Blog Entry 3

Blog Entry #3

“Gambari” is patience and working hard.  The ideal Japanese citizen is expected to work diligently in all areas, often without breaks.  Overtime at a job is not a reward for something done above and beyond, it is expected and even enforced – those workers that refuse overtime hours can be laid off.  This goes for school children as well.  Suicide rates among retirees is climbing: because work ethic is so strongly enforced in society, those who now have no work to do are restless to the point of frustration and depression.  However, this policy of over-working is starting to decline; the negative effects it can have are growing more apparent as students drop out of school and as death from being overworked becomes more and more common.

Although the text spoke of Western society embracing vacations and leisure time, saying “there are some expressions that are often used in America but seldom in Japan, such as ‘take it easy’” (86), I feel that, in the US, society is slowly becoming more like the Japanese in terms of working hard.  Work days are becoming longer and longer, and paid leave time is an ideal that companies are leaving by the wayside.

“Kenkyo” is the idea of modesty or humility.  This is again tied back to “aimai” and “chinmoku”, in that it is strongly tied to the Japanese way of presenting oneself in a lesser light than one may necessarily be.  Due to the hierarchal system that all of Japanese society has shaped itself into, it is necessary that one always knows exactly where one stands, and how to address one’s co-worker, classmate, teammate, or even neighbor.  It is safer to be more humble than the situation requires than to accidentally assert oneself over one’s conversation partner.  It is from these principles that the different forms of language are created (including the vast system of honorifics).  This ideal is also undergoing change, as “people tend to make more of what they communicate to others than how they do so” (148) and as students are taught more individuality and the importance of striving for personal success.

“Amae” is (a particularly Japanese idea of) dependence.  “Self-indulgent behavior by an infant of either sex in presuming on the love of its parents” (17).  This is the one I least understood; it is (I think) the idea of appreciating what someone has done for you – if it is someone “uchi”, this treatment is expected, presumed, although no less appreciated; if it is someone “soto”, then the treatment is not expected, and can be used as a form of forced bond (i.e., if someone pays for your meal you feel uncomfortably dependent on them; it is likely that they have done this in order to create that feeling intentionally).  Yet, “amae” is built into the naturally group-dependent Japanese culture and lifestyle, so one may feel a sense of “amae” with one’s community, as a way of keeping the community strong.  If the entire community is dependent on one another, then no part is inessential and one must strive to not “rock the boat”, as it were.

                This particular concept was hard for me to wrap my mind around; in the US, independence is so valued that something like “amae” is naturally confusing for us.  I hope I’ve managed to summarize the basics of the concept accurately.

“Honne” and “Tatemae”: “These two words are often considered a dichotomy contrasting genuinely-held personal feelings and opinions from those that are socially controlled.  Honne is one’s deep motive or intention, while tatemae refers to motives or intentions that are socially-tuned, those that are shaped, encouraged, or suppressed by majority norms” (115) – often, what one really wants (“honne”) is not always in agreement with what one says out loud (“tatemae”).  This is yet another way the Japanese maintain group harmony.  Although this concept of hiding one’s true feelings in order to be socially accepted is common across cultural lines, the Japanese embrace it and it is commonly understood and accepted that one may only be saying what is expected of them and not what is actually thought.  Therefore a range of formulaic questions and responses that sound polite but are always interpreted differently than they seem on the surface have been created – for example, if one is visiting another’s home and meal time approaches, the host will ask if the guest will stay for the meal: although it sounds like a polite invitation, any Japanese person would read the intended meaning of “I need you to leave because it is time for a meal”.  The guest’s formulaic answer is “no thank you, I’m not hungry”, which, in reality means that they have understood the message and will leave shortly.

                I understood this concept, but the idea of constantly analyzing what the other person in a conversation might or might not mean by what they are saying would drive me crazy!  I know that’s just because of the society that I grew up in, and that I am used to living in a society that values open speech and speaking one’s mind, but double-thinking everything would make me paranoid!  Of course, I’m sure there are those in Japan who study our culture and think we are rude for speaking so openly all the time.  To me, that kind of opposing views of nature based on culture is fascinating.