Barriers and Strategies of Intercultural Manadonese and Japanese Communication in Japan

Abstract

A strategy is often needed in the communication process to support smooth interaction. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the barriers and strategies of intercultural Manadonese and Japanese communication in Japan. An open questionnaire model was used to obtain data for both natives, as 182 respondents submitted complete results with an age range between 20 and 60 years old. The data instrument also contained five questions on the barriers and implementation of intercultural communication strategies. However, the strategies of the Japanese and Manadonese natives had obstacles in their implementation. Because of cultural and social differences, the methods by which different levels of understanding are utilized were considered. The results showed that this communication strategy had a significant high-level cultural difference, according to the Manadonese native perspective. Meanwhile, the Japanese focused on the parties subject to the application of the strategy, which subsequently showed high respect for the interlocutor.

1. Introduction

Pace (1979) stated that strategic communication is central to securing understanding and ensuring comprehensive knowledge. Communication runs smoothly and effectively when a common interpretive understanding is observed between the communicator and the recipient. Communication builds a good relationship between the communicator and the communicant. A good relationship also needs to be realized when the interaction between the parties is carried out effectively. How communicators should inspire communicants aims to lead to persuasive communication and to influence attitudes, behavior, and perceptions of communicants (Földes and Furmanova 2020).

Culture and communication cannot be separated because they are the determination of speakers, message-encoding techniques, interpretation, and transmission conditions. Culture is the basis of communication, the diversity of which leads to the development of various interaction practices (Munezane 2021). Intercultural communication also focuses on comparing patterns of interpersonal interaction between different cultures. The central aspect of this type of communication is the interpersonal interaction between speakers from different cultures (Liu and You 2018).

Globalization has reportedly stimulated multilateral resource movement, population migration, and knowledge dissemination. Internationalization is another form of globalization that is also conducted in higher education, where ethnocultural plurality, linguistic diversity, and transnational relations and practices are observed (Ou and Gu 2020). For instance, the Japanese culture is found to be significantly different from Manadonese because of having various genders, written/spoken, and formal versions, containing the futsugo (colloquial language) used for familiar friends, teineigo (respectful language) as a marker that the status of the speaker is lower than the subject being the topic of conversation, and sonkeigo (respectful language) which indicates the level used to humble oneself in front of the interlocutor. Meanwhile, Manadonese does not use body language, such as looking at the nose when asking “I mean,” holding hands in front of the face when saying “no,” hands are open with four fingers pressed together, and thumbs are moved and then moved slowly up and down up and down when passing many people, cupping hands and lowering the head when going to eat as is done by the natives of Japan. This shows that a communication strategy is needed between the Manado and Japanese natives to communicate effectively (Kuramoto 2019). Manado people are seen from how they communicate using only spoken and written language without other languages, such as Japanese. Japanese people communicate in addition to spoken and written language. They also use body language. For example, when greeting Japanese people, they bow. Based on these differences, communicators reportedly need to implement intercultural communication strategies. Therefore, this study aimed to determine the similarities between the intercultural communication strategies adopted by Japanese and Manadonese natives when using the Japanese language. The objectives of this study were as follows: (1) compare the intercultural communication strategies of Manadonese and Japanese speakers through the Japanese language, and (2) classify the barriers and strategies of intercultural Japanese and Manadonese communication.

Barriers and communication strategies between Manado and Japanese cultures in Japan need to be investigated because the cultural backgrounds of Manado and Japan have differences. For example, the people of Manado have a straightforward way of communicating that is delivered directly, while Japanese people’s communication tends to be long-winded. From the literature, no research has examined the barriers and communication strategies between the Manadonese and the Japanese in Japan. Therefore, there is a need for research to examine the barriers and communication strategies of the Japanese and Manadonese in Japan for effective communication.

2. Literature Review

2.1. Intercultural Communication

High cultural-based messages are often interpreted by humans, where greater background similarities between the sender and the receiver result in more effective communication (Oradee 2012). This demonstrates that every society has a more intimate primary and straightforward secondary group relationship (Seregina et al. 2019). Moreover, the values possessed by the group members greatly affect the management of messages, with formal or informal education subsequently influencing the acceptance of transmitted information. In addition, technical and scientific behaviors are found to lead to an effective communication process (Biasutti et al. 2021). The location and time of these interactions also affect the interpretation of messages, with an ideal regulatory benchmark having similar effects, including the notions of honesty, justice, and simplicity, among others. This is because humans often focus more on significant personal information compared to that which is irrelevant (Eko and Putranto 2019). Communication and culture are two different variables that cannot be separated. These variables are based on the various steps and methods of human interactions within specific social groups (Blake et al. 2020). Willian G. Scoot stated that the communication process between people of different cultures is often affected by several factors. He also quoted Babcot’s opinion based on the observation of five influential variables (Kecskes 2019), namely, the act, scene, agent, purpose, and functional goals. Intercultural communication occurs in conditions that indicate cultural differences, such as language, values, customs, and habits.

