Alienation
You may not be aware unless you watch NHK news that the Japanese have become avid handball fans. Apparently, the handball team was denied entry into the Olympics due to some shifty goings-on but it was decided that the games involving their teams should be replayed. The support clearly comes from a feeling of being hard done by and a desire to see Japan get its just desserts. Unfortunately, I can’t identify with them as in any way representing me, even if they were unfairly treated. NHK news showed live snippets of the women’s game against Korea and I found myself wishing the Koreans would win. This is not due to any affinity with Korea - I have never been there, and I harbour a suspicion that it is just Japan-lite, with few attractions.
In short, I don’t pass the Tebbitt test. For those of you who don’t know, Norman Tebbitt was a Thatcherite attack dog in the 1980s. He wondered aloud as to which team Caribbean immigrants supported when the West Indies played England at cricket, casting aspersions on their loyalty to their adopted country.
In fact, as surveys are done (Human rights survey stinks) and policies are implemented or proposed with every passing day that bind me in a net of suspicion here I become even less sympathetic to the aims and goals of this country. At best, too, I am indifferent to the lives and aspirations of the people. In fact, I can enjoy the schadenfreude when things go wrong (at least the Jamaicans and Grenadians and Barbadians had some cultural reason for supporting the West Indies, I have none at all for supporting Korea but I’d probably support almost anyone against Japan these days) and even secretly wish the people ill. Arudou writes, “how nice individual Japanese people are, yet how cold - even discriminatory officialdom is toward non-Japanese.” But, I don’t see it like that at all these days. I have become deeply suspicious of people who are superficially friendly but who are so totally indifferent to my rights and what is happening to them. Again indifference is probably the most positive spin I can put on it, because I suspect that, inside, they find me abhorrent, even in my most accommodating incarnation, and wish I’d “go back to where I belong.” In fact, in large part, the assumption is always there that I will do just that when I’ve had my fill of an allegedly wondrous society. I have no faith that the population as a whole would stand up for my rights at all were push to come to shove.
I don’t care at all what becomes of Japan or its people. It’s a mean-spirited country at best. I care only about what I can take from it now. I have, in short, become alienated. If that is the intention then it is working. The compensation is that I more profoundly understand the alienation people feel all over the world in discriminatory societies. That, at the end of the day, is all I will ever take away from here.
January 30th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Further proof if proof were needed:
“‘Gaijin card’ checks spread as police deputize the nation”
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20071113zg.html
January 30th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I wonder if you’re not misdirecting your animosity for the Japanese system towards the people themselves. Certainly there is a large number of Japanese people who either resent the presence of foreigners or simply disregard their presence and status as beneath them but I would say the vast majority of Japanese people are either blase about foreigners in general or (equally unreasonably) fond of them.
The dual effects of a bureaucractic system in which close-minded, anal-retentive, chauvantistic and jingoistic traits seem the key to promotion, coupled with neutered media and education systems that render critical thinking wholely alien, mean that the very worst the nation has to offer are very often in a position to influence the opinions of the average person.
This does not mean that the average person should be equated with the opinions of the demagogues whose unchallenged drivel they naiively accept.
The refusal of Japanese people to promote foreigners civil rights is, as far as I can see, for exactly the same reasons they frequently disregard the poor, homeless or abused and why blatant judicial disdain for women’s rights is also ignored; the system works quite well in conditioning the majority to accept it as the right way and, just as regretable, there seems to be very little activity (cultural or political) that highlight or attack the flaws in the system.
Fair enough, condemn the population at large for gullability, complacency or a hopelessly provincial attitude for members of one of the world’s leading economies (something that I’m sure can also be said of other countries)…..but, I don’t think there is significant justification paint them with such broad strokes on the subject of racism.
Societies can change drastically within even a few years, especially when economies start to buckle, and though the chances of stale manzai being replaced by biting political satire or teen dramas and variety shows succumbing to a new wave of investigative documentaries or dramas containing actual social criticism, is miniscule…..I don’t think it can be taken for granted that Japan will become worse rather than better in such areas.
January 30th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
I think you tend to answer your own questions. It’s over 20 years since I first came here, Gavan, and attitudes have changed little in my opinion. In some ways, while Japan makes more and more outrageous claims for being advanced, the whole country seems more and more parochial.
But, the key issue here is that there is a difference between what I might be able to summon up and explain away on a purely rational plane and what effect the drip drip drip of xenophobia and criminalisation has on my subjective feelings for the land and people. In writing what I did I was documenting the evolution of something that really has only just been brought to my consciousness. Should I make an effort to overcome what I feel? That feels to me like trying to delude myself. I should add that I never see a one way influence, either of people on their elected representatives or of leaders on the led; instead I see the world in terms of feedback loops, and the gullibility and complacency of the people both influences and is influenced by the leaders. The people have much responsibility and so are increasingly complicit in the system of repression being implemented.
But, what of people in my position who don’t consciously examine their gut feelings? We can only assume that their despair and antipathy grows daily. So far my attitude has only advanced to one between indifference and something less than good will but presumably others might be turned into the very criminals and terrorists that policies are allegedly designed to prevent.
My bets are on things getting worse. More repressive measures leading to more alienation leading to more resistance leading to more repression.
And who do you cheer for? No, really.
January 30th, 2008 at 9:42 pm
Who do I cheer for? Easy answer, anyone like me, and I know there are countless among the Japanese people, who want to be left alone to pursue a relatively simple family life, productive career and (when possible) help out their fellow man…..without being screwed over by a government populated with egomanical, power-hungry, evolutionary throwbacks.
In all likelihood a governmenmt populated by people like Hatoyama will probably continue to push divisive laws that will greatly exacerbate stress between Japanese and the growing immigrant population both to solidify a political power base among “native” Japanese and to increase the powers of a police state. They themselves are also not simply the most likely causes of future terrorism in Japan but quite possibly the most likley perpetrators of it. It would only take one or two false flag incidents for the public to sign away the remaining shreds of the Constitution.
(Never mind that Hatoyama himself should already by rights be in jail)
However, while such repressive and xenophobic polices would benefit the hardcore troglodytes among Japanese NeoCons, it is far from a suitable policy to sfaeguard the economic well-being of the nation which will depend on the immigrant workforce as well as increasingly important economic and political ties to India, China and Brazil.
The Japanese are as enamoured of foreign countries as they are fearful of them, and I think it remains to be seen whether that curiosity will win out over fear. Whether those with an interest in promoting regional harmony and economic development will win out over those seeking to turn Japan into a scaled down version of the US decent into finanical ruin via military aggression.
I also disagree with the idea that the population creates a feedback loop with the government that detemines how each evolves. While this may be true to a certain extent I feel the contribution of individuals counts for far more and just as a single charismatic and morally backrupt political leader can drag a country to the brink of the abyss, so too can a suitably inspiring social leader motivate people to demand positive change.
Obviously the odds are stacked in the governments favor and on top of this there seem to be a far higher number of oily politicians than progressive activists, but I guess if you believe in the power of indivudals to have a noticeable impact upon things there is always room for some amount of optimism.
January 30th, 2008 at 9:55 pm
I don’t especially wish this to be a discussion of the relative responsibility of government or people in a process of alienation, though I don’t mind that as a side issue. Instead, I’d like to concentrate on that process of alienation and was hoping to begin by seeing if others share it.
January 31st, 2008 at 9:35 am
The kind of nonsense that feeds my contempt for authorities and people alike:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080131f3.html
The fish shop owner is rather typical, in truth, in both his ignorance and parochialism.
本当に井の中の蛙.
And this has definitely not changed in 20 years.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:08 am
I suspect most Japanese people give about as much thought to the problems of foreigners in Japan as I do to the plight of pygmies in America. I expect there are some pygmies living there. In a big city, I’d probably see one now and then, and if I spoke to a pygmy, I guess he might have some complaints about his life, but his experiences are so far removed from my world that it’s hard to get passionate about.
I gave a class an article describing the discrimination an American experienced during the years he’d lived in Japan, along with a speaking activity that elicited students’ opinions about details in the article. All of the students appeared genuinely surprised, and some shocked, at what they read. The notion that non-Asian foreigners suffer discrimination of any kind of Japan was completely outside their experience and their latitudes of thought.
If ignorance, willful or not, can be called a national trait, Japan is a mere tree in the forest.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:31 am
What’s wrong with alienation? That’s partly what keeps me here.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:40 am
You don’t feel alienated in Ireland too, Maidhc?
January 31st, 2008 at 11:52 am
So, you find the institutional discrimination and the preparedness of the people to endorse repressive proposals and policies invigorating, Maidhc. Sounds a bit glib to me but I’m sure if that is the case then you might feel even more at home in North Korea or some other even more repressive state.
However, at least you gave some personal feedback on the feeling of alienation, which no-one else has yet. I repeat, this is not an intellectual discussion, at least not in my mind, it is instead a confessional. We have a few here who might be familiar with such a format.
I’m not sure what you mean by, “If ignorance, willful or not, can be called a national trait, Japan is a mere tree in the forest” Is that meant to be an excuse, John, along the lines of the precedence justifies anything argument that is so beloved of the people and institutions here? I don’t live anywhere else so I can only document my increased feelings of alienation here.
Nonetheless, I am interested in your lesson, John. Could you post it in “lesson plans”?
