Japanese Society
Japanese people do not believe that foreigners can ever truly master their culture. Japanese society, with its ideology of homogeneity, has traditionally been intolerant of ethnic and other differences. People identified as different might be considered "polluted". The Japanese word gaijin, politely translated as “foreigner,” literally meant “barbarian.” The modern Japaneset doen't exactly consider foreigners (gaijin) inferior. They no longer dismiss Westerners as "red-bearded Barbarians". But people are either born a part of Japan, a full nihon-jin, or they are forever outside of it, gaijin.
Despite the benefits of experiencing life abroad, individuals who have lived outside of Japan for extended periods often faced problems of discrimination upon their return because others might no longer consider them fully Japanese. By the late 1980s, these problems, particularly the bullying of returnee children in the schools, had become a major public issue both in Japan and in Japanese communities abroad. Up to 230,000 Brazilians of Japanese origin migrated to Japan in the 1990s to work in industries; some had returned to Brazil by 2004.
If Japanese society is reluctant to re-admit returnees, it is even less willing to accept as full members of society those people who are not ethnic Japanese. Those who immigrate to Japan, cannot not become Japanese, but would always be a foreigner living in Japan. But if a Japanese citizen came to America, they could become an American. The population of Japan in 2013 was 98.5% Japanese, Koreans 0.5%, Chinese 0.4%, other 0.6%. Many of these people were descendants of those brought to Japan during Japan's occupation of Taiwan (1895- 1945) and Korea (1905-45) to work at unskilled jobs, such as coal mining.
Because Japanese citizenship was based on the nationality of the parent rather than on the place of birth, subsequent generations were not automatically Japanese and had to be naturalized to claim citizenship, despite being born and educated in Japan and speaking only Japanese, as was the case with most Koreans in Japan. Until the late 1980s, people applying for citizenship were expected to use only the Japanese renderings of their names and, even as citizens, continued to face discrimination in education, employment, and marriage. Thus, few chose naturalization, and they faced legal restrictions as foreigners, as well as extreme social prejudice. Most Koreans in Japan, however, have never been to the Korean Peninsula and do not speak Korean. Many are caught in a vicious cycle of poverty and discrimination in a society that emphasizes Japan's homogeneity and cultural uniqueness.
Other Asians, too, whether students or permanent residents, face prejudice and a strong "we-they" distinction. Europeans and North Americans might be treated with greater hospitality but nonetheless find it difficult to become full members of Japanese society. Public awareness of the place of foreigners (gaijin) in Japanese society was heightened in the late 1980s in debates over the acceptance of Vietnamese and Chinese refugees and the importing of Filipino brides for rural farmers.
The category applied historically to the outcasts of Japan, particularly the hisabetsu buraku, "discriminated communities," often called burakumin, a term some find offensive--and thus not suitable as marriage partners or employees. Men or women of mixed ancestry, those with family histories of certain diseases, and atomic bomb survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and their descendants, foreigners, and members of minority groups faced discrimination in a variety of forms.
Contemporary Japan is a secular society. Creating harmonious relations with others through reciprocity and the fulfillment of social obligations is more significant for most Japanese than an individual's relationship to a transcendent God. Harmony, order, and self-development are three of the most important values that underlie Japanese social interaction. Basic ideas about self and the nature of human society are drawn from several religious and philosophical traditions. Religious practice, too, emphasizes the maintenance of harmonious relations with others (both spiritual beings and other humans) and the fulfillment of social obligations as a member of a family and a community.
Academic culture in Japan favors memorization as opposed to critical thinking. Students are not expected to ask questions in class. Japanese culture also encourages homogeneity, and the education system has struggled to accommodate prodigies and special needs students alike. Being different is not something one actively works to achieve, and the system does not yet have the capacity to encourage individuality or creativity. This is coupled with a culture of humility.
No society can exist that tolerates significant antisocial behavior in the long term, but Japan is among the societies that most strongly rely on social sanctions and emphasize the benefits of harmony. Japanese children learn from their earliest days that human fulfillment comes from close association with others. Children learn early to recognize that they are part of an interdependent society, beginning in the family and later extending to larger groups such as neighborhood, school, community, and workplace. Dependence on others is a natural part of the human condition; it is viewed negatively only when the social obligations it creates are too onerous to fulfill.
In interpersonal relationships, most Japanese tend to avoid open competition and confrontation. Working with others requires self-control, but it carries the rewards of pride in contributing to the group, emotional security, and social identity. Wa, the notion of harmony within a group, requires an attitude of cooperation and a recognition of social roles. If each individual in the group understands personal obligations and empathizes with the situations of others, then the group as a whole benefits. Success can come only if all put forth their best individual efforts. Decisions are often made only after consulting with everyone in the group.
Consensus does not imply that there has been universal agreement, but this style of consultative decision making involves each member of the group in an information exchange, reinforces feelings of group identity, and makes implementation of the decision smoother. Cooperation within a group also is often focused on competition between that group and a parallel one, whether the issue is one of educational success or market share. Symbols such as uniforms, names, banners, and songs identify the group as distinct from others both to outsiders and to those within the group. Participation in group activities, whether official or unofficial, is a symbolic statement that an individual wishes to be considered part of the group. Thus, after-work bar hopping provides not only instrumental opportunities for the exchange of information and release of social tensions but also opportunities to express nonverbally a desire for continued affiliation.
