Japan SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
The fourthteenth-century Golden Pavilion in Kyoto
Courtesy Eliot Frankeberger
St. Mary's Cathedral in Tokyo, designed by Tange Kenzo
Courtesy St. Mary's Cathedral
From birth, Japanese are recognized as autonomous human
beings.
However, from the beginning infants are influenced by
society's
emphasis on social interdependence. In fact, Japanese
human
development may be seen as a movement toward mastery of an
everexpanding circle of social life, beginning with the
family,
widening to include school and neighborhood as children
grow, and
incorporating roles as colleague, inferior, and superior.
Viewed in
this perspective, socialization does not culminate with
adolescence, for the individual must learn to be, for
example, a
section chief, a parent-teacher association member, or a
grandparent at various points in life.
Many Westerners ask whether there is a Japanese self
that
exists apart from identification with a group. The answer
lies in
the Japanese distinction between uchi (inside) and
soto (outside). These terms are relative, and the
"we"
implied in uchi can refer to the individual, the
family, a
work group, a company, a neighborhood, or even all of
Japan. But it
is always defined in opposition to a "they." The context
or
situation thus calls for some level of definition of self.
When an
American businessman meets a Japanese counterpart, the
Japanese
will define himself as a member of a particular company
with which
the American is doing business. However, if the American
makes a
cultural mistake, the Japanese is likely to define himself
as
Japanese as distinguished from a foreigner. The American
might go
away from his encounter with the belief that the Japanese
think of
themselves only as members of a group. The same person
attending a
school event with one of his children might be defined at
the level
of his family or household. Viewed relaxing at home or
playing golf
with former classmates, he would perhaps have reached a
level of
definition more similar to an American concept of self.
From childhood, however, Japanese are taught that this
level of
self should not be assertive but rather should be
considerate of
the needs of others; the private emotions, and perhaps the
funloving , relaxed side of Japanese individuals are tolerated
and even
admired as long as these do not interfere with the
performance of
more public responsibilities. The proper performance of
social
roles is necessary to the smooth functioning of society.
Individuals, aware of private inner selves (and even
resistance to
the very roles they perform), use a shifting scale of
uchi
and soto to define themselves in various
situations.
Data as of January 1994
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