January 31st, 2008 at 12:57 pm
Yes, I feel alienated in Ireland too, John, but it’s easier to live in a relatively unmolested personal bubble here, which allows me lots of time to do pretty much what I want. Of course, I share your concerns about the ever-encroaching official xenophobia here, Marsh, which threatens to burst my comfortable bubble before long. So my comment was partly facetious.
But I would agree with John to some extent. Japan may be near the top of the world parochial league, but they have plenty of competition as intolerance of foreigners is a rapidly spreading virus, as people everywhere increasingly blame society’s growing ills on the newcomers, instead of looking critically at the role of the elites. Think of the immigration issue in the United States, and elsewhere.
We ain’t seen nothing yet.
January 31st, 2008 at 2:12 pm
I meant by the “mere tree in the forest” comment that Japanese people are not especially ignorant (willfully or otherwise) compared to others. I have felt alienated in my own country, and I certainly felt alienated in France sometimes during the 6 weeks I spent there. Your feelings of alienation seem to derive specifically from qualities you see as unique or special to Japan, and those qualities seem connected to ignorance (willful or not) also apparently special to or more prominant in Japan, so my comment was in part taking exception to the idea that Japanese people are more ignorant than others.
I think you’d be crazy not to respond to living as a non-Asian foreigner living in an Asian country with feelings of alienation. You’d be crazy also to not feel alienated living among people whose values and habits are very different than yours. I feel the same way too sometimes, and my feeling of unease are compounded by reading about unfair suspicions of us. On the other hand, I’ve found over and over again that stupid politicians don’t speak for many Japanese people I get to know personally, nor do the hordes of mindless consumers represent all Japanese people (additionally, people might initially seem outrageously irresponsible or foolish about some behavior or other, but as I get to know them better, show the picture is more complicated, and these same people possess veins of decency and wisdom I didn’t recognize). I’ve discovered also that the more I let the insane and the shallow to provide me black-and-white renditions of a group of people, not only do I feel more alienated, I alienate others with my bitterness.
January 31st, 2008 at 11:04 pm
Ah, Maidhc, the old argument that it’s the same everywhere else is trotted out to at least attempt to mollify if not justify. That was exactly the “precedence justifies anything argument” that I warned about. The very same argument that is employed so often in these parts (and now apparently by the victims of this repression too). I repeat, I don’t live anywhere else. I am only concerned about here and it seems facile to be concerned with where I don’t live.
I think that politicians do speak for the majority. Unfortunately, the handfuls you can find amongst the very educated (by Japanese standards) you likely associate with, John, that can be persuaded to be decent (but only with persuasion) are exceptions. At the very least I’d like some evidence that they represent more than an insubstantial minority.
Exhortations to eschew bitterness may have some validity but at the end of the day, my freedom is being steadily restricted and I wasn’t looking for advice. Personally, by now, I am well beyond caring what anyone thinks of me. Those who will be alienated will be alienated in any case by my insensitivity to the regurgitated cultural determinism that justifies most things here anyway.
I reiterate, I am looking for a discussion of alienation. From careful recent observation of my own thoughts and behaviour I think a self-fulfilling prophecy is being created here by government through wilfull exclusion and by the people through indifference. As I am treated more and more as a criminal-in-waiting or a potential terrorist I have less and less reason not to become either. I believe that society is more than the sum of individual consumption and production. It’s possible that the government here has settled on that stripped down notion of society but if not then it has to accept the idea that we have to contribute some of ourselves to make society work smoothly. If the country wishes to alienate me and treat me with contempt then I have greater resentment and very little motivation to contribute to society, more than is required by law or the demands of the economy. However, a psychological distance is set up between me and the society and all those who comprise it. Crime, such as robbery, burglary and muggings become easier to perpetrate because the victims are more psychologically removed from me and may be held in contempt in return for the alienation I feel. The contemptuous criminal is more likely to be ruled by emotion and will not calculate the consequences of his action. I might also be involved in crimes that might be termed compensation for powerlessness. With my steady emasculation I might decide I want to take the power back on the streets through violence against people who seem to be apologists for the regime.
Actually, I must confess, I feel less worried about confrontation these days in situations where I feel I have been wronged or have been undermined or apparently slurred or treated contemptuously. And, I have to say, I feel better for it. Only the other day a taxi driver waved his hands at me and gestured me to get out the way on a crossing where it was my right of way and he had come within inches of knocking me off my bike. I threw down the bike and he quickly locked his door but I kicked a dent in his right front wing/fender and rode off in full view of scores of people. It felt good. “Don’t tangle with the gaijin again!” it felt like I was saying. Would I have done that a few years back? Maybe not. Do I feel it is partly a consequence of my feelings of alienation? Yes, I do. Though, I have to admit, I was coming home from the gym and I often feel pumped after that.
I have another thing to add. I suspect that as repression and alienation continues that sex crimes will increase. Already I tend to think that the attraction of Japanese women for many foreign men is partly that they are the women of the despised other and taking their women is revenge. Does it really have anything much to do with cultural relations and understanding like it is presented? Perhaps, but perhaps not. But add a layer of increased contempt on top of this and see what happens.
February 1st, 2008 at 12:23 am
Seems to me a distinction should be drawn between the inner subjective sense of alienation, and whatever external issue it is that triggers it. I could feel alienated at any time, and often do, even in the company of friends and family. It’s a recurring feeling from early childhood. Growing more conscious of it doesn’t make it any easier, but makes the struggle a little less intense and helps the sadness pass quicker. I think it was Joseph Cambell who might have said that it’s the striving to not feel the ancient pain of separation from others that is at the root of most human misery.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:32 am
I wasn’t trying to mollify nor justify the repression. Merely pointing out that you’ll find similar problems almost anywhere you go, and that things are going to get a lot worse. So we need to be aware that this is not a problem that’s unique to Japan. I believe that the totalitarian clampdown on immigration depicted in Children of Men is a distinct possibility in the not too distant future.
As for Japan’s particular brand of xenophobia, I suspect a lot of it filters down from above. I imagine this is how it works. On TV, some “expert” (probably in the pay of the fishing industry) says Japanese tuna is the best in the world and that health concerns have only been raised maliciously by envious foreigners. The next day almost everyone repeats this as an undisputed fact.
How else do you explain that all my students seem to be virtually unanimous on practically every topical issue?
It bothers me that very few seem to be aware of where we are headed. It’s like living in 1930s Germany. Every day we move one step closer to tyranny. But at least the Germans had the excuse of not having had the benefit of history to warn them of what was coming. What excuse have we? Ignorance, fear, apathy…
February 1st, 2008 at 8:35 am
The trouble is, Brian, I don’t feel any sadness or pain, I feel anger and contempt.
What excuse do we have indeed? Well, we justify and objectify it all away. That’s what I’m observing. I see no emotion here, just abstruse argument. Maybe the government has understood that those foreigners are so “objective” in their view that they will not admit to strong feelings motivating them to rebel. While my students can’t put themselves in the shoes of another and thence explore the objective position, we are just too adept at doing it, to the point we don’t feel our own positions.
February 1st, 2008 at 8:44 am
The fact is that emotion is the spur to action, not reason.
February 1st, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Let’s assume that you don’t have a monopoly on emotion. As you’re well aware, assaulting reckless taxi drivers may make you feel better but it’s not a very effective way to combat state repression. Any ideas about how to translate anger into more meaningful action?
February 1st, 2008 at 3:29 pm
Marsh, how does such a view accommodate things like greed, is it an emotion or rational analysis of selfish gain. I would say that in different people it can be either or both, with some motivated by pure covetous desire and others more concerned with maximizing their future well-being.
Analyzing the attitudes of Japanese society and people to issues such as immigration in isolation, simply because we live here, ignores the fact that such issues are not purely domestic. The increase in police and immigration regulation is surely only a reflection of the US push to broaden its own security powers. Not only is pressure put by the US on European and Asian allies to adopt whatever stringent procedures the US might deem fit, but generally post 9/11 there is increased pressure on police to devote a large fraction of their budget to ant-terrorism, regardless of the presence or lack thereof of any significant threat. The result is that police departments struggle to find justification for expanded budgets so that regular work is not sacrificed in the name of “terror prevention”. For the US the Dept of Homeland Security Mexican immigration and Arab terror are the main boogeymen used to push for new funding. Here in Japan it seems to be “ever-rising” foreign crime.
Before you accuse me of looking for “justification” for the Japanese government, make sure you’re distinguishing between justification and explanation. Nothing justifies the scape-goating of the foreign population for political purposes but the root cause of such policies is not necessarily racism and at times to see the full scope of factors involved it can be helpful to analyze Japan I relation to other countries.
Anyway, alienation as an issue…..
Perhaps I’m just a snob, but I’ve always felt at least as much alienation in Ireland as anywhere else. There were certainly hordes enough of people obsessed with football teams, soap operas and pet projects of purely parochial relevance to make it difficult for me to find many people with whom I felt any common bond.
Did I feel excluded in Ireland? Not very much, I generally chose to exclude myself, much as I do now, from developing acquaintance with those who shared so few of my interests.
In Japan the language itself, and my lack of progress with it, is the one major factor that prevents me from taking deeper participation in social issues but I know greater skill would be a mixed blessing, both presenting more opportunity to establish connections with a minority of the natives while also making me even-more aware of the flaws existing among the majority.
