The Consistency and Change in Japanese Society

The Consistency and Changes in Japanese Society
日本社会・文化の不変性と可変性
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集団・家族主義志向の労働倫理
Group and family-oriented work ethic
和魂洋才Wa Kon You Sai
もののあわれ・無常観
View of Life as Something transient and empty
(The law of universal change)
仏教と神道の共存
The Coexistence of Buddhism and Shintoism from
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平和主義Ｐａｃｉｆｉｓｍ
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1 春夏秋冬
Four Seasons
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和と協力を尊重する稲作文化
Rice-growing Race for Harmony
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和をもって尊し
聖徳太子
Harmony is the first priority in Japan.
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神道は人と自然と宇宙との融和を目指し、この和の
精神が日本最初の憲法である「１７条の憲法」の核で
ある。
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Wa is the basic code of Japanese society
和をもって尊しの精神は日本社会の基本
Prince Shoutoku, under Empress Suiko,
established so called Constitution of 17 articles,
in 604. Wa was regarded as one of the foundation
of Japanese society.
Wa was constantly the momentum of Japanese
education and business success. We can see the
result of Wa in the cooperative relationship
between teachers and students, management and
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labor.
和と調和を優先する家族主義
Family-oriented Dynamism for Strength and Group
Harmony & Group Competition
1 Rice-growing culture in the East Asia
 Family members, relatives, neighbors work
together and they form a community
 2 School education based on Family-oriented
Dynamism for strength and harmony
 3 Business companies and city halls based on
family-oriented dynamism for strength and
harmony
 4 Group consciousness and competitive group
consciousness for effective production
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Family-oriented music days at school
Group Harmony and Strength
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Family- oriented group
harmony/competition
ＡｔｈｌｅｔｉｃＭｅｅｔ in Japanese Schools
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Family- oriented group harmony and
group competition
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ＡｔｈｌｅｔｉｃＭｅｅｔ in Japanese junior high schools
Uniformity, Harmony, Cooperation
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ＡｔｈｌｅｔｉｃＭｅｅｔ in Japanese junior high schools
The Slogan is Self-independence, Creativity and Strong Will
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The Basic Nature of Japanese Society
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1. Competitive Groupism.（競争的集団主義）Inter
and intra-group competition and consciousness.
* Conformism, harmony and peer pressure. 村八分
* Totalitarian agreement ignoring individual and
minority opinions
* Vertical society 集団内部がたて・上下関係
Ex. school life, social life and company life…
2. This worldliness （現世主義）彼岸を無視するし
此岸主義. Clinging to the present and realistic life
without committing oneself to different or another world.
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3 Living today without thinking much about the past
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and future. (National amnesia)
The Basic Nature of Japanese Society
４ Extreme Formality to adjust and control group
harmony 集団内部の調整装置としての象徴の体
系の極端な形式主義・名目主義
 The name of Japanese traditional cakes (饅頭） is
more aesthetic and literary than any other country.
 Ex.（夜の梅、Plums in the night,春の月 The moon
in spring, 梅琥珀 plum amber、金の夢 The dream
of gold）
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加藤修一
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Formality and Rules for Group Harmony
集団の調和のための儀式と規則（式典）
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書初め
Special New Year Calligraphy
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The Basic Nature of Japanese Society
5 Closing society and a sense of innovating
enterprise as the backlash of extreme closeness
from the outer world
 . 外の世界に対する極端な閉鎖性とその反動として
の進取の精神
The self-contradiction of international education
encouraged by the Ministry of Education and the
Foreign Affairs and strict Japanese Immigration
Laws and regulations.
Unsatisfactory citizenship of foreign residents in
Japan. 例文部省や外務省の推進する国際化のた
めの国際理解教育の内容と法務省の移民法の矛
盾在日外国人の市民権や権利保障の問題
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The Basic Nature of Japanese Society
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６ Extreme Alternatives and Ambivalence in cultural
layers 両極端な矛盾と文化の重層性:
Ex. *Samurai dominance and keeping court nobles even
in the feudalistic society 武家支配と公家の温存、
*Human Declaration of Emperor and still the symbol of
the Japanese people 天皇の人間宣言と国民の象徴
* Appointment of the former Tokugawa samurai in
The Meiji New Government. 明治新政府における旧幕臣
の登用
ルースベネデイクトの日本人描写 (Benedict’s view of
the Japanese) “Japanese are honest and sneaky,
aesthetic and militaristic、honest and liar” (Sward and
Chrysanthemum)
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和(wa)魂(kon)洋(yo)才(sai)
This tradition has been influenced by the idea
of "和魂洋才" "Wakon Yousai" advocated by
Shozan Sakuma (1811-1864) since the Meiji
Restoration. The idea "Wakon Yosai" means :
Japanese spirit combined with Western
learning.
