Wednesday, July 02, 2003
Why I Love the Japanese
Ok, maybe not love, but definitely a reason I respect their overall culture a hell of a lot more than I do the dominant American culture. In America, if you get busted for doing something bad, you are punished and for those with a conscience, a feeling of guilt typically sets in. For the majority, it seems like the only real punishment is guilt, even if only for being caught. I know that's pretty much how I felt most of the time when I was in trouble. But for the Japanese, it seems to be different. For the majority of the Japanese people, they seemed to be more concerned with honor, or from the perpective of the punished, you have shamed either yourself, your family, or both. I'm not being naive enough to say that most Americans don't experience shame or that the Japanese don't have guilt, but rather I am making an observation about what I perceive as the most influential component of the punishment systems in the respective geographical locations. I am getting the feeling that most times when I experience a miscommunication between myself and a native, it is because they are afraid they will appear dumb to me because they don't understand what I'm trying to communicate. That's totally not the case, I know I feel really stupid when I ask them to repeat things several times, but somehow I manage. So to tie together all of the incoherent babble above, I get the feeling that the shame component of their culture is a huge motivation for the Japanese people to be good people. There is more fear of being looked down upon than of being deprived of some privilege. No phone for a week doesn't seem to be as effective as my mother telling me that I have dishonored my family. Aretha summed it up when she sang about the Japanese culture, though I always thought it was just a catchy tune. Respect, not just for others but also from others. I will refrain from debating the obvious religious differences between the Japanese and American cultures, I don't feel like I have enough education about the Shinto and Buddhist religions to write an informed comparison with Christianity; however, in a simple statement I feel that the differerences in the fundamentals of the religions aid in creating the aforementioned differences. I think the honor issue may also explain the motivation to do well in school that seems to dominate not only here, but also among the students of Asian descent at home (how PC-sterile does that sound). I know that I feel like I have honored my mother by being 'successful' in my educational pursuits. Unfortunately, only simple arrogance and naivety make me feel honored among my peers.
Ok, maybe not love, but definitely a reason I respect their overall culture a hell of a lot more than I do the dominant American culture. In America, if you get busted for doing something bad, you are punished and for those with a conscience, a feeling of guilt typically sets in. For the majority, it seems like the only real punishment is guilt, even if only for being caught. I know that's pretty much how I felt most of the time when I was in trouble. But for the Japanese, it seems to be different. For the majority of the Japanese people, they seemed to be more concerned with honor, or from the perpective of the punished, you have shamed either yourself, your family, or both. I'm not being naive enough to say that most Americans don't experience shame or that the Japanese don't have guilt, but rather I am making an observation about what I perceive as the most influential component of the punishment systems in the respective geographical locations. I am getting the feeling that most times when I experience a miscommunication between myself and a native, it is because they are afraid they will appear dumb to me because they don't understand what I'm trying to communicate. That's totally not the case, I know I feel really stupid when I ask them to repeat things several times, but somehow I manage. So to tie together all of the incoherent babble above, I get the feeling that the shame component of their culture is a huge motivation for the Japanese people to be good people. There is more fear of being looked down upon than of being deprived of some privilege. No phone for a week doesn't seem to be as effective as my mother telling me that I have dishonored my family. Aretha summed it up when she sang about the Japanese culture, though I always thought it was just a catchy tune. Respect, not just for others but also from others. I will refrain from debating the obvious religious differences between the Japanese and American cultures, I don't feel like I have enough education about the Shinto and Buddhist religions to write an informed comparison with Christianity; however, in a simple statement I feel that the differerences in the fundamentals of the religions aid in creating the aforementioned differences. I think the honor issue may also explain the motivation to do well in school that seems to dominate not only here, but also among the students of Asian descent at home (how PC-sterile does that sound). I know that I feel like I have honored my mother by being 'successful' in my educational pursuits. Unfortunately, only simple arrogance and naivety make me feel honored among my peers.
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