As it stands my disdain for the average Japanese citizen is probably far less strong than my disdain for the average foreign resident of Japan. Marsh, wondered aloud whether some male immigrants might be drawn to the idea of purloining the womenfolk of a historical foe. More common causes, it seems to me, tend to be either a rosy-eyed fascination with Japan’s “unique” cultural heritage or dissatisfaction with the quality of the social life they had in their homes.
For my own part both of these might apply to a certain extent, I had always been curious about Asian society and its divergent value systems, and had developed a low opinion of Irish society, though I had no illusions about finding anything better elsewhere. Since arrival I’ve maintained my tried and tested low level of social interaction and remain comfortable with the relatively small number of foreign and Japanese friends and acquaintances I’ve made.
For those who might desire attention though, Japan welcomes them with open arms, allowing them to act in ways that would surely not be tolerated nearly as much in their homeland. People with glaring deficits in charm, intelligence or baser qualities can nonetheless thrive and develop bloated coteries of purely based upon the favorable light in which many locals view the exotic.
Others take the opposite path and instead of profiting from their superficial differences, seek to be accepted into Japanese society as much as possible. While you often hear the refrain that, “no matter how long you stay you’ll never be completely accepted” the truth is that few long-term residents truly wish to be accepted to the extent that they are willing to reject their own cultural heritage. As long as you maintain Western values and temperament it stands to reason that people will always feel you don’t “completely” fit into their world.
For those who want to be assimilated though, Japan seems fairly accommodating. I have co-workers who deeply yearn to be regarded as “just like a Japanese person”. They’ve mastered the language to levels I am unlikely to ever achieve and do everything they can to act just like their Japanese co-workers and friends. For their part, my Japanese co-workers seem to treat them just like their other colleagues with the exception of slight puzzlement (if not disdain) for their willing desire to succumb to the pressures of Japanese society. Close Japanese friends have asked me “Why do they do overtime just like Japanese people? They have a perfect excuse for going home early because they come from America, if they want to be treated just like the other Japanese staff they will be.” i.e. absolutely no thanks or recognition for doing crazy overtime and working themselves to the bone. Now We’re in the position were these guys are expected to be around 24/7 and no one really gives them any credit, whereas if I happen to turn up for a special event on a day off, people are really surprised and impressed at my dedication. When I point this out to my Japanese friends they reply that “Yeah, but we just think of X as a regular Japanese staff so its expected of him.”
Fair enough as far as I’m concerned. I in no way share such desires to remould myself but I think it is a reasonable expectation of anyone who desires 100% acceptance. How much are people in Europe or the US expected to adapt to local sensibilities before they are fully accepted or integrated? How many Muslims can expect to be treated as typical neighbors as long as they hold on to the values of their home countries? For those who choose not to conform, (and why should they?) being regarded as slightly “alien” is hardly an unexpected price to pay.
If that’s were it stopped it wouldn’t be so much of an issue I guess. Of course, on top of this you have at least two other factors, both mentioned above. One being the political exploitation of the “strangers among us” seed of fear. The other being the ability of the loudest and most crass of foreign residents, along with the small but growing segment of actual criminals, who manage to provide fodder for such xenophobic bile.
So, from my own perspective the alienation issue is heavily influenced by…
Most people (including me) not wanting to “completely” fit in to society here.
A lot of political machination behind the stoking of xenophobia.
A minority of foreign residents acting at the extremes of socially acceptable behavior and these are the ones that create lasting memories.
A minority of Japanese citizens who are openly racist, and likewise create lasting negative impressions upon the ex-patriot populace.
Before, I finish, one of the things that still bugs me is the constant refusal of people to sit beside me on the train. I mean, what the hell, I’m dressed in a suit, look reasonably smart and civilized, certainly don’t look nearly as creepy as the old guy with young girls sitting either side of him. What gives? I often forget an explanation I once heard in which televisions portrayal of foreigners as likely to burst into friendly conversation at the drop of a hat makes many Japanese people feel that by sitting next to one they may end up being talked to in English and it is their own fear of personal embarrassment, rather than any negative view of foreigners, that accounts for most people avoiding such situations.
Doesn’t really make it less annoying but as it’s frequently used as an example of Japan’s latent racism I thought I may as well throw it in.
Changing attitudes towards acceptance of foreign residents into the heart of Japanese society, and thereby hopefully bringing a more cosmopolitan sensibility to the country will require, more than anything else, greater participation by foreign residents who are fully fluent and able to speak and write eloquently to the Japanese people. For anyone truly interested in improving harmony between the native and immigrant population the onus would seem to be upon them to at least be trying their hardest to get their message to as wide a native audience as possible.
For my own part, my Japanese skills are still far too rudimentary, but for anyone here who is fluent I think there have been enough issues of social relevance raised in threads here (the values of classical education for one) to provide material for attempts at reaching a wider audience.
February 1st, 2008 at 9:56 pm
Well, Gavan, the first question is easy to answer. Greed is an emotion. Reason is in its service.
Maybe I don’t have the monopoly on emotion, Maidhc. Maybe I don’t have any emotion either. For we are hollow men, cut off from our emotions, taught not to feel very much, especially ‘negative’ feelings. They must be sublimated for the good of …. well …. for the good of something. We are not sure what. But somehow it always seems to work for the benefit of the oppressors. Read your Foucault or your psychobabble self-help books that Americans like. In Japan, on top of this, any display of emotion is practically shameful, but anger and rage get associated with childishness. We’ve internalised this out of some misplaced ‘cultural respect.’ We are eviscerated, but skilled at using our reason to conceal our gutlesness, taught to consider how our rage might rebound on us. Even the question, “Any ideas about how to translate anger into more meaningful action?” strkes me as dissipative in effect, if not intention. The reason we will never do anything is that we are just too lacking in passion. We’ll only feel the rage when the gestapo goon is slapping his leather glove in our face after a nighttime knock at the door and by then it will be too late to let it motivate us if we value what remains of our lives.
It seems if we are to resist the tyranny we first have to summon the rage, maybe practise it if we are not too familiar with how it feels or how to generate it. It’s good training too for the day when we might have to fight for all our rights once again, wherever we are. Then we have to fight two foes: those who would impose the tyranny and the legions of complacent enablers. Maybe it’s painful to the ears but the friend of my enemy is my enemy, or, at the very least, someone to be very suspicious of. I don’t buy this crap that they are dupes. At some point they have to be held responsible for what they believe. They are adults after all, but to suggest they are victims with no responsibility merely replaces my contempt with some species of infantilisation. Anyone who thinks that is better is in danger of becoming as racist as I, myself, am in danger of becoming.
And that brings me to Gavan’s sentence: “For anyone truly interested in improving harmony between the native and immigrant population the onus would seem to be upon them to at least be trying their hardest to get their message to as wide a native audience as possible.” Overlooking the fact that he appears to be advocating the victim of state-sponsored oppression try to seek some kind of mercy amongst people who will likely give none, I wonder if the days of seeking harmony are well and truly over. There have been dedicated people and ‘tame’ gaijin here seeking “cultural understanding” (which you will find is nearly always a one-way street) for much longer than the 20 years since I first set foot and there has been little change.
I repeat, I don’t want to integrate. Why should I? I can cope well with my own seclusion, because I make that choice. And just as I would not deny a Japanese person the same human rights as me in the UK, even if he were out and out racist I don’t see why I should be treated with official disdain and discrimination. All this about feeling alienated in the countries of your birth is a total red herring.
Confrontation, rage and anger work. Just ask the police with their 99% conviction rates. We mean business when we display them and doors open. And, in the end, we have nothing to lose, right?
February 1st, 2008 at 11:06 pm
“Confrontation, rage and anger work.”
Who for exactly? Did it work for the Sepoy Mutiny in India or did that merely extend british rule for a further 100 years. Was it not the brutal oppression of peaceful protest such as the Armistar massacre that finally laid the ground for widespread popular support and change?
In Ireland Wolftone and the Easter rising accomplished little real change, with relatively little public support until the British overplayed their hand with heavy-handed reprisals in the wake of the latter event.
In the Southern States of the US did the Black Panthers or MLK accomplish more to advance civil liberties?
Is not simply about emotion, and to suggest that some of us lack strong feelings on the matter would be highly imperceptive, but instead about how such emotion is focused. Angry confrontation all too often serves only to distance your target audience rather than provide them with education or a chance to empathise, justifying instead of counter-pointing the reppresive policies of government institutions.
Of course there’s less excitment, glamour or satisfaction and no immediate release for those pent up emotions in a more restrained approach but nonetheless, I’ve seen little evidence to suggest it is not by far the better way.
February 1st, 2008 at 11:26 pm
“Is not simply about emotion…but instead about how such emotion is focused.”
I agree, but first we have to find the emotion. Maybe I am imperceptive.
February 2nd, 2008 at 12:42 am
I am very glad some one except me says about translating this blog!
A year ago, I would like to explain it as Gavan’s comment above but I couldn’t do it because of my bad English so I made some members here misunderstand or irritate though… What I wanted to expalin at the time was I felt there was quite distance away between English community and Japanese one here. The Japanese don’t expect foreigners can speak Japanese so every time foreigners speak Japanese even easy one, they say すご～い！ then communication is over. But generally the Japanese complain about that foreigner don’t speak Japanese though… incoherence… Or the Japanese in general are afraid of speaking English so they still can’t connect each other even number of foreigners here is increasing. Also foreigners stop to learn Japanese language because of hard, then they are just looking for Japanese who want to speak English and that means also small biased community. Also almost foreigners never show respect to Japanese custom. They just go on their way even though Japanese feel their behavior is rude. It’s OK you don’t have to do it if you don’t want to do but at least better to try to be polite to communicate each other, right? So their communication can be going crazy so easily and that kind of relationship influence everyone now by gossip.