2.2. Intercultural Communication Strategy

Communication strategy is an effective determinant of interaction success or failure, which has the following functions: (1) it systematically disseminates informative, persuasive, and instructive messages to obtain optimal results, and (2) it bridges the “cultural gap” that destroys values when unchecked. It is also a combination of communication planning and management to achieve an interaction goal. Aside from serving as a directive interaction, the strategy also shows the tactical patterns of a communication process (Moratinos-Johnston et al. 2019). Furthermore, the objectives of IC are as follows: (1) understand the cultural differences that affect communication practices, (2) understand the interaction difficulties, (3) overcome the problems caused by cultural differences, (4) improve verbal and nonverbal skills, and (5) enable effective communication (Pérez-Gracia et al. 2020). Therefore, the following processes were observed in Giles’s (1991) communication accommodation strategy.

• Convergence: This is the initial process of Giles’s communication theory, which is observed as “a strategy where individuals adapt to each other’s interaction behaviors.” This enables people to adjust their speed of speech, pause, smile, eye liking, and other verbal and nonverbal skills. When people converge, their perceptions are often based on the speech or behavior of others. The process is also based on attraction, where people converge in conversations when the communicators are attracted to each other.
• Divergence: Based on accommodation, Giles stated that this was a strategy where speakers often highlighted the verbal and nonverbal differences between them. In contrast to convergence, no attempt was conducted to exhibit the similarities among the communicators. It is also a strategic process for members of different cultural communities in maintaining their social identity. This indicates that most communicators often perform this process based on the power or different roles in a conversation.

Idemaru et al. (2019) stressed that Japanese polite speech was high-pitched, and deviation was also observed from the universal association perspectives. This confirmed the importance of considering politeness as a complex phenomenon, which is communicated through multiple phonetics. As a critical component of modernization, intercultural dialogue also needs to contribute to individual cultural experiences (Seregina et al. 2019). This proves that the complex process of mastering the dialogue should consider the study of Kosareva et al. (2019), which involves several factors when selecting a language to study. These factors include the most effective foreign language-learning strategy, terminology and classification of international cultures, use of new educational technologies, as well as the models and influence of cultural context. Furthermore, the barriers to common IC include the following: (1) physical, barriers that originate from time, environment, personal needs, and media; (2) culture, obtained from ethnic, religious, and social differences; (3) perception, communication barriers that originate based on the differences of individual perspectives, often leading to interpretation conflict; (4) motivation, the interaction constraint related to the message recipients’ level of inspiration, where low-level characteristics often hamper the communication process; (5) experience, caused by previous individual occurrences, where differences led to conceptual and perceptual conflicts; (6) emotions, barriers related to the personal feelings of the listener, where sadness leads to greater communication constraints; (7) language, barriers that occur when the message sender and recipient use incomprehensive words during the interaction, causing unequal interpretation; (8) nonverbal, communication barriers based on support or cues; and (9) competition, constraints obtained when the receiver is performing other activities while receiving the message (Hooi and Yong 2015). The theory is closely related to intercultural communication, of the seven points closely related to the communication barriers studied in this study. Namely, physical background and personal needs can be obstacles in using language to communicate. In addition, a person’s different cultural background becomes an obstacle in communicating. Furthermore, the individual’s perception of receiving messages is also an obstacle in intercultural communication. Japanese people who often use sign language can be a barrier to communication for people unfamiliar with sign language. Therefore, strength in implementing the IC strategy is essential. Therefore, the existence of strength in carrying out IC strategies is highly necessary. This leads to the present need for intercultural communication competence, for those residing in multicultural societies and interacting with individuals of different cultures (Abisheva et al. 2019; Khan and Ali 2010).

According to Yang (2020), intercultural verbal communication is audio-oriented, voiced, and externalized with open messages, whereas intercultural nonverbal communication is visual-oriented, silent, and internalized with hidden cues. Accommodation communication strategies dominate communication. Research results (Wang et al. 2015) show that consumers respond to communication accommodation strategies with increased perceived pleasure and enthusiasm. Furthermore, accommodation strategies contribute to the perceived symbolic value of service encounters, mainly when employees express the intercultural focus of communication accommodation practices. The study results provide insight for hospitality practitioners in managing service encounters in today’s highly globalized world.

