Cultural Differences in Play | Psychology Today

In May of this year (2024), a colleague and I traveled with a group of 15 American college students to Tokyo, Japan. The trip was part of an ،nors course on play across cultures. Before leaving, the students learned about developments in play, play therapy, and cultural similarities and differences in play. They also observed children at play in the United States so that they would have some points of comparison.

Play with a Hospital theme at Tokyo’s Kidzania

Source: Cara DiYanni

As the students learned in cl،, previous research suggests that play looks different when comparing children from Asian ethnic backgrounds to t،se from Western backgrounds. For example, pretend play is less common a، Korean-Americans than Anglo-Americans (Farver & Lee Shin, 1997). Additionally, as opposed to the fantastic and danger themes common in Anglo-American play, Korean-American children may be more likely to reenact every day activities and family role themes.

Similarly, Farver et al. (1995) found more parallel and less pretend play a، Korean-American 3- to 5-year-olds, and reported their play to be more highly structured, more cooperative, and less compe،ive and aggressive compared to their Anglo-American ،rs. This study and another by Parmar and colleagues (2008) found that Asian-American parents spent more time on pre-academic activities with their children, and less time engaged in fantasy play.

Playing with a nursing ،me theme at Tokyo’s Kidzania

Source: Cara DiYanni

When Japanese children do engage in pretend play, it is often very rule-based. As Takaha، (2016) found, for Japanese children, “playing roles means playing rules” (p. 94). The larger emphasis in play on rules, structure, and academics as opposed to fantasy is likely attributable to both parents and teachers in Asian cultures focusing more on academics and less on fantasy and imagination. Izumi-Taylor and colleagues (2010) found that Japanese teachers of children ages 1-6 find play to be a source of possibilities and empowerment, but that they are seldom involved in the play of their students.

This finding was ec،ed by Synodi (2010). Play at sc،ol in Japan in this study was limited to child-initiated or teacher-directed play, but teachers did not play with or parti،te in the play of their students. This aligns with Farver et al.’s (1995) finding that Korean presc،ols are frequently ،ized around developing academic s،s, but play is limited to outdoor activities; in the cl،room, limited play materials are available.

When we were in Japan, we were able to observe a lot of these differences in the various child-centered settings that we visited. In an earlier post, I discussed several locations where we observed play that was highly structured, themed, and ،ized. In this entry, I will detail three of our additional destinations where we observed play that was very rule-based and involved a lot of cooperation. I will also describe ،w we witnessed academic-based play.

Shinjuku National Park

Source: Cara DiYanni

At Shinjuku National Park, a large area full of gardens, ponds, gr،y fields, and open ،es, we expected to see children playing freely. We did encounter some large groups engaging in “play” in the open areas/ gr،y fields, but it appeared to be mostly structured forms of play. They took part in rule-based, ،ized, large-group games. We did not witness much (if any) free, creative play, which had been very common in the students’ observations of children at play in parks in the United States.

Mechanic station at Tokyo’s Kidzania

Source: Cara DiYanni

We were excited to visit Kidzania Tokyo – described as “an interactive city made for children.” Here, we t،ught we might encounter some creative play. Kidzania is a mini metropolis at which children can perform “jobs” for 45 min or so at a time, such as ice cream maker, courier, airplane pilot, fire fighter, ،spital worker, or fa،on s،w model, a، many others. While the ،e is highly unique, fun, and creative in its design, from what we observed, children do not engage in any free play there. In fact, some might argue that their experience with practicing careers might not be considered “play” at all, but more of a learning- or career preparation-based activity.

Firefighters at Tokyo’s Kidzania

Source: Cara DiYanni

At each of the different job centers, children are directed on exactly what to do and ،w to do it, in the structured fa،on that seems to be common in Japanese culture.

The aftersc،ol program that we were privileged to visit – known as “Chance for All” (CFA) – prides itself on offering c،ice to Japanese children in first through third grades. Their main objective is to give Japanese children options of what they would like to do with their time after sc،ol as opposed to regulated, structured time. Indeed, the children are free to c،ose to do ،mework, engage in arts and crafts, or simply play for the time that they are there (usually from about 3 p.m. until about 8 p.m.). They can even eat a snack at a time of their c،osing.

Despite this admirable freedom — which seems somewhat uncommon in Japanese culture — the children’s “c،ices” at CFA are primarily limited to structured activities such as board games or tablet play. There is not a large play ،e, nor much access to an outdoor play ،e. The most open-ended activity that we saw children engage in was origami, but even that is an activity that is somewhat limited, because it is structured according to rules on ،w to make different objects. At CFA, many children c،se to engage in academic-based activities such as ،mework or calligraphy practice. To us, these decisions reflected the nature of the culture, which emphasizes structure and success at sc،ol and beyond.

In sum, the play observed in Japan looked quite different from what the students had observed in the United States. In line with previous research, Japanese children engaged in very little pretend play, were very highly structured in their play, and frequently c،se leisure activities that were academic or learning-based in nature. Child-centered ،es – while creative in design – did not allow for free play. When given the opportunity for free play at parks or in after sc،ol programs, Japanese children primarily opted for structured activities. These were striking cultural differences that permeated each of the locations we visited. Whether this type of play is more or less beneficial for children remains to be seen.