Language is a great tool for communication. We never communicate without it. I still believe the threads here are really great to know the fact. So I really would like to understand correctly but still I can’t. Also quite many peoples are interested in issues actually. Just they don’t talk about it so much even they feel to know the issues. Actually my mother is quite into food issues but she was just thinking about Japanese people’s matters before. But I talked to her about other countries food issues, now she would treat it as issues of all people who live here. I suppose the Japanese treat foreigners as ‘different’ persons but we are same human so basically we feel same way even we have different culture or thoughts. So I feel this blog would be a great trriger for them. Let’s switch their mind!
About home Marsh, I believe home is where you can feel peace or warm. No matter the place you live or you were born, if you can feel it, that’s your home. I guess when you are with your family, you can feel it, aren’t you??? About me, even I was born here and grew up here, now I don’t feel any healthy life here. I mean society here is not my home. Also even I love Irish culture and learn it very much, Sometimes I felt the Irish showed me some kind of sarcasm actually. Because I knew their own culture more than them. Also I got discrimination as a non-european. The Irish immigration officer at the airport didn’t allow me to stay for 3 months as a tourist even international contract allow it. Well, actually I almost was sent right away there though… So I suppose there must be some kind of non-fit situation everywhere. So I think everyone must feel same things.
February 2nd, 2008 at 11:43 am
On the contrary, Buzz, I think foreigners show too much respect to Japanese custom. It comes partly from cultural sensitivity indoctrination they suffer back home in multicultural societies. Considering where they start from, with a healthy respect for things such as the rule of law, they all-too-often begin to tolerate and maybe, in some sad cases I’ve met, agree with the racist, nihonjinron bile and trite “arguments” and exhortations to overlook their rights that would be laughed away in other circumstances. Even if it is only feigning respect it is sufficient to set up enough cognitive dissonance to paralyse them.
And, the actions of one immigration officer in one country do not equate to the institutional denial of human rights in Japan.
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:34 pm
OK, Marsh, My Japanese friend who lives in Ireland and had a work and working visa in Ireland, the Irish immigration officer at Dublin airport allowed her to stay just for 10 days to prepare to leave Ireland because she was not European. What do you think why the officer did such a thing? Is it TINY thing? How many Irish or British who want to travel in Japan for 3 months or have working visa have been sent to own country at the airport? I suppose it’s nearly none if they don’t have drags. As you know it’s very hard Japanese immigrate to Ireland more than Irish immigrate to Japan. And British too. I am sure you are lucky. You have a good job, great family here. How many people can live like your situation?
If you say alienation breaks human rights, have you never ignore the person around you? You feel Japanese ignore foreigner’s pain here but you never ignore the other’s pain? Do you have any Japanese friends who can’t speak English at all? I don’t mean I criticize you but as a Japanese, I sometimes feel English speakers make the wall as same as Japanese. Also alienation is not only matters between Japanese and foreigners. It’s happened in the society and if the society is big, alienation must be bigger. I don’t know whether you want but if you want to break the alienation in Japan as a foreign register, better to join Japanese community to break the wall. Communication is only way to break alienaton. Or you are just waiting fucking government act and keep just criticizing Japan? No way.
February 2nd, 2008 at 2:46 pm
Or just wanna be a nard of what you want to do? That’s another problem in a big society like few of your students. They just focus on their tiny world and they loose natural human feeling, then they can’t feel any other’s pain. やっぱりみんな井の中の蛙だね。
February 2nd, 2008 at 3:36 pm
I found the post to be provocative. I share some of everyone’s sentiments.
If Japan is an unhealthy society, than we can see alienation affecting all kinds of people in all kinds of ways. I guess it’s a matter of perspective (I too was alienated in my native village) - and that’s what ya’ll are parsing here? Some days good, some days bad…and for those of us involved in the educational system, the crushing weight of a sick system, which devalues humanity and freedom….
However, the alienation of the other, the stranger, is easy as the stranger, well-practiced for the ‘foreigner’. I don’t see so great a burden as long as I have means. But for many people within the society and superficially accepted because they belong to the mono-culture, life is also quite sad, maybe sadder, maybe miserable. After all, if suicide is a culturally acceptable solution to one’s alienation, than life means little more than a dead smile.
And some people, whoever they are, want more.
Whence comes this alienation? I have everything good in my life, but I want to see more?
Celine said:
“Never believe straight off in a man’s unhappiness. Ask him if he can still sleep. If the answer’s ‘yes’, all’s well. That is enough.”
Maybe he’s right. Then again, Celine was a fascist.
Perhaps, as others have said, alienation is not such a bad thing (I’ve had it up my sleeve so feel no great shock since coming here).
But there are all kinds of ways to live. I’m sorry that this leads me to a philosophical question about how to live. One can easily live without many things. I say this because I tend to have certain ideals about the well-lived life (in spite of my unhappiness or because of it?).
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:01 pm
“I don’t mean I criticize you”
You are welcome to criticize my argument all you like. That is why I put it up for attention. Try again. Right now you are demonstrating exactly why dialogue between myself and the average Japanese is so hard. But, never fear, a helpful and understanding foreigner will appear soon to help flesh out the bones to your “argument” in the name of cultural understanding.
My alienation is the result of my denial of human rights. It’s nothing to do with my prior feelings about being able to fit in. I have Japanese friends and eventually I persuade them all but it will make no difference in a country where the vast majority assert the superiority of their “culture” over universal human rights (which they are bound to claim is mere culture too, and necessarily inferior). Though, in truth, it sounds like scared people shouting in the dark as they are not very confident that this culture stands up to any real scrutiny and continually seek approval of it from foreigners who give it automatically through their cultural sensitivity training.
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:38 pm
“the vast majority assert the superiority of their “culture” over universal human rights”
Again I find that your personal perspective simply does not gel with my experience of Japanese people’s opinions. Far too many of them have confided a deep dislike for the rigidity of their “culture” and a desire to escape to a more open society.
Even those with no desire to ever leave their homeland display a clear fascination, even envy, of foreign cultures. How much of Japanese television fixates upon the food, history and geography of the outside world?
I don’t believe that anywhere near a majority of Japanese people conisder their culture superior, but they do feel it has superior elements. They also recognise its flaws. The problem being they would like to have the best of both worlds, rejecting the repression of Japanese society in favour of the freedom and excitement of the West but wishing to hold on to the security of Japanese life without accepting any of the instability or trubulence that greater excitement and freedom must surely exacerbate.
It is simply a matter of them accepting that they cannot have it both ways, that continued social security of past levels would mean an ever more repressive society, that the freedom to immitate Western trends and lifestyles requires an acceptance of slightly greater social instability and that the latter is not a problem with a root cause to be found (i.e. foreigners themselves) but simply the inevitable cost of such choices.
I have confidence that the Japanese people have tasted too much of such Western lifestyles to ever reject them in favour of greater repression. They question is whether they realise and accept that the changes to their society are at their own desire rather than something being forced upon them.
For my own part the reason I continue to live here is that there are elements of both cultures, Japanese and Western, that appeal to me and I have faith in their fusion being possible without rampant xenophobia dominating the issue.
and that it simply a matter of time before they
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:40 pm
It’s definitely “scared people shouting in the dark.”
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:43 pm
My Japanese friends also seem to be disgusted with the way things are.
February 2nd, 2008 at 4:58 pm
The point is, I doubt your friends represent a genuine cross-section of the population. And, Japanese are very adept at being “modest” about their culture, and even appear superficially critical of it, but still they seek approval. Try outright criticism and find the point at which the smile drops and the back stiffens. It’s usually not far below the modesty. Try it too with Mrs Tanaka sitting too high in the saddle of her bike in Tottori.
Am I to believe, Gavan, that you too are convinced that there is a dichotomy between Japanese culture and western culture? That there is no universality to, say, the rule of law? I don’t see how anyone can believe that “elements” of a culture - any culture - are superior when they conflict with that universality.
February 2nd, 2008 at 5:29 pm
Probably anything I say here about my own feelings and thoughts will be redundant (I agree mostly with Gavan and Buzz). Marsh, I am baffled why you live in a country you hate.
February 3rd, 2008 at 1:37 am
Do I believe there is a dichotomy between the two? Have I said as much above?
I don’t think I at any point argued against underlying and unifying values that stand apart from the disparate cultural norms that are overlayed on them.
I do however, view the two societies as prioritizing different aspects of the fundamental values, all of which are valuable in varying ways.
While I enjoy the freedom of expression and individuality that Western society generally encourages I do not believe it extends to the point where groups of vocal yobs should be able to disturb all around them simply because they feel they have an inherent “right” to express themselves. In such instances I feel Japanese society has a greater awareness of the underlying value of social harmony and voluntarily limiting your personal expression out of consideration for neighbours.
I would then favour Western society’s stance on intervening in situations where those in need of assistance need strangers to step up and take action, something that Japan has a drastic deficiency of. At the same time I admire the Japanese tendency for personal stoicism when dealing with individual issues.
