Intercultural Communication

―The Role of the Host―

Abstract

Intercultural communication has as its objective the conveying of ideas between people of different cultures. Usually in intercultural communication situations, members of a host country and visitors to the country or expatriates exchange ideas. The duties of a host, when applied to this type of situation, place an added burden on the members of the country in which the dialogue is taking place. The role of the host in intercultural situations is considered in this paper. Foreigners are divided into three groups and the duties of a Japanese as host to the members of these three groups is discussed. Special emphasis is placed on how the Japanese host should act in order that the foreigner will feel relaxed in intercultural situations.