3. Materials and Methods

3.1. Sample/Participants

This type of research is descriptive quantitative research. This quantitative research is used to examine data in the form of numbers or those referring to quantity based on statistics. The data obtained using ANOVA test is used to compare the intercultural strategies of the two participant groups. The research approach used in this study uses a quantitative research approach. Quantitative research is research that uses a deductive–inductive approach. This approach departs from a theoretical framework, the ideas of experts, and understanding researchers based on their experiences then developed into problems and their proposed solutions to obtain justification (verification) or rejection in the form of empirical data in the field. In this study, the reason that underlies the researcher using a quantitative approach is the data used. This research is in the form of numerical data to determine a specific statement. The statistical test used in this study is the ANOVA test of the univariate one way analysis of variance type. The ANOVA test was conducted to analyze the difference between the variables x and y. Variable x is the intercultural communication barriers between Manadonese and Japanese people in Japan, and variable y is the intercultural communication strategy of Manadonese and Japanese people in Japan.

This study compared the intercultural communication strategies of two different natives, i.e., Japanese and Manadonese, using the Japanese language. Data were also obtained from approximately 84 Japanese (32 male and 52 female) and 98 Manadonese (35 male and 63 female) speakers. There was no specific data collection area for the Japanese speakers, as an open online questionnaire was submitted through Google Form. Meanwhile, an initial analysis was carried out on the Manado natives, to ensure that their primary language was Manadonese and not Indonesian. A total of 98 and 84 results were subsequently obtained from the Manadonese and Japanese participants, respectively, with the age range observed between 20 and 60 yrs. Most of the respondents in both languages were university students with various occupations, although they belonged to the same social class. These participants were also selected through a random sampling technique.

Table 1. Range of respondents by language and gender (by percentage).

Age Range	Japanese Men (%)	Japanese Women (%)	Manado Native Speakers (%)	Manado Native Manado Woman (%)
20’s	62.5	78.8	45.7	73
30’s	12.5	13.4	22.8	9.5
40’s	18.7	5.7	17.1	12.6
50’s above	6.3	2.1	14.4	2.1
Total	38	62	36	64

presents the range of respondents based on language and gender.

3.2. Material

The construct validity test is the validity test used in this research instrument. The research instrument was constructed from barrier theory and language intercultural strategies. A reliability level of 0.856 in the correlation interpretation table is in the “high reliability” category. It can be concluded that this questionnaire is “reliable.” The open-structured questionnaire contained two sections, which were used to obtain data from the selected respondents. It provides opportunities for respondents to answer in their own words and adapt to the respondents’ experiences. The Section 1 contained the demographic information, including age, gender, and occupation, while the Section 2 consists of five questions on communication strategies, using the Japanese language between both native speakers, i.e., Japanese and Manadonese. Moreover, the conceptualization of communication strategy by Hieda et al. (2021) was utilized in this report, with the questionnaires being prepared in Japanese and Manadonese versions. The researcher used five items according to the theory used as a reference and to find out the respondents’ backgrounds because of the diverse characteristics of the respondents in Japan, especially the Manadonese.

3.3. Data Collection and Analysis Procedure

In this study, to obtain data and analyze data, researchers used quantitative methods. This type of research uses descriptive research. This research data can be collected through a questionnaire. The type of questionnaire used is an open questionnaire that allows respondents to answer in their own words and is adapted to the respondent’s experience. The questionnaire has five questions related to the barriers and strategies used by the people of Manado and Japan in communicating in Japan. Data collection from 12 February to 11 April 2020, during which a link to a questionnaire was provided to participants, with instructions for filling out an online form. The experimental process and questions were initially explained to participants to eliminate confusion in giving answers.

Furthermore, data were obtained through Google Docs for each completed questionnaire. Specifically, the data analysis technique used in this study includes the data description stage and the different tests. The data description stage describes the data obtained according to the variables. This study has two variables: the natives of Japan and Manado, who live in Japan. The difference test was conducted to determine whether there was a significant difference between the two variables in this study.

3.4. Research Questions

The research questions in this study are:

• What are the barriers to intercultural communication between the Manadonese and the Japanese in Japan?
• What do the Manadonese and the Japanese use as intercultural communication strategies?

4. Results and Discussion

Communication strategies and the concept of cross-cultural communication skills were differently carried out across various cultures (Munezane 2021). This indicated that the strategy needs to be highly emphasized due to the urgency of the function (Elahe and Ghabanchi 2019). Multiple communication strategies were also analyzed, such as (1) the systematic dissemination of informative, persuasive, and instructive messages, to obtain optimal results, (2) bridging the “cultural gap” due to the ease of obtaining a better communication process, and (3) the ease of robust mass media operation, destroying cultural values when unchecked (Liu and You 2018).

