Mood:
not sureNow Playing: fatboy slim..
Understanding Japanese Values : A Cultural Observation
I. Introduction
Japanese culture often perceived as uniquely unique. It consists of the interaction between original and strong tradition of Jomon Period, and other influences from various parts of the world. Amongst them, China and Korea were first mostly influential, developing the Yayoi culture from around 300 BC. In 6th century AD, classical Greek and Indian culture, also known as Greco-Buddhism, influenced the arts and religion in this region, culminating with the introduction of Mahayana Buddhism. In 16th century, western culture were prevailed, and after the world war II, American culture became predominant. As a results, Japan has culture which distinctively different from other Asian countries.
The uniqueness of Japanese culture are tremendous and fascinating. It varies from their cuisine, clothes (kimono and hakama), religion ( Shintoism and Japanese Buddhism ), arts ( calligraphy, sculpture ), beautiful architecture ( shrines, castle, and temple ), plays ( noh, kabuki, or bunraku ) and their martial arts such as Aikido and Kendo. Japanese culture is coloring each aspect of their society and the most important part of their culture is lying on their values. Japanese values are the core of their pride and also the most fascinating object to be observed in order to understand this society.
In this paper, the author will explain about Japanese values, as the primary key to get in depth-understanding of Japanese culture. First, it will be started with the brief description why the author found this topic interesting. On the next section, it will discuss about the basic ideas that becomes the background of most Japanese values, which is “ take one’s proper station ”, the meaning behind this term and the real application on Japanese society. After that, the author will talk about several most important Japanese values that underlies on this society, including both pros and contras about those values. This paper will be closed by conclusion about Japanese values from the author’s perspectives.
II. The Importance of Understanding Japanese Values
Since Japan’s closed doors were opened, the Japanese have been described in the most fantastic series of contradiction ever used for any nation of the world. According to Ruth Benedith, through her book “ The Chrysanthemum and The Sword, Pattern of Japanese Culture “, all the contradictions, however, are the warp and woof of books on Japan. They are true. Both of the chrysanthemum and the sword are part of the picture. Moreover, the Japanese are, to the highest degree, both aggressive and tame, both militaristic and aesthetic, both insolent and polite, rigid and adaptable, submissive and resentful of being pushed around, loyal and trechareous, brave and timid, conservative and hospitable to new ways. In addition, they are also terribly concerned of what other people will think of their behavior, and obviously overcome by guilt when other people know nothing of their misstep.
All those contradiction above, made people, especially foreigners, who either has interest on its culture, or live in Japan, began to ask of how the Japanese really is. How could their culture be declared as uniquely unique, and how their pride, which is also well-known as nihonjinron defined. To build a bridge between two different cultures, it is worth trying to answer those question above. Firstly, we need to understand the Japanese point of view about the conduct of live. The most important step is through their values. These values are representing their version of view, which is embodied in their folkways, in their comments about successful person, in their myth of national history, and also from several literature that preciously well-written.
Japanese values are cultural assumptions and ideals particular to Japanese culture. It describes these assumptions as they have manifested themselves whatever the activity they conduct. It is about what makes Japan a nation of Japanese.
III. Basic Idea : Taking One’s Proper Station
Any attempt to understand the Japanese, and their values that they hold and share, must begin with their version of what it means to ‘ take one’s proper station’ . The Japanese, when they put their trust in ‘ proper station ‘ were turning to the rule of life which had been ingrained in them by their social experiences.
‘Taking one’s proper station’ is based on the view of hierarchy that has been growth on this society for such a long time. It is difficult to imagine a Japanese vision of the social order without referring to the influence of Confucianism. This is simply because prior to the advent of Chinese influence in the sixth century, Japan did not have a stratified society. Confucianism emphasizes harmony among heaven, nature, and human society achieved through each person’s accepting his or her social role and contributing to the social order by proper behavior.
This view implies that hierarchy is natural. Relative status difference define nearly all social interaction. Age of seniority, gender, educational attainment, company/organizational affiliation, and personality are common and very important distinctions that guide interaction. Japan, for all its modern westernization, yet still an aristocratic society, and each person is expected to behave in accordance with status expectations.
In expressing status differences, every greeting and contact must indicate the kind and degree of social distance between men. The Japanese language, accompanied by proper bows and kneeling, is a perfect tool which contributes to the assumption that hierarchy is natural. Verb endings, choice of words and honorific prefixes express relationship of superiority or inferiority, which also may be manipulated to express what the speaker desires to be. Moreover, since Japan is a culture that stresses the value of empathy, one person cannot speak without considering the other, and their languages are designed to accommodate this behavior.
The term of hierarchy implies a ranking of roles and a rigid set of rules, and Japan has its share of many part of their lives. But, the kind of hierarchical sense that pervades the whole society is of a different sort, which anthropologist Robert J Smith calls “diffuse order”. This is built with many ambiguity, mainly concern about responsibility. For example, in contemporary Japan, responsibility is collective and authority diffuses to a greater degree than other cultures. The person in charge, is in reality, bound into the web of group interdependence as tightly as those who appear to be his subordinate. Even until now, leaders were expected to assume responsibility for a major problem occurring in by resigning their posts, although they may have had no direct involvement in the situation.
