Japan in a nutshell

This is a short reflection that I wrote about Japan.

A One And a Half Year Review and Commentary on Japan

I Have come to realize some obvious and inherent differences of opinion about an array of aspects of Japan; from Japan's economics to the general psyche of it's people. Arguably a stay of almost one and a half years in a country is too short to grasp the inter workings of society and politics, and may be more of a tainted counter intuitive outlook due to inevitable circumstances such as location, financial standing, misfortune and other factors. As such in order to fully understand and appreciate this commentary one must understand my background and current situation as a student here in Japan.
I came to Japan in April of 2004 to Reitaku University with hopes of learning Japanese and advancing into a Japanese university as a normal student without the handicap of having classes in English. While I am of half Chinese blood, I chose to study in Japan for a variety of reasons. Mainly because Japan is technologically advanced, rose from a colorful history, and was where my parents spent nearly 4 years of their lives. Since graduating Reitaku University and matriculating into Toyogakuen University I have been living in an apartment in Misato living the typical life of the “starving college student”. Please recognize that the opinions and observations here are by no way un bias or perfectly objective.
Japanese society is maintained by a tightly woven set of unspoken rules and a modern form of a dead caste system. A Turkish graduate student studying in Japan once referred to this as “the perfect system”. A strict cast-like system based on age, social/financial achievement, and sex. Reminisces of Japan's former caste system manifests it's self as different levels of speech, wording, behavior and obviously hierarchical rituals usually referred to as manners and tradition. Examples of this system can be observed in any company, middle to high school, club, or on television. I dislike being told about how equal and respectful Japanese people are from a people who actually have a blatantly sexist and demeaning company “position” for women which Japanese people refer to with the acronym “OL” so they do not have to be reminded of how sexist they are. However many of these and other traditional Japanese behavior patterns, good and bad, are not being furthered by the young generation of Japan. I personally find it difficult to be reminded of the beautiful Japanese culture of flower arrangement and enka when I spot a over-made up Japanese female high school student sitting in her skirt on the bare station floor using a mirror to make her think make up perfectly contrast her skin color which is darker than her hair. I begin to wonder if this change in Japan's culture is for the better or not.
In a country with a Christian population of only 1%, I expected for there to be differences in behavior and culture from my home country America. Some I find refreshing and there are some behaviors which I feel will be hard to embrace. I do respect the Japanese for their sense of fashion when it comes to business men. Japanese people religiously wear suits which has somewhat of a classy feel. Another admirable aspect of Japan is the love of books. Japanese love to read, whether it be standing awaiting the train or on their off-time. Unfortunately the content of what is being read is not always admirable as it is not rare to find Japanese men reading pornography and what Japanese euphemistically refer to as modeling. I am by no way condemning such behavior, nor am I for censoring, but I can not understand how Japanese men do not feel embarrassment when reading such materials in public places nor do I care to understand how pleasure can be derived from such perverted behavior. If these men are indeed seeking companionship I do not feel this is the right way to attract a mate especially when at any given time these public pornography patrons are surrounded by women. Not to mention that these magazines are usually left on the train in plain sight of children so that they don't have to explain to their families why there is a porno in their bag. There are countless admirable aspects of Japanese worth mentioning.
Many foreigners are attracted to Japan by it's art and entertainment, and rightly so. Japan boasts entertainment venues from costume play, karaoke, station-side live music, and news. Yes, that is right, all one needs to do to hear the latest popular music is to tune into NHK, or almost any other respectable news program, to hear the latest SMAP song perfectly synchronized with a suicide bombing in Iraq and bleeding children.
Without a doubt Japan can boast the most popular and advanced manga and anime in the world. Japanese just seem to have a knack to writing awe inspiring stories with dynamic characters that have people of all ages enraptured. Much like the black slaves in 1800's America, singing of the freedom they can never achieve the Japanese writers tell the stories of people that do not and could never actually exist in Japan's harmonious society. And after work these gifted writers finish spinning tales of heroes and model human beings then get washed back into reality, where they pick up their dirty magazines and head home.
There is a very common misconception about Japan's economic system. That is the widely taught belief that Japan is actually capitalist. Japan is far from it. I was first confronted with the question of how there could be 5 convenience stores on one block. I thought surely the fierce competition should leave but 2 or 3. Upon further inspection I noticed that the goods and their respective prices were identical from store to store. But Oligopolies and Monopolies are not rare in a country where airlines, auto manufacturers, and railways are privately run. This is also a country where the ATMs work less than business men and also have more holidays. The acronym “ATM” stands for Automatic Teller Machine. ATM's are desperately needed in a country where all banks decide to open at 11 and close at 3, but even automatic machines close. This leaves me dumbfounded and left wanting to know what these machines do on their off-time. One would think that in a country hounded by unrelenting deflation the government would encourage ATMs to be open 24 hours a day so that people can spend their money. But that kind of thinking may be a little too capitalistic for this red country which places 5 vending machines on every block to disguise the fact that Japan is actually communist. But it is not hard to see the red shinning through is you look hard enough. Take restaurants as an example. The waitresses and waiters bow and speak in formal respectful language and politely remind the customers that “the store is always right”. Or as the servers say it, “Rules are Rules.”. There are many stories of foreigners who try to alter their orders and are refused. Coming from a country with the opposite outlook on business, a capitalist one, I find this rather queer. Granted the lack of tips cause for a lack of customer service here in Japan, but is it not the duty of business to please the customer in order to receive business? The only way for a business to get away with such a policy without going out of business is if all businesses were the same. This just may be the case in a country named “harmony”.
Japanese on average lack a strong individualistic personality which is causes a desperate need for harmony. Japanese, who strongly dislike confrontation, have two very effective methods of dealing with it. One is the strict and almost fascist coherence to rules. The second is by ignoring it. Many very characteristic examples of this can be found just outside of most train stations. Where hardened veterans of the ignoring arts can be found refusing to acknowledge the presence of the tissue distributors and gigolos. This clearly shows the importance placed on the maintenance of harmony over humanity.
The theme of harmony over individuality in Japan is taught in schools from a young age. The Japanese education system is built upon the mantra “The standing nail gets hammered down”. I have asked many Japanese if they have even heard of the saying “The squeaky wheel gets the grease”, but the response was less than encouraging. However this type of thinking is not entirely unexpected from a totally homogenous people and society. A people who believe that all the people in the world are Japanese or gaijin. And a foreigner is a 6 foot tall blond man from America that can not use chopsticks and has never eaten sushi before.
While it seems that I have nothing but negative things to say about Japan, my being here and continuing to study here proves that I do like many aspects about Japan like the language and the technological advancement. However there are many things which I dislike about Japanese culture and politics. Perhaps I will come to see things in a new light the longer I stay here.