I reckon so flows the time beyond the moment, and history sometimes is all that's left.
Ancient tradition and modern technology have helped Japan achieve so much in the last century. The landscape is dominated by mountains, shaped by highly active earthquakes. The sea, a natural barrier, prevented foreign countries invasion, resulting in an overall physical isolation from the rest of the world. The Japan archipelago combined matches California in size, with 5 times its population. One tenth of worlds active volcanoes are located in the Japan land making this land constantly threatened by sudden and devastating events. People have adapted to such living conditions. They take precautions and include those precautions in their daily lives. They are living with earthquakes, shaping the tradition of Japanese homes. They are built from natural materials, light and easily re-constructible. Despite such unstable landscape, Japan's architecture has flourished over the years.
There are different religions in Japan, primarily the Shinto religion, which traces its roots back thousands of years. Buddhism, the second most important religion in Japan, came from China in the 6th century, which introduced a powerful new idea to Japan. It is concerned with afterlife. On the other hand, Shinto religion is concerned with the living only. Dance rituals are performed as traditional means of expressing their religious traditions. Shinto means the way of the gods, and the Japanese see gods everywhere, in nature in general. In Shinto religion, there is no book, no regular services. It is an accumulation of customs and folklore. It is a religion totally different than the western religion.
There is something to be said about the sharp contrast drawn between religious temples and the robotized factories that help modern economy flourish. Japan also has farmers and farm fields that extend for generations. The family structure is different than in the America: Parents, children and grandparents live under the same roof. Japan youth has inclination towards the western style of living and those allegoric symbols ranging from pop music, fast-foods, and the Magical Kingdom of Walt Disney. However, on the other extreme, the youth continues to be influenced by the deeply rooted traditions that are passed on to the next generation via narrative teachings and followings of what the adults are doing.
Traditions. Western style religion has directly or indirectly infiltrated their customs. Marriage as it turns out can be some sort of fashion. Most of the Japanese would be more inclined to get married in a western fashion way, in church as Christians do it. Expectantly, Christmas indirectly influences the Japanese culture by the ways of advertising and showing reminders of the coming of Christmas as a celebration from the western world. This is an example of indirect influence of western culture onto all Japan regardless if they welcome and dislike the idea of marriage of both cultures under the same roof. However, when it comes to death, they would return to their deeply rooted ways to burry their dead, once again identifying with their true background. Another tradition deeply rooted in Japan is bathing. They bath together as a form of community reinforcement. They have strict rules about bathing, one saying that soap should never mix with the bathed water, unlike what the westerners do. Bowing is another important cultural part in Japan. At the end of the day, family values are more important than the religious ones. But not every custom stays rigid; as anticipated Japan is known to borrow from different cultures and help improve by assimilation. One clear example is the kimono, original introduced from china was altered through time indistinguishable to current standards.
Japan has always been concerned with the growth of rice. This is a year around physical work. Each winter they dig up soil and transport it into the rice fields to replace the depleted soil. In the spring they replant rice once more. Rice growth is a serious business, and a physical work. It also requires the use of everyone from the village. They often have meetings together making sure they all do the work needed and that nobody is left behind. Each of the farm families have a personal shrine where personal and very old documents are kept. The same type of social interaction occurs frequently in factories in the town centers, becoming clearly the key to doing the best at work, and enjoying coming together both socially and spiritually. Japan is famous for quickly adapting to the new western economy and simultaneously keeping its traditions as the source for its overall success.
It is here the traditional samurai villages live, where the samurai leaders were patrons of arts and religious influence. Tea tradition was influenced by the samurai, as they would prepare to face their enemy and/or death. From their perspective, the tea was part of the enhancing the meditation, which was part of the Zen buddhism tradition. Therefore, tea-bowls have an unusual materialistic value, meaning that they could be worth more than a castle. In today’s japanese society, the only direct link to the ancient samurai is the sumo wrestler. These sumo rituals were practiced at Shinto shrines to ensure good and healthy rice crops. Now, they are mainly for tradition and sport.
The legacy of Shoguns is seen in everything that pertains to Japan and its people. This explains why they all obey the rules. Statistically, Japan is the most law abiding society on earth. The first shogun was the one person responsible for the rule obeying phenomenon in Japan. He was the one who unified Japan and gave it 250 years of peace isolation and prosperity. The Tokugawa Shogun created a culture where rules were given and people had to follow them. This quickly became a form of a centralized bureaucracy to control the unification of Japan. The clear example is shown in the distinction between armed me, clerks, priests and bureaucrats. They had their own place in society and the respect that came from their statuses. Therefore, the Tokugawa Shogun has transformed the state of law and obedience into a very strict and rigid society.