 The idea of learning Western knowledge,
technology, institution and systems without
losing Japanese cultural identity.
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和(wa)魂(kon)洋(yo)才(sai)
Japanese spirit combined with
Western learning
(Old and New)
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Cultural Hybridity and Japan
文化混合と日本
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Since Japan opened her feudalistic door in 1868
after a 250 year-isolation policy, Japan has
modernized herself by learning Western systems
and technologies without losing her own cultural
strength and spirit, this time in the name of
“Wakon Yosai. ” The Longman Dictionary of
Contemporary English defines “Wakon Yosai” as
Japanese spirit combined with Western learning.
White (1987) states that in Japan, to be modern is
not, in any pervasive sense, to be Western
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Japanizing Chinese and Western cultures
with an extremely high level of receptivity
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Japan has a unique history of always
Japanizing Chinese and Western culture. In
this context, it appears as though the
strength of Japan’s cultural base is quite
formidable.
(Chie Nakane:1997)
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Ex. Confucian ideas have been modified in Japan
from their source in China.
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和(wa)魂(kon)洋(yo)才(sai)
This tradition has been influenced by the idea
of "和魂洋才" "Wakon Yousai" advocated by
Shozan Sakuma (1811-1864) since the Meiji
Restoration. The idea "Wakon Yosai" means :
Japanese spirit combined with Western
learning.
 The idea of learning Western knowledge,
technology, institution and systems without
losing Japanese cultural identity.
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Modern Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅｈｏｕｓｅｓ
The combination of Japanese rooms
and Western living rooms
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Modern Japanese Electric Toilet
with warm seat and warm water& drier
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All the trains are on time.
Punctuality and Good Service
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Speed, Punctuality, Precision and
Accuracy, Elaboration and Delicacy
Speed, Punctuality, Precision and Accuracy,
Elaboration and Delicacy are considered
important in Japanese society.
 Ex. The time table for national railways and all
kinds of private lines, the program schedules
for NHK and commercial TV and radio.
 The elaboration of Japanese bullet trains and
cars as well the delicacy of Japanese cuisine
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Student’s demonstration class
in a multi-media classroom.
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Christmas in Japan
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結婚式Wedding Ceremonies and Parties
A Bride change her wedding clothes three times
at the parties in the hotel.
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Japan’s great changes can be seen as a process
of modernization rather than westernization.
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The Japanese are now completely at home with
the styles and fads of international culture,
mixing them at will with their own traditional
traits and proving themselves a prolific source of
cultural influences on other countries both West
and East. They wisely examine what others are
doing in facing the problems of modern times (the
countries of the West could learn a lot from them
on this score), but they are not blindly imitative
and usually come up with a result superior to what
can be found abroad. (Reischauer:1977)
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Japan’s modest and intellectual
attitude of being on the periphery
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Then, what has been the secret of Japan's
modernization after a long period of national
isolation? Japan’s modest and intellectual attitude
of being on the periphery and Japan’s willingness
to learn and borrow from others, respecting group
harmony and balance (equilibrium), have often
had an energizing effect on Japan’s modernization
as well as on her economic and technological
progress. This must be a kernel of Japan's cultural
strength and the heart of the Japanese system.
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Japan’s Powerful Pop Culture
日本の大衆文化の力
Powerful transition from manufacturing
Japan by postwar generation to cultural
Japan by the young.
 Japan’s days as an industrial powerhouse
may well be on the wane, but its role as a
global trendsetter-in cutting–edge music,
art, fashion, design, and other pop-is only
now just getting started.
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From being a Corporate Manufacturing and
Industrial society to a Pop-Culture Society
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In the wreckage of Japan’s increasing inability to
compete against the lower labor costs and
rekindled ambitions of its rivals, however, a
number of observers both inside the country and
out are turning to the nation’s creative and
cultural enterprises as a source of potential
salvation.
