Japan and Valentine's

Will you be mine?

If this were a normal blog, that question would be unsustainable, since I would have too many readers to fulfill the requisite Valentine's Day rites for all of them. However, since there probably are fewer than 15 people who will see this post, and half of them will reject me, I'd only have to buy Valentine's goodies for around 7 people. Does that seem like a lot? Well in Japan, it's the way it goes.

Japanese Valentine's Day customs might seem strange to Americans. In Japan, women are obligated to buy the men in their lives (that's right men, as in lover(s?), family, coworkers, etc.) chocolates. There are even different classes of gifts, luxurious chocolates for the lovers, and less extravagant chocolate for obligatory recipients, like coworkers. From a young age, girls are encouraged to participate and buy goodies for all of the boys in their lives. As they grow older, their mothers stop shopping for them, and they have to make the purchases themselves. Not surprisingly, in high school the number of chocolates one receives becomes a measure of popularity. It's not clear whether this is a sick plot to stage a popularity coup d'etat, by fattening the queen bee.

The whole thing is a commercial affair. Chocolatemakers make huge profits. Other companies, realizing this, decided that they should design a second day to make money off of obligation, I mean love. Accordingly, in the 1980's White Day was created. It started off as a chance for men to reciprocate, but it has gone far past that, as women expect their lovers to buy them clothes and jewelry. The holiday has grown past its purely commercial dimension to have some real meaning in Japan, but it's unlikely any clothes or jewelry companies are complaining.

It seems like Japan's version of this "holiday" would be fun to celebrate. Today, instead of watching people in relationships exchange chocolate and gifts, I would be receiving gifts from all the ladies I know, not just because I'm a lady killer, but also because there are girls who casually know me. The real benefit of Japan's Valentine's/White Days, from the single man's perspective, is that since I'm not in a big-deal relationship, my costs on White Day would be much lower than the average girl's. Although this is an awfully selfish approach to love, since either culture celebrates love, it seems fair to figure out how to get the best deal out of it. (Kidding, kind of)

Even though Japan's Valentine's customs might seem slightly bizarre, it's probably important keep our cultural criticism relative. After all, America is the land of Hallmark holidays. Multiple affairs, whether Valentine's, Father's Day, Mother's Day, Secretary's Day, etc., all exist for almost the sole purpose of allowing companies to make money selling cards and gifts. I have decided to protest them all by never participating. My family doesn't approve. Neither does my secretary. Japan has taken note of this most capitalist of trends, and even one-upped us. We have Valentine's Day, but Japan's White Day doubles the love, and profits. Thank-you-for-the-Valentine's Day-gift gift anyone?

Japan and the Other

Today in English class we were discussing the idea of the Other. To summarize the concept, the Other is essentially what "we" (whatever the norm is in a given culture) are not. That is, if we are male, the Other is female. If we are white, then the Other is a racial minority. In this way, all cultures (not just ours) define themselves, establishing a firm identity by contrasting it with alternatives. In a sense, the Other is essential to understanding the Self. Still, use of the Other becomes problematic when a culture becomes too dominant and exploitative, uses the Other to mark those who don't belong, and uses violence or other means to exclude them. Creating the Other can also greatly hamper cross-cultural communication, since the Other can be construed as an inferior, and therefore unworthy of being taken seriously or without a contribution to be made.

Obviously, these problems carry over to our relationship with Japan. To avoid rephrasing something in a worse form than the original, here's the abstract to an excellent paper on the subject, which I will continue to cite throughout this paper:

This paper tries to show how cross-cultural conflict often occurs between Japan and Westerners as the result of imposing one's own cultural meanings onto another culture. Interpretations of Japan, as well as other Asian cultures, often carries an implicit assumption that the West is rational (and superior) whereas the East is bound by ancient traditions (and is inferior). "Orientalism" has been identified as the particular form that Western stereotypical understandings of Asian cultures has taken. Intercultural communication becomes highly problematic as long as stereotypes are held and as long as the other culture is seen as foreign and wholly other. By transcending this "Orientalism" we will be in a better position to understand and communicate with those from another culture without having to set up a dichotomous boundary between "us" and "them." Conflict with Japan is focused on 1) because there seems to be a lot of it, and 2) because Japan represents a unique culture field which is, in some ways, both modern and familiar, yet in other ways seemingly foreign to Western interpretive structures. This paper will call into question some of the stereotypes that Westerners often project onto Japan as being a monolithic culture which is excessively authoritarian, hierarchical, and patriarchal. We will try to offer some other interpretive options for understanding a culture which has suffered from intercultural communication problems for so long.