Manado people living in Japan have a strong enough urge to learn the Japanese language that is used as long as they mingle and have conversations or conversations with friends, coworkers, and the environment where they live Japan. The questionnaire results revealed that the mother tongue in their place of origin had a strong enough influence on the speed with which they understood various Japanese vocabularies. Moreover, it is challenging to master Japanese because, in everyday conversation in Manado, the person concerned does not use Japanese in an environment where the family all speak Manadonese.

By not mastering Japanese well, the respondents admitted that they were perplexed, sad, and felt foreign. However, in dialogue with the other person, the respondent maintains an effort to master a language that can be understood by each other, namely Japanese. This effort is a convergence strategy that is manifested in the form of verbal communication. This is by what was stated by Giles that the convergence strategy is a strategy used by communicators to adapt to all forms of verbal and nonverbal communication owned by the interlocutor, in this case, language and words in spoken form (Giles 1991). Respondents doing convergence, of course, is to create a close, warm and harmonious relationship between friends, which is dominated by the use of Japanese to create effective communication, so it can be understood that this convergence is a strategy that prioritizes communication as a process of creating and sharing information in order to achieve the goal of mutual understanding among the communicators. Another thing that can be obtained is an introduction to the culture of the interlocutor (Japanese) so that they can adapt to each other.

In this study, it was revealed that respondents had diversity in terms of the need for time to adjust to the culture around them, especially about food, community behavior, and even the situation of people on the streets as a factor of their surprise. The respondents generally revealed differences in some cultural matters with their place of origin. The purpose of convergence is to create social integration or identification with each other, increasing the interest, support, clarity, and interpersonal involvement of the speakers in the view of the recipients. Convergence is carried out in terms of conversation as well as nonverbal behaviors. The nonverbal behavior shown by respondents in carrying out intercultural communication with Japanese people is by making movements, gestures, and gestures that are usually done by Japanese people, such as giving a smile, bowing, nodding in agreement, and hand signals. The Manadonese carries out convergence to create a more intimate relationship. There is a desire to be helped by others, especially in matters of understanding such as instructions from superiors, orders from Japanese, etc. Convergence can also be considered a reflection of individual desires in social approval.

Divergence is a communication accommodation strategy when the communicators show their differences in a conversation. Divergence refers to how the speaker accentuates speech and nonverbal differences between communicators; Divergence is designed to emphasize the distinctiveness of the interlocutor and usually occurs in group membership. In the intercultural interactions of the Manadonese with Japanese people and the environment in general, they still show linguistic differentiation, especially in conversational behavior that still shows accent divergence in conversations with Japanese people. This is understandable because they are required to speak and communicate. Understand Japanese to communicate to be accepted by the environment and not to show cultural identity. In other words, understanding the Japanese language that Manadonese does in Japan is more accessible to accept than showing cultural identity. The questionnaire results revealed that they said it was difficult or unable to follow the accents of native Japanese speakers (Japanese), mainly when their Japanese friends used nonstandard terms or vocabulary (slang or wakamono kotoba). This encourages them to keep diverging themselves by speaking Japanese but still using a Manadonese accent. The reality revealed to Manado people is in line with Tajfel’s premise in Social Identity Theory (Giles and Johnson 1987), which says that communication accommodation shows where individuals categorize the social world in groups and show where identity and identity come from (which later called social identity), to which group they belong. A phenomenon similar to this divergence is also understood as “maintenance,” where a person will continue or maintain the style of speech according to the origin rather than convergence.

The Japanese communication strategy uses gestures, such as ojigi, a greeting, thankful, and respectful pattern. This is performed by straightening the body at 45° and looking down into the eyes. Another gesture is watashi (me), indicating a person with a unique showoff pattern. This is done by pointing to the nose with the foreigners with similar showoff appearances. The Japanese people often perform this gesture based on the belief that the most embarrassed part of the body is the nose when they are shy because of its high prominence.

Moreover, onegai denotes “please” or “please help” and is performed by slapping both hands right in front of the face before speaking (Balman et al. 2020). Besides being used to seek help, onegai is also performed to apologize. During this process, the word mentioned is “Gomen/Gomen nasai,” denoting an apology. Japanese people are found to also gesture through eye contact, which is a nonverbal communication with a significant influence on social behavior. However, the gesture is not performed when communicating to respect the other person in Japan because this is a sign of disrespect. Direct eye contact is taboo for children or younger subordinates because it is interpreted as a brash and defiant attitude. Aizuchi (respond) is another form of Japanese culture, which is very dense with cultural characteristics. This is often shown with expressions such as un (uh-huh), huun (I get it), soo (right), and hai/ee (yeah right).