This is perhaps a better example of the division between the two takes on values and why I feel it is necessary and perfectly feasible for a fusion of the two to develop. When a problem exists I, personally, believe the underlying base value system is to avoid burdening others with your own problems but help others whenever you see them in need.
In the West I feel this has developed to one extreme whereby people help others but also feel perfectly at ease unloading their problems on all and sundry. In Japan the opposite path has been taken, people suffer in silence, but then feel no obligation to help others with their problems.
These offhand examples might not be the best way of explaining it but I feel that all cultures have differing elements that either support or conflict with a more universal system of values. Saying that Japanese values are superior across the board is just as foolish as saying they have no value at all.
February 3rd, 2008 at 2:37 am
I don’t take pleasure in it, but here’s a new article about Japan’s economic decline:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/02/02/AR2008020200913.html?hpid=topnews
February 3rd, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Apologies for overlooking this question: “Do you have any Japanese friends who can’t speak English at all?”
Well, there are few people who are educated who speak no English at all, but I have friends with whom I communicate 99% in Japanese with, some of whom I’ve known for over ten years. One in particular is rather an oddball by any standards and that is possibly why he is attracted to the company of a foriegner. But this is partly my point, the Japanese we know and love are not a representative sample and to believe they are is to be fooled about the level of conformity and xenophobia here. It was not so very long ago that there was entrenched opposition amongst parents to their daughters marrying foreigners. There probably still is, except I obviously don’t encounter it, nor do I have enough friends with that intention to be able to make the call. Maybe some of you married readers may have encountered it yourselves but even if not there is probably a very good reason; that your wife is liberal (by Japanese standards) and comes from a relatively liberal family. Even now, it is not long before someone asks my wife if her parents objected to her marrying a foreigner.
But don’t just take my word for it. Read this:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070711f3.html
Ok, don’t believe it then. It’s a poll after all, and polls are often conducted in a poor manner here.
Well, how about the longstanding discrimination against the Korean population, who, after all, have been here longer than us. Is it just official discrimination? Or is it widespread amongst the people?
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20050702a4.html
The survey that Arudou mentions, though, as he says, it exhibits some methodological invalidity, is nonetheless reliable; which is to say, it shows consistently across the years it has been carried out that there is not an automatic acceptance that all humans have the same rights.
February 3rd, 2008 at 8:22 pm
While not wishing to excuse xenophobia in any way, before one vilifies the Japanese people I think it’s important to keep in mind the following: Japanese political elites need to point the finger at foreigners as the root of all evil to distract the populace from looking at their own infinitely greater criminal activity; the ordinary people tend to believe such facile racial slurs to the extent they have been deliberately dumbed down by their schooling, and kept ignorant and comatose by a compliant media; and last but certainly not least, these elites are from the same families who looted Asia but were kept in power by rightwing elements in the U.S. occupation, and supported in their suppression of democracy up to the present day through the collusion of Washington. Considering the combined weight of all of these forces, any Japanese person who can see clearly deserves enormous respect.
February 3rd, 2008 at 9:35 pm
“Marsh, I am baffled why you live in a country you hate.”
I am happy you used the word, “baffled”, John, or otherwise it might have sounded like, “If you don’t like it why don’t you get out?” This was the question I was often asked many years ago, usually by the Kyoto gaijin that surrounded me who were all trying to commune with their idealised Japan. They didn’t take kindly to an iconoclast intruding on their special relationship. It brought it all back to me. Those were the days when we were a smaller, much more manageable group, that, it was expected, would conform to the long term residents’ insights into the ineffable and endlessly fascinating concept (because it was more than just another country then) called Japan. Their value to Japan must have been incalculable. Indeed, John, thanks for evoking those days.
Well, first of all, it was not the most perceptive judgement that I don’t have good will - perhaps hatred is too strong a word - towards the country because I mentioned it in the original post. In fact, the whole point of the post was to reveal how my sympathy for Japan diminishes in inverse proportion to the perceived violation of my human rights. In fact, in recent months it has reached a tipping point, where I have begun to re-examine what were often unvocalised suspicions before.
Secondly, there is some slack cut for Japan in the respect that I tend to be critical of wherever I live, and that has included Australia, Spain and the UK. I think critical thought is a good thing. It might be old-fashioned, Enlightenment thinking but there you go. I tend to be critical of the conditions I find in comparison to an ideal, as you might expect of such a person, and I am never likely to be satisfied with, say, “cultural” concepts like “personal stoicism” (should we be stoic about the violation of human rights?) because, in the end, they are qualities which, if universalised, would get us plebeians nowhere.
I have reasons for living here - not least that I have a job and so does my wife. I have no idea how long I’ll stay. Probably not long if the wind keeps blowing in the current direction. It is not a safe place to be. On the issue of safety, I again return to the Enlightenment concepts and human rights. These are all that guarantee our safety and stand between us and tyranny; not religion, not mercy, not noblesse oblige, nor anything else. And, I believe they are universal.
I am frankly rather surprised that we are having a conversation about culture and whether aspects of Japanese culture are worthy of emulation. This reduces the debate to the terms that Japan itself sets. I’m tempted to believe if we do that we have been suckered. I will explain and in doing so I can draw together a few of the other posts and comments they elicited.
Firstly, it is by now clear to everyone that Japan does not have a classical education system; probably not even for the elites. No problem, you might say. But the outcome is a population that is only subject to grammar. Dialectic is skimmed over at best and rhetoric is completely denied by replacing it with the grammar that Japanese are shy and are reluctant to speak out. All the better to have people who are largely incapable of formulating a rational critique of the system let alone disseminating that critique. The threat to this state of affairs is the infiltration of such notions from outside. But the people have been inoculated against this by the simple expedient of reducing all debate to “culture”. There is precious little political analysis, nor economic, nor sociological, nor any other way of analysing things. Criticism from outside is characterised as an alternative “cultural” view, and therefore no more valid - and in fact for Japan itself certainly deemed less appropriate - than whatever emphasis and apparent triumphs of Japanese culture and society are currently in vogue to support the elite. The key is to tie down foreigners to this discussion and for many years we happily engage in it, blithely unaware of the role it plays. In fact, at first it might even seem interesting and explanatory and even somehow modern. Even now, after several years, you won’t have a discussion in Japan for very long before it is reduced to one of comparing and contrasting Japanese and foreign “culture.” (Even Japanese textbooks for teaching Japanese and English endlessly present questions of this nature and this debate so that teachers and students alike are primed. Look at them). Often it begins with someone “revealing” some piece of “nihonjinron” to you, like they are letting you into a secret, you have heard a thousand times. There is never likely to be comparison with any ideal. Clearly the ideas of cultural relativism have played directly into their hands.
Japan, then, is virtually hermetically sealed from the outside and the people represent absolutely no threat to the elites. I often ask: Which country would you like to be leader of? Certainly this would be one of the easiest and that is no accident. Sure, there are a few whom we know who see things vaguely through a distorted and translucent glass and we tend to overestimate their powers of discernment because they seem so different to the rank and file. But we would never attribute brilliance to our own countrymen with such diminished powers of perceptiveness. We tend to adopt very different standards in assessing the general awareness of the Japanese citizen, just the same as we do in grading them in what passes for university here. In addition we will likely find a certain percentage of older people who are aware that something is amiss but as soon as they have economic stakes in the status quo they no longer represent much threat to the established order in any case.
In passing, a favourite discussion is how personal safety is safeguarded in Japan, compared to other countries. Nice to see you alluded to it, Gavan. Quite apart from overlooking all kinds of safety issues that are clearly amiss in the regulatory system, and ignoring levels of domestic violence, violence against women, school violence, and so on it is really just a discussion of whether it is safe to walk the streets (my wife has lived all the places I have and has only been attacked in the street once - in Japan. But this is mere anecdote). In truth, this is part of a wider debate about whether society is made for people or people for society. Clearly Japan favours the latter to a degree that is suspiciously favourable to old men in general and elite old men in particular.
This recent story will be amply reveal the real situation. It is far from unusual:
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20080117a1.html
I noted before that there are feedback processes involved between rulers and ruled, though Gavan appeared to deny them, seeing a largely top-down influence. For their part, the elites are influenced by the people. They come out with nonsensical and irrational outbursts because they are rarely challenged and never have to refine their views in any logical manner or with respect to any ideals. This is most likely the level of analysis their own critical faculties allow. I think they truly believe what they say. And they believe, and surely most of their audience believe, it is a sophisticated analysis. Hatoyama’s and Aso’s are not aberrations. I have heard countless such nonsense in the last two decades and I’ve collected a fair few.
My point is that by concentrating on the good points of Japan vis-a-vis other cultures and societies we fall into the trap set for us and it precludes a real analysis, including the very one that provoked me so in the first place: the persistent propensity of the country to neglect human rights (even after signing up for them. See for example the lack of a law against racial discrimination). We are in danger of being sidetracked from the aspects of Japan that we are right to be highly critical of and right to be angry about.
A side issue that came up is whether the people should be held responsible for their thoughts and utterances and those of their leaders, given the devastation their education has wrought on their capacities. Well, I think they can. The reason is that much is made in Japan of the personal responsibility that must be displayed upon reaching adulthood. If the people demonstrate gross ignorance it seems right to adopt the same level of response as we would to anyone else in any other place.
