I can’t say much about Japanese culture. I am by no means an expert. I lived here for ten weeks and there are still many things that happened that I cannot explain. I know that Japanese culture is very insular and that foreigners will somehow always be on the outside, more so than in China. I also know that it is more difficult for Japanese women at work because they rarely get the kinds of advantages like maternity leave that we have in the US.
The things I like about Japan are the little things:
The subway system. It actually lets you go anywhere you want to go. Sure, it is also more complex than any other system, but that gives you something to use that fancy cell phone for.
Breakfast. The Japanese do it better than any other country I have experienced. I’m speaking about “typical” breakfasts, here, something you might eat every morning from a local restaurant. Typical American breakfast items are too heavy with oil and there is too much focus on having a “hearty” breakfast (which actually means heart-clogging). Hong Kong breakfasts seem almost brain dead, like they didn’t know what else to eat so they just threw together random parts from other countries’ breakfasts. A traditional Japanese breakfast is light and healthy. About the only thing it is missing is some fruit, but that can be easily rectified.
Bathing. My morning experience (though I do this at night, too) here is so much better than any other place. Slip on the yukata, take the elevator to the bath in the basement, wash myself sitting down, then slip into the HOT bath for a few moments of peace. The hot bath really clinches it; the heat really gets your blood flowing. I can feel the tension of sleep flow out of my fingers and legs. As soon as I get out, I’m ready to start my day (or go to sleep, whichever time it is).
Toilets. This seems like a strange topic to bring up, but it must be said: Using the toilet is as fundamental a human activity as eating or sleeping, but for all the care put into food preparation and comfortable beds, most of the world is still in the dark ages when it comes to toilets. Even in my home country, the richest (well, at least for now) country in the world, a “luxury” bathroom is one with triple-ply toilet paper. The toilet at my hotel in Japan has a place to set my backpack, privacy curtains that go down to the floor, heated seat, control panel, and bidet. I’ve seen some models that have driers. That the toilet technology here has not become commonplace in other countries either means they don’t care enough or don’t like it. In either case it makes me feel a special kinship with the Japanese.
Ramen. As far as I’m concerned, the only decent soup the west has is Chicken Noodle. Vietnam has pho and China has cross the bridge noodle, but Japan has one of the best: ramen. It comes in many varieties to suit any taste. The noodles perfectly al dente, the broth sublime, and with extras like pork, hard-boiled egg, bamboo shoots, and nori. I know some of you might be saying “but ramen comes from China.” Well, the Japanese perfected it. I’ve never been satisfied with Chinese beef noodle soup, but good ramen is a world class taste.
So those are all the little daily life things that I like about Japan. Of course, there are many other areas in which I can feel some connection to Japan: aquariums, design aesthetic in general, the beautiful natural places, emphasis on technology, and, of course, my favorite anime. But these little things are what make living in Japan more comfortable than other places.
Andrew
/ October 9, 2008One thing I might add is the politeness of the people. I think this extends to Taiwan to a large degree as well, but Japanese are almost always very respectful and simple interactions with them are almost always pleasant. In the states you might run into people who are really surly behind when ringing up your purchases, or waitresses who act like you’re imposing upon them when you ask for something, or just grumpy people in general, but in Taiwan I almost never saw those things. I did see them in China, a lot. So I suspect at least some of it comes from Japanese influence, though I think that traditional Chinese culture has something to do with it as well.
The other side to all this is the realization that most of these people are probably holding in a lot of their unhappiness. I’m not positive, but I think that most people hide their own discomforts to help other people’s lives go smoother. This means that most of the various brief interactions one has throughout the day are more pleasant, but I often felt like it was more difficult to get to the level of meaningful interactions. What do you think?
Tyler
/ October 9, 2008I agree that the politeness is also nice, at least superficially. The speech can be a bit tedious, but as I watched my friend banter on and on in fast, friendly Japanese with train station attendants, hotel staff, and taxi drivers, I felt a strong desire to be able to speak this way. It is a polite method of speaking, very inefficient and mostly without content, but somehow it forms the grease that makes Japanese society run smoothly. It also makes it possible, if you know how, to ask questions in a roundabout, polite way. With Chinese people, I always feel brutish when asking for anything. What do you say to ask for water? Any of the possibilities sound either awkward or impolite, but in Japanese there is a clear polite way to say it.
They also have many fixed phrases that they must always say in daily interactions. In this area I confess my ignorance, because without working in a company or living in a community for an extended period of time I can’t say if this is good or bad. I know that when I was there it brought me great joy to respond to all the hotel staff saying “Ohayo gozaimasu” to me. When I returned and tried saying something like zaoshang hao to Chinese people (my roommates, even), it just feels awkward. I can’t say if I would feel the same way about the set phrases after saying them thousands of times after living in Japan for a few years.
What you’ve expressed about the politeness somehow forming a barrier in actually establishing meaningful interaction follows my conventional wisdom. Which is to say, it is the main “disadvantage” of Japan that I have believed in since I went there two years ago, and I have been repeating that opinion ever since. That said, I now question it. I spoke to a friend who has been living there for a couple of years, and he said that there is no such impediment with his Japanese friends. Indeed, I have also been able to get very close with some Japanese people. Are these friends of his and mine just outliers? It seems a bit hard to imagine.
I can remember, however, my whole time in Japan I always felt like I was navigating a minefield. Like I might have been doing something wrong but everyone pretended it was right so as not to make me feel uncomfortable. I have no doubt that it may be difficult initially to break past these barriers. My question is if a deeper level can ever be reached in a reasonable amount of time. I continue to believe that it is possible, or at least that it is possible with enough Japanese people to make living their tenable.
BTW, we are certainly not the only ones to have ever discussed this. My “culture class” at the beginning of nanojapan thoroughly went into the insider and outsider concepts, even using the Japanese words for “wrapping,” which we have approximated with politeness. That said, I’m not sure how much of this “wisdom” is relevant in modern Japanese society vs. just being reflective of the field reports of someone living in a Japanese village in the 80s.
Michael
/ October 13, 2008Interesting, I would like to partake in all the little things mentioned.
Side note – do you think the Japanese (and perhaps Taiwanese) people strive to be more of a utilitarian society? The remarks recalled literature that I read from John Mill on the subject. Are the individuals sacrificing their true opinion/feels so that the society flows better or is there less of an emphasis on trying to have the right society and more on trying not to be personally embarrassed/disgraced?
Tyler
/ October 16, 2008I think in terms of service, the people are sacrificing true feelings to make the whole system work better and to make others’ lives easier.
As for the utilitarianism: I think the purpose is to have the right, productive society. The means of making sure everyone does this is both an understanding of the goal, but ultimately the threat of losing face will make sure everyone does their part.