Table 2. Intercultural communication strategy of Manadonese and Japanese people.

People	Types of Cultural Communication Strategies	Meaning	Example
Manadonese	Convergence strategy	Individuals adapt to each other’s communicative behavior	Speech rate, pause, smile, eye gaze, as well as verbal and nonverbal behaviors
	Divergent strategy	There is no attempt to show similarities between the speakers	Observing value differences in Japanese timekeeping, keep talking use language Manado when are in group where in the group there are Manadonese and Japanese and using dialect.
Japanese	Nonverbal	Convincing the interlocutor to convey the message	Ojigi, watashi, onegai, itadaku, hai, iie, kochira e douzo, nattoku, ochi tsuite, kochi ni oite
	Eye contact	Eye contact often shows disrespect. Japanese people glance at the other person’s face for a moment. Direct eye contact is taboo for children or younger subordinates, because it is an impudent attitude and challenge	Japanese people glance at the other person’s face for a moment
	Aizuchi	Interactive strategy is performed when engaging in conversation, such as directly asking the interlocutor an unknown fact, e.g., location purpose	Un (uh-huh), huun (I understand), soo (right), and hai/ee (yeah right)

presents the strategies carried out by the Manadonese and the Japanese.

Shinmura (2008) defined a Japanese communication strategy, intercultural communication strategy (ICS), which often occurs to convince others. This is used to change the perspectives and interpretations among people with different cultures. In simple terms, nonverbal communication involves all signs that are not words. According to Torikai (2005), nonverbal communication included all interactive stimuli generated by individuals and the use of the environment, which had potential message value for the sender or receiver, subsequently indicating an intentional behavior. This proved that every communication event always involved the use of language with verbal and nonverbal messages, which have a holistic nature (unseparated). In many acts of communication, nonverbal language is observed as a complement or explanation of verbal skills. Ruben (1977) also stated that it was a process where conveyed message did not use words. This was the most appropriate source of suggestion, aiming to convey values to other people on stage.

According to Cangara (2014), a communication strategy was the best combination of all interactive elements, such as the communicator, message, channel (media), receiver, and designed influence (effect), to achieve optimal communication goals. Furthermore, the IC model proposed by William B. Gudykunst and Young Yun Kim (Samovar and Porter 2000) highlighted the interaction between people of different cultures or with foreigners. This model was compatible with a direct conversation, especially between two people. Tambayong (2008) also defined an ICS as a speaking pattern between two or more people with different regional cultures. In the study by Setyono and Widodo (2019), the developed strategy increased the relationships with other people while performing cultural supervision, as presented in

Table 3. The summary of the definition of the intercultural communication strategy by meaning.

Language	Definition/Term	Source	Meaning
English	The intercultural communication strategy	The New Oxford Dictionary of English	The combination of planning and management to achieve a communication goal
Japanese	I bunka-kan komyunikēshon senryaku	Kojien (6th edition, 2008) (Shinmura 2008)	Intercultural communication is the process of exchanging knowledge and interpretations between people from different cultures
Manadonese	Cara babicara	Manado language and Manado culture dictionary (Tambayong 2008)	Speaking patterns amidst cultural differences

.

The Concept of Evaluating Intercultural Communication Strategies by Native Speakers

• Who do you usually use intercultural communication strategies with? (Q1)

Table 4. Question 1 responses based on gender and language.

Type of Response to Q1: With Whom Do You Usually Use Intercultural Communication Strategy?	Female Japanese (Percentage)	Male Japanese (Percentage)	Female Manadonese (Percentage)	Male Manadonese (Percentage)
The first time I met my interlocutor	48.1	36.7	20.9	20.8
People I do not know very well	25.2	23.2	1.3	2.3
The interlocutor older than me	11.3	17.7	2.5	1
Teachers	9.4	10.3	14.7	6.4
People I respect	1.1	1.4	2.9	14.8
Neighbor’s apartment	1.3	4.8	18.8	22.1
Family members and relatives (homestay family)	1.2	3.3	26.2	23.6
Classmates and friends	1.2		1.8	1
Junior	1.1	0.5	10.9	8
Children
Others	1.1	0.8
Total	100	100	100	100

presents the strategic pattern differences between Japanese and Manadonese speakers, although there were some similarities. This indicated that most Manadonese men and women often used intercultural strategies for family members or homestays. They also used this strategy for masters, respected people, and neighbors’ apartments. In addition, the Manado women also used these strategies for their juniors. From the evaluation of the Manado language, the results mostly suggested and supported the implementation of appropriate IC strategies for homestay family members to reduce interaction anxiety or uncertainty in Japan. The implementation of this strategy was also observed as a source of responsibility to achieve smooth communication. Moreover, the combination of Manadonese and Japanese cultures also produced a significant difference. This indicated that the Japanese and Manadonese people mostly used indirect and direct strategies during communication.