The extreme explicitness of the Japanese hierarchal system in feudal times, from outcast to emperor, has left its strong impress in modern Japan . Status in Japan is based on specific relationships between individual and often relationships of social dependency between those who have unequal status and still preserved on this society because all members of the society are linked in relationships of social dependency. This condition created several unique yet ethical values that coloring this society for many times. These values can be divided into 2 different parts : first, values in the sense of obligation ( on ) and their reciprocals ( gimu and giri ), and values regarding the tempering of human relationship itself ( known as ninjo ) which will be explained in the next section.
IV. Japanese Values
Japanese put high respect regarding obligations. They called it On. On is a debt and must be repaid. On is the primary and ever-present indebtedness, also defined as obligations that passively incurred. A man’s indebtedness is not virtue, but his repayment is. Virtue begins when he dedicates himself actively to the duty of gratitude. There are several On , as listed below ( taken from schematic table of Japanese Obligations and their Reciprocals ) :
a. ko on à On received from the emperor
b. oya on à On received from parents
c. nushi no on à On received from one’s lord
d. shi no on à On received from one’s teacher
e. On received in all contacts in the course of one’s life
In the story of Unzen, by Endo Shusaku, we can see one example of nushi no on which became the background of the story which focusing on main character named Kichijiro, a Christian who lived in the era of the Shogunate’s persecution of the Christians.
”According to the records, after 1629, when the Nagasaki Magistrate Takenaka Shigetsugu hit upon the idea of abusing Christians in this hot spring inferno, sixty or seventy prisoners a day were roped together and herded from Obama to the top of this mountain. “
On the paragraph above, Takenaka Shigetsugu repay his on to Shogunate Tokugawa, which at that time was the main lord of all Japan by supporting Shogun’s campaign against Christianity, which was believed can endanger Japan’s hierarchical system on early 17th century. Another interesting fact on how Japan try to keep their values on the same path and resist to change.
To repay On, Japanese divide it into distinct categories, each with its different rules. Those repayment in On which are limitless both in amount and in duration, and those which are quantitatively equivalent and come due on special occasions. The limitless repayments on indebtedness are called gimu which never be repaid on the same amount to the On itself. Gimu is divided into 2 categories : Chu, which means duty to the emperor, the law, and Japan,, and Ko, which means duty to parents and ancestors. Both forms of Gimu are unconditional. In thus making these virtues absolute, Japan has departed again from the Chinese concepts of duty to the state and of filial piety.
Another reciprocals of On is called Giri. These debts are regarded as having to be repaid with mathematical equivalence to the favor received and there are time limits. Giri includes a most heterogeneous list of obligations, ranging from gratitude for an old kindness to the duty of revenge. It has two quite distinct divisions. First is a Giri to the world, includes duties to the liege lord, affinal family, duties to non-related persons due to on received, e.g. on a gift of money, on a favor, etc. Second, is the Giri-to-one’s-name which is a duty of keeping one’s name and reputation unspotted by any imputation. Moreover, it also includes the duty to admit no professional failure or ignorance, and duty to fulfill the Japanese proprieties, e.g. observing all respect behavior, not living above one’s station in life, etc.
Giri-to-one’s-name are those acts which keep one’s reputation bright, and therefore they include maintaining all the miscellaneous etiquette requirements of proper’s station, showing stoicism in pain, and defending one’s reputation in profession or live. Giri to one’s name also demands acts which remove a slur or an insult that could darken one’s good name. It may be necessary to take vengeance upon one’s detractor or it may be necessary to commit suicide which become one of the main reason why suicide rates in Japan is considered one of the highest amongst all nation.
Giri to one’s name bring Japanese into several important values and also certain phenomena that underlies beneath this society. Giri to one’s name bring Japanese into what they’ve called ‘self-respect’ regarding themselves. This meant in Tokugawa times that he accepted as part of his self-respect the detailed sumptuary laws which regulated practically everything he wore, or had, or used. Giri to one’s name also become the basic idea of true dignity that Japanese hold tightly. True dignity, according to de Tocqueville, consists in always taking one’s proper station, neither too high nor too low. True dignity, nowadays, is recognized as something which different people can define differently, just as they always define for themselves what is humiliating. In addition, Giri to one`s name also lifted up the idea of loyalty, which in this modern time interpreted as a loyalty to one`s immediate group, company, family, etc.
Giri to one’s name is bringing up to many sorts of commitments, which can be seen through their incredible self-disciplines. Giri to one’s name, besides the proper’s station, also including all kinds of professional commitment. The Japanese requirements are often fantastic when particular circumstances bring one into public eye and criticism might be general. For example, recently, there is a case of schoolmaster committed suicide due to his failure keep pacing with the change in Japanese education system. This case shows in Japan, there is an extreme identification of a man with his work and any criticism of one’s acts or one’s competence becomes automatically criticism of one’s self. These Japanese reactions to imputation of failure and inadequacy often accompanied by defensive acts. However, this defensiveness goes very deep and it is the part of wisdom, as it also universal etiquette , not to tell a person to his face in so many words that he has made a professional error.
