Teacher ShelleEach prefecture breeds a different personality type
 TOKYO — Hokkaido people are outgoing and hospitable; Niigata folk may not say much but they’ll stand by you in a crisis. Iwate breeds patience and endurance; Nara, pessimism and conservatism; Hiroshima, cheery optimism. Tokyo? Full of country bumpkins giving themselves big-city airs. Tell me where you’re from and I’ll tell you who you are. This is not folklore, it’s science. “The place where you’re born and raised has more to do with molding your character than DNA does,” Shukan Post (July 30) hears from Shinichi Yano, director of Number One Strategic Research Center. Yano’s subject is “kenminsei” – the peculiar character that each of Japan’s 47 prefectures tends to inculcate in its native sons and daughters. Prime Minister Naoto Kan, for instance, is from Yamaguchi Prefecture, home to the Choshu warrior clan that was instrumental in launching the epoch-making Meiji Restoration of 1868. Pride and temper are local character traits. Kan’s nickname is “Ira-Kan,” a reference to his famous irritability. Now you know where he gets it from. Yano supervised a survey of 2,000 businesspeople, aged 20-something to 60-something, to discover which prefectures breed the best bosses and best subordinates. Who would have guessed that the most popular bosses hail from chilly, hardscrabble Aomori? Stubborn they certainly are, in keeping with the local image, but at least you know where you stand with them, and “subordinates value that,” says Yano. Bosses, meanwhile, prefer underlings from the opposite end of the country – Kagoshima. Like Yamaguchi, Kagoshima boasts samurai virtues, notably bravery and a strong sense of hierarchy. These keep obedient noses to the grindstone. Miyazaki Prefecture, though next door, has an altogether different ambience – warm, easygoing, optimistic. That’s good, too, in its way, and Miyazaki comes in second in rearing good subordinates. In business or love, compatibility – hard to define but you know it when it’s there – goes a long way. That, too, can depend on prefecture of origin. The two most mutually compatible prefectures in the country, says Yano, are Kanagawa and Hyogo, owing largely to the international character of their main cities, Yokohama and Kobe respectively. The two least compatible are impatient, egocentric, effervescent Osaka and taciturn, haughty Iwate. source: http://japantoday.com |