Analyzing My Text's Cultural Setting

This blog post analyzes the setting of the article that I chose, and breaks down aspects of the article related to the time it was written and where it was written.

Moisey "Optical Microscope." 10/3/15 via Wikipedia. 

The article was written in The New York Times, an american newspaper company, by an american journalist, and so has very American values. However, because it is about a Japanese company, and the controversy they're experiencing, it also reflects some Japanese values. The key value that is crucial to the article is honor. While this is valued in America, it is especially important to Japanese culture.

The idea of honor is directly discussed in the article, and is a key part of its thesis. In Japan, honor and reputation to ones name, ones family, or in the case of Toshiba, ones company, is highly valued, which is reflected in the outcry that Toshiba's dishonesty caused. The text discusses how Toshiba was an upstanding and valued company, considered honorable for decades. Tarnishing this reputation is a huge scandal in Japan, because of their cultural value of honor. The text doesn't directly address the Japanese culture's value on honor, but still discusses the "lauded reputation" of Toshiba.

The article is clearly in support of the Japanese value of honor. Americans place high value on honor, honesty, and reputation as well, so the American author and newspaper company share the value. The article does not directly applaud these values, but instead points out where they were contradicted in the Toshiba scandal.