In addition, person who makes an error on Japanese society, including professional error or not taking one’s proper station, wears “a shame” for such failures. Since Japan is one of culture where shame is a major sanction, people are chagrined about acts. This can be very intense and it cannot be relieved by confession and atonement. Until now, shame still dwells in the sub-conscious as a silent, unspoken, below-the-threshold psychological trait that influences even the most modern Japanese. Shame can easily silence one or act as a sublimating mechanism in Japanese behavior. The Japanese suffer from the worst fear of committing a shameful act or being ashamed of dishonesty, disrespect or dis-harmony with socially accepted norms. Yoshimoto Banana, through his short story, ‘ Dreaming of Kimchee ‘, try to speak his disagreement about how Japanese acts about person shameful conduct.
Yoshimoto Banana represents the shame with the extramarital affairs, which is experienced by the main role of the story. The woman in ‘Dreaming of Kimchee’ falls in love with a married man, and she was become a victim of Japanese society, who judge her even though they do not have any correlation with what happened to her. This is illustrated through the mistress narration :
“ Of course, it`s natural for taxi-drivers who are working late at night to look for a fare with a long trip. If a single woman goes bar-hopping by herself, people conclude that she`s loose. If you have lunch with a single guy from the office, the woman you usually eat with get upset. All these things seem so trivial, yet the rules are hard and fast. It`s weird. Just like its strange how everyone automatically makes assumptions about people who are having affairs before they`ve heard the particulars. And then they feel like its their place to judge the morality of those involved.”
Other important Japanese values that temper the rules of hierarchy is known as Ninjo. This tempering includes human emotion, compassion, and empathy. In Japanese mythology, the gods display human emotions, such as love and anger. In those stories, behavior that results in positive relations with others is rewarded, and empathy, identifying oneself with another is highly valued. By contrast, those actions that are individualistic or antisocial are condemned. Japan is among the few societies that most strongly rely on social rather than supernatural sanctions and that emphasizes as a central guiding principle the benefits of harmony.
In this society, relative status may be seen as the basis of social organization and affiliation with others may be considered desirable, but these assumptions by no means negate a concept of self. An ideology of harmony with others does not automatically create a congruence of individual with group or institutional goals. As a result, Japan has conflicts between individual and group. To maintain the harmony between individual personality and interaction with others, Japanese trained themselves by overcoming hardship, through self-discipline, and through personal striving for a perfection that one knows is not possible but remains a worthy goal. In this way, both the self and society are improved, and in fact are interrelated because the idea of selfhood is one in which considerations of others is paramount.
VI. Conclusion
To understand the uniquely unique Japanese, we should take a deep insight into their conduct of live’s version. These can be achieved by knowing Japanese values, which mainly based on taking one’s proper station. Those values are focusing on how Japanese see themselves not only as an individual personality but also as a part of the society. The obligations and its reciprocal play important rules on this relationship, both of self-interaction, and interaction with other people.
Ninjo, other important Japanese values which refers to a person’s natural feelings and inclination. This values including love, empathy and anger. Ninjo, in the term of love, becomes one of the most popular themes of Japanese tales and mythology. Amongst this is the tale of Genji Monogatari which was written by Lady Murasaki and regarded as the first novel in the world.
Ninjo, also has potential chance to cause a conflict with other Japanese values, most of the case with Giri. If conflict arises, one`s must choose between three options. First, uppress one's private feelings and honor moral principles; second, follow one`s dictate feeling, or annihilate oneself through committing suicide.
To live In this society, along with their values and interaction between oneself and society, one`s need to achieve maturity. Maturity, as defined by David W Plath, means both continuing to care about what others might think and feel, but on the other side, also become confident in one’s ability to judge and act effectively, acknowledging social norms while remaining true to self. Once they gain this maturity, they can live on society where norms and status highly respected.
In this early 21th century, Japanese values facing bigger problem. Today, many of Japan`s old values have been eroding. The generation gap has been particularly yawning in Japan. Values such as frugality, sobriety, loyalty, obedience, formal good manners and chastity (for women), informing every aspect of their parents' and grandparents' lives, to the under-35 generation are better known by their antonyms. The sight of workaholic fathers and complicit mothers, coupled with the influence - on the young have turned a whole generation away from what might have been role models for their own lives. Their rebellion has created unbridgeable chasms in many families.
VII. References
Benedict, Ruth. 1945. The Chrysanthemum and The Sword : Pattern of Japanese Culture.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_values
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_culture
Yoshimoto Banana : Dreaming of Kimchee
Endo Shusaku : Unzen
SengokuDaimyo.com The website of Samurai Author and Historian Anthony J. Bryant
