After beginning my experience abroad in Tokyo, followed by a short stint in Kyoto, I have recently arrived in Seoul, South Korea, excited to continue the journey. Already, we have learned much about the work culture and accounting specific differences between Japanese Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (JGAAP), International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS), and U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (US GAAP). The United States has taken great leaps to ensure work-life balance among employees, something that Japan’s government has been forced to intervene with. Japanese companies are notorious for hard-working employees and for working employees hard. This has led to numerous health problems among employees, which is the primary reason why legislation has been put in place to combat these issues. I hope to continue to learn more as we prepare to visit a technology startup incubator. This incubator happens to boast a very high first year success rate in a world where startups are known to fail within their first few years of incorporation. Learning how these figures are achieved and why will be of great value and interest.
My initial strong impression of South Korea and Japan is how efficiently and effectively technology is utilized. Especially in Tokyo, food, resources, and space are not wasted and instead serve a unique purpose. Contrasted with the United States, wasting food, space, and resources is ingrained in our culture, and oftentimes embraced rather than frowned upon. This results in our cities appearing dirtier and unkempt when compared to any of the cities previously mentioned. One example of the obvious differences between Japan, Korea, and the United States is the public transportation system, which is utilized effectively and embraced in Japan and Korea, whereas distrusted and abused in the United States. Of course, there are religious aspects of both countries to consider, namely Shintoism and Buddhism, which play a large role in the cleanliness of the cities.