Working in a group in Japan requires the development of successful channels of communication, which reinforce group interdependence, and the sense of difference from those who are not members of the group. Yet social interaction beyond that which occurs with individuals with whom one lives and works is a necessity in contemporary society. If the exchange is brief and relatively insignificant, such as buying a newspaper, anonymity will be maintained. But if the relationship is expected to continue over a long period, whether in business, marriage, employment, or neighborhood, great care is likely to be invested in establishing and maintaining good relationships.
Such relationships are often begun by using the social networks of a relative, friend, or colleague who can provide an introduction to the desired person or serve as nakodo (go-between). The nakodo most often refers to the person (or people) who negotiates marriage arrangements, including checking each family's background, conveying questions and criticisms, and smoothing out difficulties. But this kind of personal mediation is common in many aspects of Japanese life.
Group membership in Japan provides enjoyment and fulfillment, but it also causes tremendous tension. An ideology of group harmony does not ensure harmony in fact. Japan is an extremely competitive society, yet competition within the group must be suppressed. Minor issues are sometimes dealt with by appeals to higher authority, but they may well smolder unresolved for years. Major problems may be denied, especially to outsiders, but may result in factions or in the fissioning of the group.
It is often the individual, however, who bears the burden of these interpersonal tensions. This burden is reflected in high rates of alcohol consumption and of minor, sometimes psychosomatic, illnesses. Many Japanese cope with these stresses by retreating into the private self or by enjoying the escapism offered by much of the popular culture.
Kumitaiso or the Japanese physical education (P.E.) class group gymnastics is not an ordinary task. It is mostly done by students who go the distance in using their bodies to make different shapes such as human pyramids. It has a vast history which has a militaristic approach spearheaded by Motokuro Kawase, Akuri Inokuchi, and others. It was considered to be a way of training the person’s character while maintaining optimum health. Across the nation, at least 8,000 kids taking part in the discipline require medical attention.
Autumn is the season when many schools in Japan prepare for field day. Relay races and ball games are just some of the sports held during the event. For many schools, the main activity of the day has long been kumitaiso, or group gymnastics. But critics argue that this traditional sport culture can be lethal. Some of the exercises, such as the human pyramid and human tower, are especially dangerous. At some schools, teachers still encourage students to try difficult formations, and that at least one junior high school made a pyramid with nine tiers on a field day in 2018. The maximum load on children on the bottom tier could be about 150 kilograms.
The Japan Sport Council says that 4,418 accidents occurred in fiscal 2017, either during practice or the actual kumitaiso performance. The council began keeping records of accidents in 1969. Nine children have died and 99 have been left with disabilities since then. The number has decreased dramatically since the government instructed schools nationwide three years ago to refrain from building difficult formations. But accidents, including fatal ones, continue to occur. Group gymnastics in Japan differ from those in other countries. Kumitaiso injuries occur because Japanese schools force children of all sizes and strengths to participate without proper preparation, rather than recruit those who are eager to take part. Teachers who supervise kumitaiso have not been trained properly.
Ijime [bullying] is a common social problem affecting Japan, and interviews of individuals with hikikomori frequently reveal histories of ijime, involving taunting, being shunned by social circles, or outright physical abuse.
The Japanese words tatemae (public mask or façade) and honne (private, true self) appropriately capture the public persona–private self dichotomy that so common and inextricable in Japanese culture. Shame is ubiquitous in Japanese society. Its prevalence may be partially attributed to its geography and demographics. In contrast to culturally and ethnically diverse societies such as the United States, the island nation of Japan is an ethnically and culturally homogenous society. Japanese are easily embarrassed, or experience shame of the outer self, when exposed to an audience, irrespective of whether or not they have done anything wrong. The suppression and inhibition of affect, expressing private thoughts and feelings, and reflexively utilizing certain gestures, behavioral styles, or speech patterns are defensive strategies used to avoid exposure and shame.
First conceptualized in the 1960s, the term culture-bound disorders refers to a classification of mental disorders or syndromes that are considered specific or closely related to cultural factors and or particular ethnocultural groups. In Japan, two culture-bound disorders, taijin kyofusho and hikikomori, have seized the interest of researchers and professionals due to their prevalence in Japanese society.
The first disorder, taijin kyofusho, is a culture-bound social anxiety disorder that has been documented in Japan since the 1930s. It is characterized by the experience of anxiety in, and often avoidance of, social and interpersonal situations for fear of offending others through blushing, eye-to-eye contact, body deformity, and/or emitting body odor. Given the historical and cultural backdrop of shame in Japan, taijin kyofusho has been called “an obsession of shame and anxiety” and a “phobia of being ashamed”.
Mental health professionals in Japan consider taijin kyofusho to vary on a spectrum of severity, ranging from the highly prevalent but transient adolescent social anxiety [which tends to closely resemble the Western social anxiety disorder] to delusional disorders.
The second disorder is hikikomori, which literally means “pulling away and confining”. Hikikomori has only emerged in the last 30 years, but afflicts a substantial portion of the Japanese population. There ppeared to be a significant increase in reported cases of hikikomori over the past few decades. Given the cultural context of a contemporary Japanese society that is infused with rigid standards and extreme pressures to perform efficiently and punctually, hikikomori brings attention to youths who cannot accommodate to such pressures of time and efficiency.
Although on the surface hikikomori appears to resemble the Western diagnosis of Agoraphobia or Social Anxiety Disorder, there are distinct features that many researchers and clinicians claim uniquely differentiates hikikomori. It is clinically distinguished by symptoms of social withdrawal, self-confinement in one’s home, no intimate relationships with family members, and the absence of engagement in social activities. Hikikomori may have broad appeal as a socially acceptable term within a society where it is highly stigmatizing to use words like clinical depression (utsubyou), let alone schizophrenia (tougaou shichoushou).
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