And that brings me to my final reason for living here. It is to subvert. This country is as reprehensible as any other and more than many. I think I’ve said before that my biggest criticism is that here is a country that uses masses of resources and creates a society in which the people’s minds are critically stunted and unfree and the people are not even very happy either and there can be no greater waste to my mind than that. And please don’t someone say, “But your country is the same.” It is the most facile argument going.
Instead of being circumspect in answer to the question, “What do you think of Japan?”, I will now quite happily say, “Well, it is a big disappointment”; or “It is infantile”; or “It is backward.” “And I’ll tell you why.” I don’t care whether it is culturally sensitive or not. Japan is making an enemy of me and I like the idea of subversion on my own small scale. To a large extent, though, that is what we are all doing. And that is why we must be controlled:
“Curricula guidelines eyed for universities”
http://search.japantimes.co.jp/mail/nn20080131a4.html
February 3rd, 2008 at 11:34 pm
“But your country is the same.”
I really believe so. Also even local people get alienation in local too. I just want to say it’s not ONLY here.
“that brings me to my final reason for living here. It is to subvert.”
Well, if I were your wife, I would cry about you… OK. Then what are you going to do for it? Anger is very handy reason to make people act such as going to war as you know. I believe understanding other’s pain is much better reason for act.
I thought you criticized nallow mind of your sutudents or Japanese politicians, didn’t you? But now your idea of Japan is like that I suppose. Well I can understand your anger of racism but if you stop communication with Japanese society or just show your anger or defiance, the wall between Japanese and foreigner around you will be just getting bigger and bigger as you know.
Also as you know about current Japanese and Korean friendship, it’s kind of people in general built it without gonernment treatment because of Korean drama fever in Japan. It was a big step actually. After that, Korean government decided to allow Japanese TV program or music in Korea. Or was it just a show?
Actually I am very sorry but too hard to me to understand what you would say correctly. Please write it in Japanese because I really would like to know your thought correctly and other members too. Also for other Japanese too. Because I understand there is an alienation here from foreign residence and I hope I can tell the people around me about it too. I wish you would speak to me in Japanese anyway!
February 4th, 2008 at 8:36 am
Thank you. Buzz, for some very enlightening comments. It’s nice to have immediate feedback that supports my argument.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:28 am
First off to clear up a couple of areas where I may have been misunderstood.
Marsh, you said that you tend to reject “cultural” concepts like “personal stoicism” and asked “should we be stoic about the violation of human rights?” which seems to misstate my views on two levels. Firstly, that they are not cultural values but rather the values within disparate cultures that embrace a more universal morality, as such they should not be viewed as cultural in any sense other than the unique form each might take. Personal stoicism exists just as much in the British tradition of maintaining a “stiff upper lip” as it does in Japan. Though the cultural heritage is unique, the underlying value is universal. Secondly, I specifically framed it as “personal” stoicism for a reason. The idea of keeping your own problems close to your chest has no bearing upon how you view, and react to, societal issues. Ask me how I feel about blind bigotry against the general populace, my friends, my wife or my children…see how deep my emotions run then. Personal stoicism does not equate in any way to meek submission to authority, and yes, I am perfectly aware of the difficulty the Japanese public seems to have in acknowledging this.
You also stated that I alluded to Japan’s safeguarding of its citizenry. Perhaps you were referring to the desire of the populace to hold on to the “security” of Japanese life when faced with the instability of greater freedom. By security I did not mean “safety” per se, but the predictability and peace of mind that comes from adhering to the status quo of a truly conservative society. It wasn’t meant as a positive statement. Again, I’m well aware of the dangers that exist for minorities, those (non-elites) who fall foul of the legal system or women in general, whose subjection to abuse and the clear tolerance, if not encouragement, for such behavior by the openly patriarchal political and legal system is by far the thing I have been most angered by in my life here. It has always astounded me that a society free of the sexual hang-ups fostered by religious morality can develop such an extreme system of regimentation that its young people seem to develop sexual aberrations to a far greater extent than present in the West, or, perhaps it is simply a greater tolerance for the expression of such aberrant behavior.
In any event, you state that we are “concentrating on the good points of Japan” and are surprised that “we are having a conversation about culture and whether aspects of Japanese culture are worthy of emulation” yet the latter is purely in response to your extreme criticism of Japan while the former strikes me as baseless. It is almost as though you were a new visitor to the blog who had taken the title of the site as evidence we were in rosy-eyed admiration of Japan’s virtues. By far, the commentary on society here has been critical in nature and I doubt anyone would argue that the flaws you are highlighting do not exist. Statements by myself, or others, in defense of Japan or its people are merely a response to blanket statements regarding the lack of morality, tolerance or cultural value to be found. I realize that you might be taking an extreme position in order to highlight specific points but if others take an opposing point of view it does not mean they have taken an equally extreme view that overlooks the negative points you are addressing.
Finally, getting on to what I think might be more relevant. You favor the idea of feedback from the population that encourages the behavior of the ruling elite. However, I would argue that a lack of response does not constitute feedback or influence (such forces would, I think, have to be more proactive, whether positive or negative). The malleability of the population simply means the government can play them as it chooses. If their lack of criticism encouraged more and more extreme behavior by the elite you would simply see an increasing escalation of xenophobic nationalism. In contrast I think Japan has gone through cycles of manipulation whereby the population has either been encouraged to embrace or fear foreign influence. From the Sakoku period (fear) the government under Meiji moved to encourage foreign values in Japan (embrace), the Russian challenge to Japan’s emergence saw a period of anti-European hostility (fear) that was assuaged with the acceptance of Japan as one of the Allied nations in WWI (embrace). The indignities of the Versailles treaty led to increased nationalist militarism (fear) while in the wake of WWII American involvement and the push to adjust to Western technology saw renewed cultural exchange (embrace). Now we have a period in which the need for major immigration may see a tenuously balanced elite play the “fear” card to rebuild their national powerbase. At the same time, the weakening of the US, rise of China, India and Brazil and the general push for greater global integration, means that it is almost certainly better for the country to instead push for another cycle of “embrace”, building up regional alliances and taking a more active international stance. The apparently cyclical nature of these trends may mean that the latter open policy will not occur except as a backlash against an initial wave of “fear” based xenophobia that will show itself to be destructive to both Japan’s internal stability and international status and security.
I realize quite well, that the above is a simplistic analysis but I believe a more in depth discussion of the matter will bear it out. Japan’s dominant attitudes are manipulated to an extreme extent not simply by its own government but, for the past 50 years, even more so by what the US requires of the nation. This is the reason the Japanese elite does not seem to receive a classical education and why I agree with you that the mouthpieces at the highest level of government are as gullible and indoctrinated, in their own way, as the majority of citizens.
With a reduction of US status and influence on the world stage I hold out hope that a more level-headed and open Japanese nationalism might develop that eschews the right-wing agenda of the LDP puppets government and begins to address the flaws that seem to have been deliberately woven into the social order by post-war US policy, e.g. education, women’s rights, regional foreign affairs.
A long time ago I tried to raise the issue of whether it was necessary, in examining Japanese social problems, to look to an ultimate root cause. In trying to do so I came to the conclusion that such issues cannot be addressed without at first at least recognizing the influence forces at the highest level have upon ever strata of society that lies beneath them. I do believe that both US Neocons and their opponents among the Globalists actively participate in maintaining a malleable and uncritical Japanese society. That they do this through direct financial and media support for the LDP (as well as praise of Japan’s unique culture, while ignoring its darker side) against the clear interests of the Japanese public. I believe the best force for change is a new breed of Japanese nationalism that requires awareness of these issues but rejects the current “uha” nationalism that blindly serves establishment needs in the form of an ideologically neutered attack dog.
I think that there is enough latent resentment for the elite system of bureaucratic power, for Japan’s status as a US pet, and for the glaring injustices of the system for a new wave of political change to occur and this is perhaps where we differ. You seem highly pessimistic about the chances of such an outcome whereas I don’t think I would be able to match your fortitude in fighting something I considered a lost cause.
How positive change might be encouraged is something I’m still not clear on, apart from the fact that I think education regarding who the current system actually benefits and the harm it is likely to do Japan’s long-term prosperity and security, should be a priority. I find the idea of a new political “women’s party” quite appealing. One that would use the blatant sexual discrimination and misogyny as a rallying point would, through that alone, surely be able to build a base. An anti-war agenda, environmental protection and the family (i.e. social welfare) over corporate profits would surely increase their appeal. Advocacy of primary importance of the male role to be “protecting their women-folk” would allow for support of a strong, yet not aggressive military, and allow support to be drawn from men who value the welfare of mother’s, wives and daughters more than their privileged status in the current patriarchy. The fact that Japan’s young women tend to be among the country’s most liberal and internationalized members highlights the need to target them as agents of political reform and, more personally, the fact that so many of us teach women exclusively, make it more feasible as a personal initiative.
Well, I’ve rambled more than intended and have a feeling I’ll have to rethink some of the comments I’ve made but to close, I think you give to much credence to the power of the elite and too little to the people within Japan who wish to see change. I agree whole-heartedly that the majority of the population is too weak and disinterested to choose any independent path without being pushed that way by external forces (something I think holds true everywhere) but I feel that there the current elite hold only a tenuous grasp on their inherited position and that social forces can be brought to muster that can challenge them for control over the neutral core of the citizenry.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Imagination has shown to be just as important as intellect. I’m not saying I support self deception - I agree with the substantive political and cultural critiques. But generosity of spirit is not necessarily unrealistic. And universal values also means the recognition of universal potentials and universal responsibility in face of the other.