Some of what's going on in that abstract requires certification higher than a middle school diploma to fully flesh out (don't worry, I'll have a high school diploma soon), but, without getting bogged down in some of the more esoteric terminology or concepts, and perhaps staying away from the gritty details of the field of Japanese cultural studies, we can draw out a few key points.

-We stereotype and assume superiority when trying to understand Japan

When understanding Japan, we all too often imagine Japanese as efficient, dependent, and polite. The implication becomes that Japanese are conformist- incompatible with Western ideals of the individual and rights, and simply different and inferior.

-That makes it hard to communicate across cultures

When we assume someone is that inferior, it makes hard for us to imagine any benefit to communication. Additionally, some aspects of the stereotype- such as Japanese being unable to express their opinions or communicate without Japanese- make it seem to us as if we are unable to communicate with Japanese. That only furthers the stereotype, because there's no chance for it to be broken down.

-There are ways to end this predicament

Rosen (in the article cited above) has a few suggestions from other sources: Using an idea from Hinduism to open ourselves to other ideas, and learning the same language so communication is easier.

Though those options seem less than practical, it probably is important to bear in mind the stereotypes we use to understand people, and actively resist them. Pointing out and acknowledging them is the first step.

A personal touch-

While I'm familiar with the stereotypes and attitude explained above- especially in the extreme forms portrayed in the media like a Japanese takeover of our economy- I have to say I've had so little personal experience with either ethnic or native Japanese that these stereotypes, no matter how distilled or thought through, are truly all that dictate my understanding of what a Japanese person is like. Accordingly, when I read an article about something like Japanese politics, my only context for really understanding Japanese political dynamics is to assume their politicians behave as we do. The problem is when Japanese politicians do and say things American politicians would never do or say. See sub-point #3 here. In these cases, statements like that of Ichiro Ozawa (saying he was not worthy of office but would run anyway) can only be understood within a narrative of Japanese compliance and humility, which, even if true in a way, without context creates a sense of inferiority instead of respect.

For the last few years, my neighbors across the street have been a Japanese businessman and his family. There have been two families so far, each here for two year terms. Only the men have known (some) English, although the kids and mom have an English teacher every week. I don't speak Japanese, a problem Rosen anticipates. A cultural barrier straight down the middle of my street.

Maybe it's time to ask the English teacher to do some translating.

Welcome

Greetings to my loyal readership!

I know both of you (three if you count Ms. Nelson) have long awaited the debut of this fascinating new blog. Hopefully, in months or days I'll look back on this post and laugh at how naive I was to only be addressing my comments to a small group of people I'm familiar with, versus hundreds if not thousands of readers across the internet.

Regardless, I'd like to start off by introducing the concept behind this blog. The general goal is to talk about Japan. I'm interested in majoring in International Relations next year in college, and one of the areas of the world that intrigues me is East Asia, so I figure the sooner I start studying it, the sooner I'll know if I want to devote considerable academic energies to it. Within this general framework, I'll be talking about Japan's culture and politics, and how language is used in both of these contexts to explain history or move towards common goals. Also, I'll be comparing these trends to those in our own country. (Hence the name: Japan and Us.) I thought I was being clever because "US" could be United States or us.

The natural question to answer now is "Why Japan?"

Three reasons-

1. Japan is fascinating. They've had five prime ministers in the last five years, and just completed an election in which the architect of the long time opposition party which seized power last year challenged the current prime minister from his own party and lost.

2. Japan is relevant. They're our cornerstone ally in Northeast Asia, and in many ways have, since World War II, allowed the US to underwrite regional stability that has facilitated economic prosperity, and even the rise of China.

3. Japan is different. When Ichiro Ozawa (the architect) announced that he was going to challenge Naoto Kan (current prime minister) he said, "I am of humble ability and not worthy of the post." Can you imagine any American politician saying anything like that ever?

I hope I've gone some way towards persuading you about how fascinating Japan is. More importantly, I hope you enjoy reading this blog.