Animated-cartoon series, Nintendo’s Game Cube,
High-end Japanese fashion, Hanae Mori,
Japanese films, TV series, music, lifestyle
magazines.
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Cellular (Portable) Phone Culture
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日本人の自然観と神
The Japanese View of Nature and God
Since ancient times, Japanese people
recognized every natural phenomenon as a
manifestation of the Kami (Gods).
 In Japanese polytheism Kami lived in the
sea, mountains, forests, lands, and in the
sky………
 Even in each individual house there is a
family (Buddhist) altar, honoring their
dead family members. People become a
Buddha for the cycle of reincarnation 35
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(transmigration of the soul).
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The Coexistence of Buddhism and Shinto
仏教と神道の共存
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The beautiful natural landscape of Japan created
Japanese polytheism in her long history, unlike
monotheism in the West and Middle East.
Frequent earthquakes and typhoons made
Japanese people realize the power of nature which
is beyond human power, and sense of uncertainty,
mutability and a view of life as something
transient and empty（無常観）, and the necessity
of group and family- oriented work ethics.（家族・
集団の和と協力、労働倫理）.
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もののあはれ Mono no Aware
A purified and exalted feeling, close to
the innermost heart of man and nature
人生の機微やはかなさなどに触れたときに感
じるしみじみとした情趣
 無常観 (Mujoukan )ともののあはれ
 A view of life as something transient and
empty. The idea that everything is
uncertain, transient and mortal makes us
more sensitive to the wonder of life and
beauty of nature in each moment.
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和歌・短歌に表象される
もののあはれ・無常観
花のいろは移りにけりないたづらに我が身よ
にふる詠めせしまに
小野小町
 しのぶれど色に出にけりわが恋は物や思ふ
と人の問ふまで
平兼盛
 君がためおしからざりし命さへながくもがなと
おもひぬる哉
藤原義孝
 あひ見ての後の心にくらぶればむかしは物を
思はざりけり
権中納言敦忠
 こぬ人をまつほの浦の夕なぎにやくやもしほ
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の身もこがれつゝ
権中納言定家 38
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禅の心
座禅と悟り
 精神を安定、統一させることによって宗教的
叡智、悟りに達しようとする修行法
 仏教の真髄は座禅によって体得される。
 禅宗臨済宗（栄西）曹泂宗（道元）
 人間には百八つの煩悩があり、新年を迎える
にあたり、煩悩を取り除く。（除夜の鐘）
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Dr. Donald Keene’s Observations
Of the Japanese View of Life
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While European artists built palaces and statues made
of marble for the purpose of eternity and immortality,
Japanese people gave up everlasting or universal
beauty and looked for beauty in mortality, transience
and mutability.
「西洋の芸術家が不滅性を狙って大理石で宮殿や
立像を建てたが、日本人は不滅の美を断念し、消え
ゆくものの美を求めた。」（ Keene: 1987)
 「われわれは永遠を信じて建築物を造るが、日本人
は最初から永続しないものとして造る」(Lafcadio
Hearn)
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The beauty of a radiant and
perishing fate and the idea of
reincarnation
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All the beautiful flowers will inevitably wither and
fade away when fall and winter come. So will even
the most beautiful young woman and the most
powerful young man when they get older. Buddhist
ideas imply that all forms of life reincarnate and
alternate between life and death. All the creatures
will one day die no matter how prosperous they are.
Life is but a fleeting moment, and that moment is
sometimes more beautiful, which produced
aesthetic poetries and literature in Japan.
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侘びと茶道
Wabi and Tea Ceremony
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The Heart of Ｊａｐａｎｅｓｅ Calligraphy
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The ultimate beauty of Japanese Calligraphy is
derived from running hands, curvaceous and
vivacious lines, swinging from side to side
and instability, fragility and emptiness influenced
by the tone and shade of ink. Japanese
Calligraphy is a refined art which has two faces,
representing the world of aesthetic sensibility and
elegant simplicity known as "wabi, sabi and
yugen" and profound and passionate expressions.