As many as 48.1% of Japanese women use intercultural communication strategies when they first meet another person. This is the same as that of Japanese men, namely, 36.7% of Japanese men use intercultural communication strategies. In line with communication accommodation, communication strategies can be used to adapt to a new environment (Földes and Furmanova 2020; Pérez-Gracia et al. 2020).

In this study, the respondents did not use IC strategies because they were interacting with underclassmen and children. This was because the original Manadonese natives had been in Japan for a long period, ensuring easy adaptation to juniors and children, without the need for an ICS. Table 4 presents the responses from the original natives, based on the categorization and analysis of the data by gender and language. This was due to the varied responses, as subsequent results revealed that the Japanese and Manadonese had different answers on the appropriate utilization of ICS. However, similarities were observed in the preference of both natives in utilizing the strategy in every initial speech.

According to Japanese people, intercultural strategies were mostly used toward foreigners, i.e., unknown individuals, those they met for the first time, or teachers, as regards the uchi-soto (insider/outsider) culture. These natives were observed to have a different approach in carrying out intercultural strategies to maintain their country’s culture. In addition, no significant difference was found in answers between male and female respondents. At a large level, the results were classified as ibunka rikai, indicating their comprehensive level in implementing ICG based on social status, age, role, gender, ethnicity, culture, and regional background. These subsequently implied that the assessment was carried out by the Japanese people in a large degree of socially focused ibunka rikai. Significant differences were also found in Manadonese/Japanese men and women, due to the different types of responses (X2 = 0.0016, p-value < 0.05).

• How did you feel when you did not use polite expressions with those in Q1? (Q2)

This involves the responses of the Japanese and Manadonese participants on the difficulties being encountered.

Table 5. Types of responses to question 3 are classified by nationality and gender.

Type of Response to Q3: What Type of People Use Intercultural Strategies While Talking to You?	Female Japanese (Percentage)	Male Japanese (Percentage)	Female Manadonese (Percentage)	Male Manadonese (Percentage)
The first time I met my interlocutor	24	27	1.5	2.4
People I do not know very well	13.6	12.4	3.5	1
The interlocutor older than me	8.3	6.2	1.9	3.5
Teachers	2	2.1	2.5	2.6
People I respect		1.2	2.4	1.3
Neighbor’s apartment		0.9	7.2	1
Family members and relatives (homestay family)	1.1	1	1.3	1.6
Classmates and friends			5.7	14.5
Customers	1	1.8
The person asking for help	4.2	6	15.9	13.6
People becoming subordinates	2	2.2	13.1	12.4
Someone inviting you to do something	10	9	17	12.8
Someone borrowing something	19	17.4	14.4	16.7
Someone rejected something from me	14.4	12.3	12.6	13.8
Others	0.4	0.5	1	2.8
Total	100	100	100	100

summarizes the obstacles observed when the communication strategy is not used between these people (Q1). The results revealed various responses, with Japanese women providing multiple answers on the encountered constraints. This showed that 17 responses were used by the female Japanese respondents, which were different from those obtained by the Manadonese participants. Subsequently, the answers by the Japanese were categorized into two types, namely, (1) the difference in individual perspectives and (2) the observed communication barriers when the sender and receiver used incomprehensive language or words, causing unequal interpretation, as presented in Table 5.

Based on these results, each Japanese and Manadonese native was judged differently. For example, Japanese people had difficulty in making assumptions with others when communicating because they consider nonverbal activity as one significant ICS in overcoming interaction barriers. The combination of negative difficulties also showed the utilization pattern of IC strategies, such as aizuchi (respond). These results were in line with a previous study, where communication strategies differed across all cultures (Moratinos-Johnston et al. 2019; Wang et al. 2015). Therefore, most of the different uses of communication strategies should be considered in the realization of politeness in distinguished cultures. Table 5 lists similar responses for the next respondent, where the second most common answer was negatively rated when ICS was not utilized. This proved that both the Japanese and the Manadonese provided a bad response. Additionally, Manado women and men assumed the occurrence of prejudice and stereotypes when the IC strategies were not used. The responses of the Japanese men and women were also in line with this idea, where the two symbolic cultures were observed to be similar. Based on these results, 17 and 10 communication barriers were observed in the responses of the Japanese women and men, respectively. The ANOVA was also performed based on the comparison of Manadonese and Japanese men, respectively, with the results showing no significant difference (p-value > 0.06). These were subsequently in line with the results within the women’s group.

