and /or Winter quarter

Please send a copy if you still need partners of the survey.

Date: Tue, 27 Jan 1998 09:23:56 -0600

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"

To: arise@himeji-du.ac.jp (Masakazu Karita)

From: roberts@stolaf.edu (Bruce Roberts)

Subject: Re: Feedback about the survey

Cc: psych-259@stolaf.edu

Dear Professor Masakazu Karita,

Thank you for your helpful survey and the recent extensive email describing your exciting process and results. The 18 students in our Cross-Cultural Psychology class have completed the survey and discussed each question in class. We were fascinated by the results, both those of our classmates here at St. Olaf College, and those from the Japanese students and the students from Italy and Australia. Your thoughtfulness in creating this survey is appreciated and it added much to our education.

We especially thought that it was fascinating that not only could weusually not predict well how Japanese students (for instance) would answer the questions, we often could not predict well how the other students in our own class would answer. There was often great diversity among students in your (Japanese) classes and in ours. This recognition helped us understand that even when there are important cultural differences between two groups of students, that there is still a great deal of diversity within groups.

We liked it that your questions were such normal, everyday-life types of questions. That made it easy to identify with the issues you were addressing. Thanks for taking the time to make the questions so realistic. We felt as though your questions and answers helped us identify a lot of the cultural issues we have been talking about in class.

We have a few suggestions, if that is OK with you. Please understand that we really liked what you have done, however, the students want to be helpful to your excellent project and have a few ideas which you may find useful. Should our suggestions be considered rude in your culture, please excuse us, for in our culture (at least in academia) it is considered courteous to have thought enough about what people are doing and saying to be able to make a few meaningful suggestions.

1. Sometimes the possible answers seemed too limiting. Could you have another option or two for some of them. We found ourselves often choosing an answer that was better than the other answer, but it still did not feel right.

2. Could you divide your listing of results by gender? There were a number of questions which we thought might be answered very differently by men than by women from all cultures. It would have been fascinating to see those results.

3. As you have time, it would really be helpful if you were able to give your own explanations for the answers you received, especially for the Japanese students. In our class we identified reasons for our answers, but we had to guess at the reasons for your (Japanese) answers.

4. We assume that as you receive yet more responses from around the world that you will have a consistent way of reporting the results, with a column for US, Australia, Italy, Japan for example for each question.

Again, thank you so very much for this fun and interesting experience.

Sincerely,

Professor Bruce Roberts and the students in Cross-Cultural Psychology

St. Olaf College

Northfield, Minnesota USA

Date: Thu, 29 Jan 1998 15:34:05 -0600

Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" To: arise@himeji-du.ac.jp (Masakazu Karita) From: roberts@stolaf.edu (Bruce Roberts)

Subject: Re: Feedback about the survey

Cc: psych-259@stolaf.edu

Professor Masakazu Karita,

Thank you very much for your most informative discussion of Japanese culture and the changes that are occurring. The students in the class and I found it fascinating. It was one of the best short discussions on issue important to the Japanese youth that I have read.

In some ways what is happening in Japan has happened gradually over the last 30 or 40 years in the United States. With every passing decade it seems that polls show that US citizens have less and less trust in and respect for all types of leaders, from politicians and businessmen, to teachers and ministers. I think that we as people want/need to be able to trust and respect our leaders, but we know that we should not. This makes life difficult for many people because they may not trust themselves to know what they should do either, and thus they are at a loss about who to trust for guidance and direction.

This is a topic which would make a wonderful cross-cultural conversation!

Thanks again to you and to all of your students.

Sincerely,

Bruce Roberts

Bibliography

Asahi Evening News, March 18, 1998 "Vegetable Garden help calm the mind".

EM-Xwo Kangaerukai. Editor. Igakudaikakumei: EM-X. Tokyo: Metamoru Publishing Inc., 1997.

Karita Masakazu. Nichibei no Yukue. Himeji: ARISE, 1991.

Kurabe, Hideyuki. Editor. Manna Messe Sohshuhen'94. Tokyo: Manna Messe Inc., 1998.

Shiminno Simple Life Seminar. Mizutotsukiau KenkohHoh: Mizu Kohshitenomeba Simpainai. Tokyo: Nohbunkyo, 1991.

Comparing Culturally Different Values for Decision-making through the Inter-net Enables Students to Gain Enthusiasm in Aggressive English Communication for Discovery, Enlightenment, and Global Values

Masakazu KARITA

The writer expects his seminar students to have the ten qualities to be internationally minded people while enabling them to experience research activities such as e-mail corresponding, overseas classroom connecting, and interviewing people abroad to compare culturally different values or criteria for decision-making, using English as a communicational tool. Besides helping them remove some of their prejudice or misled assumptions toward the people abroad, the students discovered some universal traits and the following peculiar aspects:

1. The students at HDU tend to consider that their work at their career has the primary importance.

2. The students at HDU would probably feel more personally obligated to somebody who is really close than overseas people, even violating the exam rules but not to the extent that they have to express themeselves aggressively. 　

3. The students at HDU would seek stability as their priority and would seek financial security rather than seeking dreams in their life.

4. The students at HDU would tend to keep away from taking aggressive actions or conspicuous behaviors and try not to interfere any other person's matter not to bring up personal negative aspects in life but to stay calm as much as possible instead of seeking one's being honest or persisting that something must be done.

Also the creation of the VESAX, Virtual Edutainment System using Active-X, the collaborated work done by the writer and Tetsuo Shimada, Professor at Wakayama University, could help students realize where they stand in comparison with overseas people's as well as Japanese people's values for decision-making. This game enables the players to understand cultural differences without going to overseas countries and provide them with the chance to reconsider their priorities and values.