February 4th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Honestly Marsh, I feel alienation here. Even I’ve been asking you to write in Japanese to let me understand your thoughts, you and the other members who can speak Japanese have not replied to my hope. Don’t you see any same situation between mine and yours? As I said, my English is not so good but I tried to understand your opinions and wished to be neutral between Japanese and foreigners society but if you would not communicate with me, I can’t understand it as same as you and Japanese society. Also I really don’t like English speakers complain about Japanese society in only English even the English speakers can speak Japanese. Nothing change if you don’t try to communicate with the others. That’s all.
Or would you say you’ve tried it for 20 years so you tired up to do it. OK. Then just looking for the person who are in a same situation to gether and complain about it??? So sorry…
By the way, what did your Japanese friends about your thoughts here?
正直言ってＭａｒｓｈさん、日本語が話せるのに英語だけで文句をいうのは少し卑怯な気がします。私たちもあなたたち外国人移住者について理解したいと思っているし、コミュニケーションを図りたいと思っている人は多くいます。しかし英語だけで言われてしまうと、私たち普通の日本人はわかりません。確かに２０年という間、がんばってこられたのかもしれませんが、ここでもう一度日本語で話してもらえませんか？ここにるメンバーもこれだけ興味を持っていることですし、いい機会だと思います。
February 4th, 2008 at 2:30 pm
気が付かなかったみたいで、良く見たら分かるようになるけど，今のBeautiful Japanは前のBeautiful Japanとちょっと違うね。Buzzのいない間に、日本についての話題が少なくなったけど、最近色んなトピックはポストされましたね。更にcommentsが多くなりましたね。こんなBeautiful Japanの方が面白いと思う人が多いみたいね。Buzzが欲しいBeautiful Japanにならなかって、本当にすみませんね。
February 4th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
ん～、でも同じメンバーが同じことを言っているだけだと思うのは私だけですか？やっぱり英語できない人は参加できない小さなコミュニティだったんですね。残念です。
February 4th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
I remain baffled, Marsh. I’m not sure what you’re after with this post and thread. You say you want to have a discussion about the process of alienation. Well, in regard to that, I’ll say I’m struck by how little resemblance there is between your interpretation of life in Japan and mine, although you haven’t related any incidents which would stand out as marking your experiences here as substantially different than mine. In the almost-decade I’ve lived here, I’ve felt profoundly alienated at times; in the past, I’ve had moments where the idea of leaving my apartment was seriously troubling. But the same Japanese world is out there today, I’m not any dumber than I used to be, and I don’t feel nearly so alienated now. Perhaps a new trajectory for this conversation might be “what to do about feelings of alienation”.
I view the recent changes in government policies regarding foreigners (the fingerprint law, increased numbers of checks of gaijin cards, etc.) as a kind of pathetic missile envy, an attempt to participate in the “War on Terror” and reap whatever rewards are perceived to be available there. I deplore these changes, but I don’t believe they realistically herald a substantial threat to my personal safety or to most foreigners in Japan. They do present a slight increase in peril for us, and the increase in danger probably renders Japan about a fifth as dangerous to anyone in the U.S. (foreigners or not) than a sixth. The only foreigner I personally know of who was actually arrested here had committed a crime—and even though his crime is one which Japan is notorious for punishing excessively, this guy got off a lot lighter than he would have in my country.
The average Japanese person has about as much sense of personal connection to the policies of the government as I do to disco dancing.
I’m far from convinced that Japan is on the verge of collapsing into a fascist dictatorship or something akin to it (a position implied by many posts on this blog), although I admit there is now the potential for events that could bring it about.
I don’t agree with your perception of Japan being a bog of racism and xenophobia. Sure, there are some serious racists here; please point me to a country where there aren’t, and I’ll start trying to emigrate there tomorrow. Most people here are concerned with buying shit, falling in love, fucking, having babies, getting jobs, buying houses, and passing all that onto their children when they’re old. They accomplish a lot of that using practices that are “Japanese”, with only other Japanese people, in the only language they understand, but humans do the same wherever you go. My disagreement with your perception doesn’t arise from any wide-eyed love of “beautiful Japan” (apart from a passing appreciation of Kurosawa movies, I had zero interest in Japan before I moved here) or a stomp-eared assertion of “cultural relativity”. I strongly take exception to the notion that the “tolerant” Japanese people I know are all outliers. That’s just factually wrong. An example (out of many) is my parents-in-law, who were decidedly uncomfortable with their daughter marrying a foreigner, because their scant comprehension of foreigners told them that they wouldn’t be able to communicate with me and I would likely move away with their daughter to another country (both prejudices were not inaccurate at the time). I also represented, with my physical appearance, mannerisms, etc., something profoundly different than what they were used to. I suppose you could posit a kind of “racism” in that, but what the fuck do you expect from a people who have had such scant experience with folks besides other Japanese people? When my wife and I went to Chile, people on the trains glared at her like she was Satan in the flesh, a real terrorist, and there’s much reason to believe they acted that way because there are about twenty Asians in Chile. I’ve met people who, having no experience with black and gay people, responded the same ignorant way when for the first time shaking hands with one of them. They were nervous, didn’t know what to say or how to say it, couldn’t figure out where to put their hands, needed to leave soon. With repeated exposure, all that usually stopped. Virtually always, in situations where I’ve met Japanese people who have never spoken to a foreigner before (I mean outside of “outlier” situations like English classes), they have initially expressed a range of ignorant responses: terror, prejudice, bizarre preconceptions, etc., but when I presented myself as a normal, non-threatening person, able to at least make myself understood in Japanese, the lights came on. I think the exceptions to this kind of response arise when foreigners actually fulfill Japanese people’s worst expectations.
Commence with the sneering, cynical response attacking my naivety or whatever.
February 4th, 2008 at 10:18 pm
I agree with John. Communication is only way to change the situation as I said. To show anger or defiance or whatever except communication to understand each other is very easy way but never change the situation.
About this blog, I have a big complain as you know. Actually I don’t care this current blog is not like what I wanted. I am not a member here. But as a outsider, I keep complaining. Have you seen this blog title recently?
‘Beautiful Japan - Justice, Sustainability…Peace’ Well, I’m wondering whether any justice is here now? Even you are posting in Japan, Japanese is an alien here. I suppose you are xenophobia too if you don’t want to let Japanese join here. You are crticizing about alienation or anything, at the same time you are choosing the person who you want to talk about it. That’s very strange to me. Is it called justice???
Also current blog’s topics are varous, too BIG issues from local real issues, and number of comments are increasing. That’s great! But only in same members and same language. So it must be happened you are doing same things for a year now so it’s just 井戸端会議. I was very supprised actually. Also honestly, I wanted to breat ‘the well’
February 4th, 2008 at 10:41 pm
I agree with John. Communication is only way to change the situation as I said. To show anger or defiance or whatever except communication to understand each other is very easy way to do it but never change the situation in a good way.
About this blog, I have a big complain as you know. Actually I don’t care this current blog is not like what I wanted. I am not a member here. But as a outsider, I keep complaining. Have you seen this blog title recently?
‘Beautiful Japan - Justice, Sustainability…Peace’ Well, I’m wondering whether any justice is here now? Even you are posting from Japan and discuss about Japanese life, Japanese is an alien here. You seem to be xenophobia too if you don’t want to let Japanese join here. You are criticizing about alienation or anything, at the same time you are choosing the person who you want to talk about it. That’s very strange to me. Is it called justice???
Also current blog’s topics are various, too BIG issues from local real issues around us, and number of comments are increasing. There are huge informations so it’s great! But only in same members and same native language. So it must be happened if you are doing same things for a year now. And of course you can feel comfortable because there is only good companies here now. But do you think this is so nallow or one-sided discussion? I want to call it 井戸端会議 backstairs gossip or you are 井の中の蛙たち, ne. Honestly, I wanted to break ‘the well’ or ‘backstairs’ as a outsider so I started to post my comments here. You don’t have to listen to my opinons like some members are doing but if you really want to discuss about ‘justice’, I hope you would listen to it.
‘It’s not what happened, it’s how you think about what happened.’
‘How we see the world is more important than how world is.’
These lines are from my favorite book. Here is other lines for you.
‘Don’t pretend to ignore things your loved ones do that bother you.’
‘Give yourself time to adapt to change.’
February 4th, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Oooops, sorry I put it twice! First one is wrong!
February 4th, 2008 at 11:04 pm
“You say you want to have a discussion about the process of alienation.”
Well, John, that was my original intention but it seems the debate kept switching to whether Japan was really all so bad considering there is always some other place which is worse on one of the criteria I use to criticise. I’m left more baffled than you, to be honest.
“I strongly take exception to the notion that the “tolerant” Japanese people I know are all outliers. That’s just factually wrong.”
Sorry to so mortally offend you, John, but why would you take exception (an emotion) to something that can be refuted by reference to facts (reason)? Show me the facts then. I’ve shown you some evidence that the rank-and-file are intolerant and thus, by extension, that liberals are outliers, while you have provided me with another anecdote which partly supports my assertion, whatever the rationalisation you might make of the motives your parents-in-law had for their discomfort. We all tend to believe our spouses/partners and in-laws are typical when it suits us and different when it suits us.