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一座建立 Ichiza Konryu
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In order that a gathering be pleasant and
comfortable in feeling to its conclusion,
one should behave toward the others with
wholehearted sincerity, as though that
gathering were to be the only encounter
with them in one’s entire lifetime- even
with close acquaintances one meets daily.
(Murai 1992)
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一期一会 Ichigo Ichie
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The most important element in Tea
ceremony is the aesthetic of wabi born out
of the special relationship between the
practitioner and the utensils in chanoyu, and
the concept of “one meeting in a lifetime”
which was conceived as the ideal
relationship between the participants in the
tea gathering. In short, the gist of chanoyu
exists in both the form and the spirit.
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懐石料理Tea Ceremony Dishes
Served as vegetarian food with impeccable
presentation.
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華道（活け花）Flower Arrangement
Flowers were originally arranged where gods
were welcomed or used as offerings at Buddhist
altars. Flowers were arranged in tea ceremony.
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Japanese Chivalry (Bushido)武士道
The Seven Moral Code of Bushido
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Rectitude 義
Respect 礼
Courage 勇
Benevolence 仁
Honor 名誉
Honesty 誠
Loyalty 忠義
Bushido-the soul of Japan (1900) by Inazou Nitobe
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Japan’s Fastest Modernization and
Ｐａｃｉｆｉｓｍ日本近代化と平和主義
Japan’s long periods of peace:
 Heian Period (794-1156)
362 years
 Edo Period (1603-1867)
264 years
 After World War II (1945--) 58 years
Japan’s domestic unification (1603)and innovative
modernization in order to internationalize Japan
in the late 19th century (1868) and the beginning
of the 20th century (1945), catching up with
Western Civilization.
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Hiroshima Before the Atomic Bomb
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Hiroshima After the Atomic Bomb
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Millions of paper cranes for peace made by
school children from inside and outside
Japan.
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Hiroshima Peace Memorial
Dome
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Japan’s Ｐａｃｉｆｉｓｍ and Article 9 of The
Japanese Constitution 日本の平和主義
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Article 9 of The Japanese Constitution “No-War”Clause
“ Aspiring sincerely to an international peace based on
justice and order, the Japanese people forever renounce war
as a sovereign right of the nation and the threat or use of
force as means of settling international disputes…..
In order to accomplish the aim of the preceding paragraph,
land, sea, and air forces, as well as other war potential, will
never be maintained. The right of belligerency of the state
will not be recognized.”
According to a survey by NHK (2003),70% of the people
feel that Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution is useful in
maintaining safety and peace in Japan.
30% of people feel there is a need for revision.
52% say there is no need for revision.
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Do you participate in a war when your
country is involved in a war? 2000
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1
4
20
36
41
56
59
Country
Yes
No
Don’t Know
Turkey
94.7 %
3.7 %
0.9%
China
89.9
3.1
5.7
Korea
74.4
25.3
0.3
USA
63.3
25.5
11.2
France
58.6
41.4
0.0
Germany
44.0
56.0
0.0
Japan
15.6
46.7
37.7
The Survey of Value System in the World 2000
The questionnaire was conducted for 1000 adults in each country.
Article 9 of the Japanese Constitution and Peace Education in Japan
reveal their influence through this questionnaire.
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Are you proud of your country? 2000
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1.
15
47
50
55
56
71
Country Very
Yes
Little
No
Egypt 81.6 % 17.4 % (99.1%) 0.6% 0.1%
USA
71.4
22.9
(94.3%) 3.9
0.4
France 37.5
46.9
(84.3%) 6.4
3.2
UK
45.1
37.6
(82.7%) 7.8
1.9
Korea 17.4
60.8
(78.3%) 18.7
2.9
China 24.7
53.3
(78.0%) 13.2
4.0
Japan 21.1
33.1
(54.2%) 34.7
3.5
The Survey of Value System in the World 2000
(The questionnaire was conducted for 1000 adults in
each country)
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Homeless People (２５２９６), High Suicide rate (３２１４３）,
The fastest aging society (Average Span of Life ８１．０９),
Classroom chaos (one-fourth), Bullying (２２８４０),
School Refusal (１１２，１９３), Socially withdrawn young
people (１millon), （Japanese Police Agency in 2003, Ministry of Education in 2001)
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School Refusal
Socially Withdrawn Young People
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Classroom Chaos
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Homeless People
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