Table 6. Types of responses to question 4 are classified by nationality and gender.

Type of Response to Q4: What Types of People Usually Use Intercultural Strategies?	Female Japanese (Percentage)	Male Japanese (Percentage)	Female Manadonese (Percentage)	Male Manadonese (Percentage)
People younger than me	5.5	4.2	32.2	22.6
The first time I met my interlocutor	5.5	5.3	17.9	18.4
People in a formal environment	2	3.9	9	11.6
People having higher education	42.1	39.3	3.5	4.4
People having good ethical skills in a social environment	22.9	32.8	8.7	9
Students to their teacher	11.9	8	15	11.4
People I do not know very well			1.6	3.6
Attentive person			5.1	3.7
Family members and relatives (homestay family)	10.1	1.8	3	6.3
Mature people			1	6
Everyone			3	2.5
Others		1.9	3	0.5
Total	100	100	100	100

also presents those classified by nationality and gender, with both the Japanese and Manadonese people providing varied responses to this question. In this condition, the Manado people assumed that those asking for help were implementing ICS during communication. However, the Japanese people had different opinions on the types of individuals using IC strategies. The results also showed that the most common types are out-groups (soto), unknown people, or those they met for the first time. The second type of Manadonese subsequently had a similar opinion like the Japanese, which were willing to lend or refuse certain things. Despite this, priority rankings were still not shared.

• What types of people use intercultural communication strategies when talking to you? (Q3)

In this analysis, the ANOVA test was performed, and the results showed a significant difference in gender and response type variance (p-value > 0.05). This revealed that people asked Manado respondents for help through IC strategies. In Manado culture, good behaviors were often used by people who need the services of others, which utilized ICS for the effective delivery of messages to the receiver. Meanwhile, most Japanese people believed that they met for the first time and had low close intimacy, with the relationship led to using of IC strategies to achieve ibunka rikai. In Japan, intimacy/closeness is also essential as it is reflected in the role or social conditions. In the ibunka rikai’s criteria of understanding cultural differences, the interaction with people in each scenario was possible without encountering any obstacles.

The type of people who use intercultural communication strategies when talking to Japanese people is 51% of people meeting for the first time. This is by the theory that the function of intercultural communication is to apply intercultural communication strategies when they first meet. (Seregina et al. 2019). The type of people who use communication strategies when talking to Manado people is 32.6%, namely, the type of people who ask for help and someone who borrows something. This is the same as what was expressed by (Hooi and Yong 2015) that intercultural communication occurs to achieve similarities in understanding the purpose of communication in individuals with different cultural backgrounds, either nonverbal or verbal.

• What types of people usually use intercultural communication strategies? (Q4)

Communication strategies were carried out to help people verbally and nonverbally relate with one another during an interaction. This indicated the selection of certain words, sentence patterns, or gestures to maintain quality communication. Table 6 presents the responses to Q4 through nationality and gender, where the Manadonese provided 14 answers. This confirmed that both Manado women and men had three similar answers, with people asking for help and becoming subordinates at work and school mostly observed. In addition, they did not believe in a specific Manadonese culture, where the application of ICS to older people led to adequate delivery and display of conveyed messages and politeness in communicating. Based on these results, the value of understanding cultural differences was also presented, which confirmed that individuals abided by the Manado cultural ethics in showing the quality of the message. These values increased the idea of the Manadonese, based on using IC strategies to apply politeness in respecting the interlocutor during talk in interaction.

According to Japanese people, the type of people who use intercultural communication strategies, namely 42.1% of Japanese women and 39.3% of Japanese men, answered the type of people who have higher education who use intercultural communication strategies. 54.8% of Manadonese women and Manadonese men answered that they were younger than those who applied intercultural communication strategies. This is in line with the results of research (Wang et al. 2015), which is a person’s enthusiasm for using communication strategies to obtain good service from the other person.

Despite these conditions, the Japanese respondents still had a different answer, revealing that the most common answers were people with a good education in operating IC strategies. According to the two Japanese female respondents, people were observed to have ethical skills in a formal environment to carry out ICS. Meanwhile, Japanese male respondents had contrasting answers, and they assume that people having good cultural understanding are highly educated. This confirmed that the answer types were closely related, with different explanations observed for the Japanese women.

Table 7. Types of responses to question 5 are classified by nationality and gender.