Incidentally, I tend not to fulfill people’s worst expectations either, reckless taxi-drivers aside (though it might be more useful if perhaps the people feared me more on sight, then I’d be able to get through Osaka station more easily). But I am not sure it makes much difference. I feel that the “explanations” emerge after confidence has been gained. But that is just anecdotal evidence.
I also put forward a model of Japan that highlights why it is largely incapable of moving forward with its relations to the outside world, and representatives thereof, and showed how this benefits an elite by keeping the masses ignorant and inoculated. It is so effective it even renders the elites stupefied, inarticulate automatons too. Neither you nor Gavan have refuted this model (no, Gavan, influence need not be active - a codependency is still a feedback system). Surely that is because it is accurate. We encounter the detritus of this educational pulverizer daily.
You say, “I’m far from convinced that Japan is on the verge of collapsing into a fascist dictatorship or something akin to it.” Let’s ask the founders. Mussolini and Gentile (1932) wrote : “The Fascist State organizes the nation, but leaves a sufficient margin of liberty to the individual; the latter is deprived of all useless and possibly harmful freedom, but retains what is essential; the deciding power in this question cannot be the individual, but the State alone…” The characteristics of fascism are a corporatist economy; nationalism and obsession with national security; scapegoating, dehumanisation and enemy creation; militarism; corrupted rule of law and democracy; controlled media; and an anti-intellectualism. I put it to you that we are only need the militarism. All the other characteristics are entrenched from the corporatist economy onwards (just ask Horie and Murakami). Indeed the purpose of the inoculation and the denial of dialectic and rhetorical skills are part of the incitement of nationalism and preservation of national security and the outcome is a profound anti-intellectualism. The only other factor I hadn’t introduced is the perception of Japan itself as a victim, and with that final brick in the wall responsibility evaporates. We, ourselves, are the objects of the dehumanisation. I mean to say, if we are not deemed worthy of the same human rights as everyone else (to say nothing of the vote, considering the taxes we pay) it is at least implicit that we are subhuman.
Believe me, all those people that don’t talk to you; who avoid you; who smack their teeth at you; who giggle at you, don’t see you as human beings. You are a cartoon character or something out of a fairy story. They don’t believe you are real any more than they believe the Swiss or Austrian countryside is anything but a stage set for “The Sound of Music,” and it will disappear when they leave. Starting from that base it will not be hard to characterise us as trolls and ogres when the time comes.
By the way, I thought we began “Beautiful Japan” because we all shared disquiet that Japan was indeed heading the wrong way. I’m a little surprised to discover that some are not as worried as I had believed.
“Commence with the sneering, cynical response attacking my naivety or whatever.” Oh dear, John.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:25 pm
And one more thing I want to say. I am very worried about you actually. I know you all love discussion but if you keep focus on the BIG issues, you could be lost your natural good feeling such as trust, understanding, any kind of good emotions because of being cotroled by untrustful mind. So I am doubting that actually. There are so many informations on web even though the elites can control it easily but they haven’t done it. I suppose they aim the informations can spread untrustful mind everywhere too. I don’t want to see the person around me is controled by untrustful mind through the big issues! Because I know few persons who fall into untrustful mind and I can’t help them any more because they just withdraw everything around them. So just I am waiting for their recovering but it’s very painful because I know their goodness. Please don’t loose your goodness by fucking too big informations.
February 4th, 2008 at 11:38 pm
You said, ‘all those people that don’t talk to you’, how about the people who want to talk to you? If the person is Japanese, everyone is same??? Or they, included me, have tiny tiny power so we can’t let you satisfy so you leave our hope???
And ‘I thought we began “Beautiful Japan” because we all shared disquiet that Japan was indeed heading the wrong way’
I agree with you. Then why haven’t you discussed about Japan for a while???
Well, this topics is getting going parallel lines. But still I want to discuss about this with other Japanese though! Even tiny power, it is real power so it might change something more than you don’t communicate with Japanese society about it at all.
February 5th, 2008 at 12:50 pm
“The characteristics of fascism are a corporatist economy; nationalism and obsession with national security; scapegoating, dehumanisation and enemy creation; militarism; corrupted rule of law and democracy; controlled media; and an anti-intellectualism. I put it to you that we are only need the militarism.”
Again, I say Japan’s elite are simply following the path laid out for them by the board of directors in Washington.
You state that even inactivity constitutes influence from the citizenry, rendering any stance positive, negative or entirely neutral as valid for your “feedback system” and thus an empty statement without clarifying the nature of the influence. I contend that positive feedback, i.e. some measure of implicit support for the political mandates of the elite, is vastly different from a neutral or apathetic stance in both immediate and long term effect.
China currently suffers from the effects of the former, frequently responding to non-party Nationalist elements who have an erratic but noticeable influence on foreign policy that forces the government to adopt beligerent stances that are not in its best diplomatic, or economic, interests.
In my view, Japan’s elite contain and are protected by the right-wing nationalist elements. As such they do not pander to them but share the same ideology. The citizenry in contrast have no where near as strong feelings on these issues and their tolerance for it, or susceptibility to manipulation from it, is not the same as even passive encouragement.
The sad thing is not that there is no opposition to government policies but that it is so emasculated and fearful. In the last week one of Tokyo’s major hotels refused to hold a conference by the Teachers Union because they were afraid of the disturbance right wing noise trucks would cause. Similarly people in the media who speak out even mildly are faced with death threats that are generally disregarded by police. The fact that there seem to be few people with enough courage to address these issues does not mean there is no opposition to them.
Once more, you seem take the silence of the citizenry to indicate unvoiced support for official policy while I feel that a large portion of that silent mass is simply too timid and pessimistic to voice their discomfort with, dislike for or disorientation regarding such views. A fault more than worthy of criticism but not, I think, the flaw you have perceived and addressed with such gusto.
February 5th, 2008 at 6:13 pm
I agree with much of Gavan’s analysis, with the qualification that the relationship between American and Japanese elites is less one of master-servant than of senior-junior partners in a global criminal syndicate, with its origins in the wartime looting of Asia. If this seems extreme, read Sterling and Peggy Seagraves’ Gold Warriors, or this review by Chalmers Johnson.
What can ordinary people do in the face of such deep-rooted official criminality, especially when most of them are unaware of it?
February 5th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
It is simple as I said, Maidhc. Communication. That’s all. Or Are there any solution? This is a famous story in America. When Black people got human right, they started to live normal life there and white people were afraid of living their neighbour. But after while, someone searched white people’s feeling about black people. Of course white people living near black people could show more respect to their neighbour.
15 years ago, There were few foreigners here. I rarely saw foreigners in public schools or universities where were not famous for English major, even in cities. Now we can meet people from various contries anywhere. Japanese in general don’t think we dislike foreigners generally. As you know, Japanese are curious basiclly so we rather talke with many peoples. Please don’t misunderstand it. But unfortunately the Japanese who don’t speak with foreigners just don’t know how they should conduct to foreigners because they are not used to it. Or they are just worried about ‘manners’ because of Japanese custum. I agree with it that education is one of the reasons. Education here is still too much foucus on Japanese matters and still old ‘royal’ style. We have to change it but I am sure current education systems is much better than I had before.
But also we can act in our daily life. It’s much real and easy. Just communicate with anyone to get to know each other.
Here’s my mother’s story. She works for a public service for mothers who have small kids. The place is for everyone. Not only Japanese. So sometimes mother who are from other country visit there with her kids. Now she tries to speak English or Korean or whatever as she can to understand their feeling. Especially to kids. Kids don’t care which language they and others speak. So the kids speak various languages, Japanese or other language. My mother said sometimes it’s very hard to understand what the kids want to do or her to do for them when they don’t speak Japanese so much. But if the kids feel she try to understand their feeling, the kids also try to speak Japanese to her to let her understand them. I believe it’s natural and everyone can do it. I know sometimes we need some great analysis but always when human’s relationship fail, the reason is just lack of communication and understanding each other. Or would you like to still keep analysing and waiting for changing Japanese behaviour? Well, I don’t want to wait as you know but I understand it’s very difficult to let someone move to the other when they don’t want to move.
やる気があったら簡単だと思うけど、やりたくないなら仕方ないね。
February 5th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
About Japanese eliets, Gavan. I think they are just afraid of ’stealing’ their skills. I met a old Japanese guy who retired already. He said, ‘Japan have to think about protecting our skills especially manufacturing. Because we don’t have any resources in Japan. So we have to be carefully when Japanese company open their factory in abroad. Because The locals can steal our skills so easily. If we loose our manufacturing skills, our economy will be gone soon.’ Well, in a sense, I agreed with him bit. But I also thought if the skill could help the local economy there, it’s fine. Anyway, I suppose this kind of idea spread in current Japanese elites. This is kind of bewareing foreigners act but not like Gavan’s analysis. Included Japanese government, they are just afraid of Japanese economy fall first, then other reasons are following up I think.
February 6th, 2008 at 12:12 am
By the way Marsh, I’ve had a question about you actually. I thought you naturalized Japanese, didn’t you? But you don’t have suffrage? That’s very ridiculous if it is truth! That’s the worth objecting to Japanese fucking government! I am always wondering why foreign residents can’t vote election. Well, maybe language problem but some of them like you can speak Japanese so what’s wrong??? But sorry I am too stupid but foreign residents can’t vote any Japanese election even local one?