This type of structured society based on rules has translated through time into today's society. It is clearly observed in today’s bureaucracy such as in any office work areas in Japan. The design is counter western views. There is no office cubicles, no superficial job divisions. In japan, the rules state that the senior man (always a man) sits at a long line of desk with the senior assistant along the desk with the juniors farthest away from the boss. Also, in conferences, the sitting is done based on importance. The best seat is the one closes to where the boss sits always as far away from the door as possible. The least important seat is the one closest to the door. This type of classification is done differently based on where it occurs, such as in train, in an office, or at home.
Authority is enforced through Police, which keeps records of everything that happens in the cities of Japan or suburbs. There is a police box located every few blocks where citizens can get help and advice. Japanese prisons are powerful instruments to teach and instruct individuals on how to become better citizens. Japan has a reputation for their prisons as being those places where very few inmates ever return to prison. Job placement programs make such reputation true and continuous.
All students are treated equally. Japan schools come in sharp contrast with the western school. Japan government spends less on education than America, and yet Japan students achieve the highest test scores in contrast to the rest of the world. Some important key points to remember in Japan’s education is the importance of doing well in school and abiding to the rules of the society. To reinforce the importance of education, Japan has the longest school years in the world’s education programs. They are two months longer than the rest of the world’s school programs.
Besides length of study time, tasks and various responsibilities play a major role in their success. For example, children are given the primary role of serving food in school. These are all supervised by adults, enriching the interpersonal relationships for later in life. Another example of tasks is that school classrooms are cleaned by students only. In comparison, the higher education enforces more rules and rigidity, adding to the increased pressure in Japan education. Mentally handicapped are treated no different than the regular ones. Nobody is left behind or specially treated based on performance. They are all equally encouraged to do best in school no matter who they are or where they come from.
The universities entrance exams are very strict and claim only the use of memory and no original thinking. The results of exams are uniquely shared with students. Very energetic and in-group sharing of happiness or sorrow. Once students are admitted in any of the state universities such as Tokyo University, student’s studying habits slow down. This is in part due to the belief that once someone gets admitted into such honorary universities, companies would be competing very hard for them, regardless of their academic grades during their university years.
Relaxation and enjoyment in Japanese life is something that westerners rarely see or understand. Similarly to western thinking, Japan has various ways to entertain its public after a hard working day. They have bars, theaters, and sports. The most renown pastime is the Japanese baseball. Karaoke would normally come in second place as far as popularity was concerned. In Japan, there are two types of Theatre entertainment: the Kabuki and the Noh theaters.
Kabuki theatre are known for showing funny and full of wisdom screenplays that have a great effect on the common folk. The aristocracy uses a more sophisticated theatre, which is by far the most traditional of Japan theatre, called the Noh theatre. This was the kind of theatre approved by the Shogun himself.
The land of Shogun was a secluded land, where pilgrims dressed in white, come and symbolize the simplicity and non-mixing of the land with the western civilization. On the other hand, the Shogun world was a world of rice growers with advanced shops, where everyone knew their place in society. However, the time has come for Japan to learn a crash-course in Industrialization, soon catching up with westerners, and nonetheless surpass them in the quality and cost. Then followed the development of army and its military inventory. The only thing that kept surfacing for countries who tried to reach military stability and independence is the responsibility that comes with greater power. In this case, this proved disastrous to the people of Japan, as history has shown.
Post war, the Japan economy crumbled but began to recover soon thereafter. Their lifestyle and economic growth was strictly controlled from their government. Yet, this produced a very aggressive industrial revolution. This introduced innovative products, as part of the new stages of Japan industrial re-growth. The most important economic move done by Japan was from large, big, and strong template, to small, and light, and now to the beauty, feeling, play and creativity. They have done so in direct response to the health of its economy. Its customers are now deciding what is being produced. The quality of service and attention to detail is the norm in the Japan lifestyle.
Social pressure. Japan has successfully blended the western influence with its core group beliefs. However, despite the apparent success, social groups are still pressured by society stereotypes. The rural areas continue to be left behind from the high technologically inclined urban areas. Somehow, the gender inequality is reality. The grim difference is the social pressure that has always been towards male dominated society. Women in japan are paid well less than their equal status men. Comparably, they have the same social distinction as the immigrants in western societies. Despite this apparent discrepancy, Japanese women have a high influence in family lives, working environments, and recently in politics. The rising fashion in clothes design is one of Japan’s most recent move in giving a name for itself in the world’s economy. However, the rest of population in Japan is concerned not with politics, or religion, not even with fashion or industry. The overpopulation continues to remain the main problem of Japan.
Dear reader, if you have made it this far, it is my personal belief you have learned something new about Japan. If I were you, I would continue next with their language Katakana and/or Hiragana. But that's for another teatime. Perhaps now, if you do end up in Japan as a traveler of sorts, you will stand a bit more versed in the local history and tradition.