Type of Response to Q5: Who Uses Intercultural Communication Strategies More Often, Male or Female?	Female Japanese (Percentage)	Male Japanese (Percentage)	Female Manadonese (Percentage)	Male Manadonese (Percentage)
Females	11	14.8	26.4	24.3
Males		6.2	11.6	16
Same for both	89	87.6	62	59.7
Total	100	100	100	100

also presents the results of Q5 regarding the answer types and their percentages, where cultural differences were determined between Japan and Manado. This was based on the people performing IC strategies with those having different cultures/countries. For the individuals generally using ICS, the ANOVA analysis revealed a significant difference between the responses of Manadonese and Japanese (p-value < 0.05). In addition, a significant difference was also observed within the female group (p-value < 0.05).

• Who uses intercultural communication strategies more often: men or women? (Q5)

Almost all (89%) Japanese women answered that there was no gender difference in using intercultural communication strategies. Japanese men also stated the same thing. Namely, there is no gender difference in using intercultural communication strategies. Likewise, in Manado people, 60% of both women and men stated that there was no gender difference in using intercultural communication strategies. Several studies that are related to the knowledge of cultural differences with gender issues became important in the sociolinguistic sector (Pérez-Gracia et al. 2020; Solhaug and Kristensen 2020). Based on the results, gender differences were significantly observed, where the Japanese and Manadonese were used to determine the individuals more likely to engage in strategic communication between cultures, such as men or women, as presented in Table 7. This indicated that according to gender, the Manadonese and Japanese speakers had similar opinions on those who carry out the ICS. Moreover, the Japanese female and Manado male respondents were observed to use similar ICS. The results also verified that all the Japanese respondents had similar responses, with no significant difference between the gender mostly using the communication strategies (p-value > 0.05).

Despite these results, the Manadonese believed that their women used more IC strategies than men. This explained that men did not tend to use ICS with the interlocutor during the respondent’s evaluation. These results were in line with the image of “Manado women, which were energetic, cool-headed, and fast in adapting to new environments.” This was performed to reduce anxiety or barriers in communicating with people from different cultures or countries. As presented in Table 7, the Manadonese and Japanese had different opinions or goals in carrying out IC strategies. This was because the Japanese did not use these strategies to interact with the people residing in a formal environment, according to Japanese culture. However, the Manadonese used the level of cultural differences based on social class, status, age, and profession to be accepted in a new environment. The Manadonese also described valuable understanding from speech culture based on the performances of ICS to respect the age and social status of others. This group subsequently varied from those performing IC strategies in the Japanese classes. Furthermore, the Manadonese observed certain individuals based on the positions and services being provided or obtained. Despite this, Japanese respondents still stated various types of people using ICS, e.g., those communicating with teachers and family members. These subsequently included the people with higher education, good ethical skills, and different cultures and origins. Based on these results, the opinions of the Manadonese and Japanese were different. Meanwhile, both had similarities based on the use of ICS by the Japanese and Manadonese to effectively interact with the interlocutors of different cultures or countries. The results showed that the perspectives of the Manadonese and Japanese people on the implementation of IC strategies differed between genders. The opinions of the Japanese and Manadonese also differed between gender and class based on politeness. Additionally, several significant occurrences were found between the associated communication barriers between the Manadonese and Japanese natives. Women were also more active in communicating and negotiating for contextual purposes. For Manadonese respondents, men and women were found to essentially play a role in carrying out IC strategies.

5. Conclusions

This study revealed that the Manadonese mostly used ICS with people they met for the first time. However, the Japanese often engaged in these strategies based on their proximity and familiarity with other people. This confirmed that closer relationships between the Japanese and their interlocutors led to less utilization of IC strategies. In this condition, the Japanese also carried out ICS with foreigners (soto). A significant difference was found between the Japanese and Manadonese based on the type of typical people generally using ICS. Besides the Japanese, different individuals subsequently believed that highly educated people and those with good ethical skills were mostly observed to carry out IC strategies with distinguished interlocutors. They also stated that people who reside within a formal environment generally adopted these strategies. These were not in line with the utilization pattern of the Manadonese people, which was often conducted when services or assistance were needed, such as asking or refusing certain variables.

A significant difference was also found between the general types of Japanese and Manadonese using the IC strategies, although it was limited due to the number of participants. Based on the data, the Japanese and Manadonese had cultural similarities and differences in adding messages, with and without using ICS, respectively. Subsequently, this strategy validated some perspectives on the cultural awareness and concept of intercultural communication, indicating the occurrence of cross-cultural differences in the implementation principles of ICS.

The limitation of this research is that data collection used only a questionnaire. Further research can use various data collection techniques, such as observations and interviews.