Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers (JOCV) are dispatched to a range of countries around the
world, where they work with people from local communities to provide expertise and training in
programs related to education, healthcare, and other kinds of technical assistance. Destination
countries are often characterized as traditional societies seeking to preserve their own values and
customs. In undertaking such work the volunteers need to understand how local values and customs
may be practiced by the local community members and engage in a discussion of the desired
“outcomes” based on the socio-cultural characteristics of the region. This will help to promote an
understanding of both JOCV activities and the actual local conditions. This study presents the
regional realities that manifested as a result of interplay between cooperative activities and the
specific socio-cultural context of the dispatch region. Moreover, it suggests the need to evaluate the
outcomes of cooperative activities from a socio-cultural perspective. This study focuses on the
Pacific Islands region, where I have been conducting anthropological research since 1987. The
regional characteristics of the Pacific Islands include a subsistence economy, in which non-industrial
elements are prominent, and abundant and cherished interpersonal relationships (i.e., possessing the
feature of mutual support). However, the locals can also be labeled as island people or people who
seemingly lack ambition, do not want to work, and have no desire to improve; or, people who are
merely waiting for aid. The majority of volunteers were disappointed with this unanticipated reality,
though they came to understand it (and some to admire it) after a while. The volunteers attempted to
resolve these conflicting feelings between their expectations and reality by idealizing an image of
themselves as volunteers who “blend in” and mutually interact with the locals. Embracing this status
served as a mediator, allowing the volunteers to internalize the regional characteristics and make the
activities “their own.” Finally, this study demonstrates that, where attitudes diverge drastically from
the Japanese work ethic and values, evaluations should focus on the unique interactions between
volunteers and locals that occur in each society, workplace, and living space.