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originally on 2003/05/12 (Mon) 03:33
- Identity Crisis -
- Where is homogeneous Japan From? -
Unlike the United States, Japan is really a country of monoculture. How and why? Not only because of one race origin, long history of an island country, fairly secure and stable cherishing of their cultural development without experiencing invasion or colonization by other countries, but also there must have been a lot of causes to form their present situation, homogeneity.
It might be least effective to change their heart that General Douglas MacArthur occupied them for several years. The Emperor's family originated from invaders from Korea, and then ruled all over Japan settling shrines as military bases and controlling the leaders of original Japanese into Iwami, or the west Shimane Prefecture. Although this is an ancient history, it might be the beginning of general Japanese tendency to obey authorities.
One can say of them to have the least identity or originality, but have full talent to absorb anything from abroad, imitate and modify it. Originally, Japanese culture might have been that way. Even the characters to express their language they borrow from China. It was quite efficient for a barbarian living in remote Far East islands to use ideograms in expressing his thoughts. Through importing, their ancestors created the Katakana and Hiragana phonogram systems derived from them. Importing, absorbing of concepts, imitating, and modifying are some of their characteristics that they became good at. Imitation itself sometimes makes much more value than the original when effectively modified in a crowded, dense population with hard competition. Similarly, electronic products made in Japan which were like toys, and synonyms of cheap in earlier days, are good examples of that.
However, today's discussion is not about the virtue of their culture, but about the so called identity crisis they crucially face. They don't have enough tradition to think as individuals, and they think as a member of some group or organization that they belong to. They tend to see a person who graduated from a famous university, not by his/her intellect itself. Anyone who works for a big business earns more money the longer he/she stays not because of his/her merit, and tends to be treated as an elite. Even experts with long career might not be able to make much money unless they were promoted or recruited.
The Japanese seldom debate on a topic seriously, strangely enough. In a mono-racial country with just one language rapidly standardized by the mass media, unique opinions sound so contrary that their holders hesitate to express them, knowing subsequent discrimination from others. People tend to talk about light topics such as yesterday's baseball game or star's gossip. To make it worse, TV also strives high audience rating by looking for highlighted topics only for average interest. It can be said a kind of mass idiot or mobocracy, which might be easier for journalists to form similar public opinions. Generally Japanese can't be said to be opinionated.
Self-sacrifice for the benefit of others is a key characteristic for the highly educated, and should be one of the most important virtues of responsible leaders. However, full of knowledge often accompanies an egoistic personality. Further, recent tendency with materialistic prosperity which is called an age of satiation might be a hotbed for hedonism. Actually, Japanese culture is now morally decaying, the evidence of which is bookstores. They could easily find a good book in any bookstore for a reasonable price before. In addition to being expensive, they sell quite many unreadable books or magazines which disturb people’s choice especially in convenience stores. Now is the time to form their strong identity that is unwavering whatever environments surround them.
By the way, let us discuss the causes of their cultural homogeneity. One student called their culture the agricultural, which originated by growing rice where cooperation had been the essential need without recent sophisticated machinery but with just skillful hand labor. Feeding is an essential cultural basis. Theirs, based on rice growing, has not been long changed from the ancient days of Jomon or Yayoi, the emperors' government and aristocracy, medieval military governments where the main tax was on rice and the ruling areas were measured by the amount of its product, industrial revolution under Meiji Imperial Constitution, through post-War democratization and modernization. Therefore he insists on their cultural peacefulness and cooperativeness, but, on the other hand, dependency on others originated from such agriculture. However, why do people tend to think or act so similarly even if they value harmony of their group? Isn't there any need to have their own way of life or thinking?
The Japanese are obedient to authorities. Even in political issues, they tend to allow rulers not to be influenced by them. The long time isolationism that the Tokugawa shogunate had kept from the 17th to 19th centuries might have reinforced such a tendency. Otherwise the origin must have been very early. The shogun closed trading except for a small amount with China and Holland, and rejected immigration totally because they feared the propagation of Christianity. Buddhism is one of the origins of their culture which they owed to Nepal, India, the Silk Road, China, and Korea, which gave them its great sutras and philosophy. Temples under Tokugawa Shogunate, however, were used to identify citizen's permanent address, and people were not allowed to convert to another religion or school. Even religion itself was, and still now tends to be, used as a tool to rule ordinary people. It forms one of the ruling structures. Of course they have exception.
Japanese proverb "Nagai mono niwa makarero," meaning “let us be rolled up with anything long,” symbolizes their obedience to authorities, while "I no naka no kawazu taikai wo shirazu," meaning “a frog in the well knows not the ocean,” their narrow-mindedness that comes from closed society. Japan's long history, of course, has cherished their sophisticated culture, but long isolation as an island country and a closed policy in the Edo Era seems to have formed very much complicated their social structures, connections, and customs that are suitable for the natives but great bars for foreigners or foreign companies.
Whether the general Japanese tendency poor at foreign language might have come from its closed society, from its grammar differences, or from bad education system only to pass the exam, the result is that they are very quick in absorbing foreign ideas or information in translation. They owe much to the precious translations. Japan is, I believe, a big country full of information from all over the globe, but it is just in Japanese; the references of which are so limited that they have to make a great effort to find out what they want. On the contrary, there is a huge quantity of traditional cultural accumulation that could not and will not be translated into other languages. These closed, narrow minded frogs in the well have biases or prejudices even now.
For example, music there is one of the decisive identity crisis from the beginning of modernization. So let me have a little time to demonstrate in singing.
* demonstration
As for the ruling structure of common people, every aspect results from their long history. For example, I work in the health care field, where I can notice a conservative pyramid allowing physicians to become top rulers. Physical therapy there is a newly established profession with only 37 years of history, the beginning of which was aided by World Health Organization and many foreign therapists. We have a highly intensive educational, practical and research environment because of the need. We have been, and are now, enthusiastically searching to make our practice up to date with a pioneering spirit. I believe its quality has a high standard and is not delayed from international standard, although the numbers of therapists or the fields they work are limited.
However, we are only allowed to work directed by physicians and not allowed to open private offices, even if we have our own system of assessment and treatment, while masseurs, acupuncturists and moxabustions, which generally one therapist have three of all, are allowed to have them. Physician's “direction” has no meaning, or often confuses us. Nurses are always running directed by physicians, not ever having their own system to assess and treat patients in a small facility like where I worked. They seem to me just physicians' assistants, with little identity or pride in their field. The Japanese health care system is totally different from that of the West, where many experts work in their specified fields with high status and leadership.
Even in an age of informed consent, many Japanese physicians can't educate patients very effectively because they don't have enough time. Further they have turned into techno-chemicians a new term I made meaning chemical medicine experts diagnosing aided by machinery and technology. Therapists have to educate and explain to patients as an everyday task, in order to encourage exercise and self-training, with full of time to talk with them. Now we do believe therapists can perform physical examinations even better than physicians, while they seek to be up-to-date with technological and mechanical advances. They tend not to see people as human, but just as a disease, in terms of technological outputs, while we see a patient as an actively living person with functional skills. I know many kinds of experts now work in the health care field, but physicians rule in an out-of-date manner there. We therapists are fortunate to have an education system for Bachelor's, Master's or PhD degrees now in a few colleges. At the beginning of our history, however, physicians forced us to settle for three years' education, which is still our main stream, because they wanted to suppress our status and have control over us.
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Date:2007/08/05(日) 00:06 [ Reply ]
No.11 Where is homogeneous Japan From? Webmaster 2007/08/05(日) 00:06 [ Reply ]