Impressions of Japan

(I've been stewing over this for the last couple of weeks)

The most common recurring theme of my trip was the impression that Japan is about orderliness and, at a superficial level at least, respect. Japan, as you may have heard, has cramped subways packed with people, packed city streets, dense city landscapes of endless apartments, neighbourhoods, cities and prefectures. City streets are well trodden but clean. Why? The citizens, as a whole don't seem to litter..much. A telling story is that the number one souvenir of Japan is the tiny garbage cans that the Japanese hang from their key chains to throw away small bits of garbage or cigarette butts. Full Disclosure: I bought one for a friend.

The orderliness does not stop at just 'litter, etc'. The Japanese have a complex social arrangement where elders are (in theory) supposed to be deferred to when in a social situation. One of the *key* first questions you may ask is 'How old are you?' This is asked primarily to figure out the *order* of *respectfulness* and how you may address the other person or persons in your group. Older gentlemen on trains were generally regarded with patience and understanding. In one instance at night on a weekend, an older incontinent man who suffered from a crippled leg was sitting uneasily in his seat. When he moved to get off, he grouchily shuffled towards the door and let out a bark of sorts when he bumped into a quiet, seated man. The crowd around the older man said nothing but instantly backed off and patiently allowed him to pass at his own pace.

It is almost a necessity that order and peace between strangers in a homogenous society exist. Can you imagine the chaos of this society if there wasn't some conforming element? If there was a heterogenous society, with the ensuing social freedom to do whatever you want, as is more typical of some US cities, Japan would be a mess. The cities are too dense, the people are in too close a proximity and the society too dependent on its unwritten rules being obeyed.

Respect then, is one of the key ingredients in the everyday life between strangers. For example, after stepping on a train you may find that a train conductor or operator might enter your car, bow deeply, then proceed the length of the car nodding or bowing (depending on the response) to most people on the train, before reaching the end of the train car. The operator bows again deeply and proceeds to the next car and repeats the process. Similarly, when I got off the plane in Osaka, I noticed an attendent nodding to unattentive passengers leaving the plane. I nodded to the attendent before 'disembarking' (as they like to say) and she responded with a deep bow lasting several seconds.

The orderly and respectful nature of the culture is contrasted with some darker undertones. Hardcore S&M magazines, or extremely graphic Hentai 'periodicals' are available at any street corner at a vendors' stall. (This was not really a shock having come from London and Paris where naked women are featured at many large billboards above vendor stalls.) There are seperate subway cars for women only during peak rush hours. The reasons given for this are 'varied', but from my own 'insiders' I found that groping of women is extremely common on packed trains. In fact, there are makers of clothes who specialize in pants or jackets with secret holes to facilitate such actions. Recently, the sale and purchase of used schoolgirl underwear has become a crime in Japan. Perpetrators may be fined severely if caught engaging in such commercial behaviour. Previously, underwear was openly sold in vending machines to the public, chiefly to Japanese businessmen.

I am not trying to make some grand statement about the culture as a whole from these examples. I realize that these are simply things that stood out in my mind and I am not trying to imply anything about Japan as a whole from these observations. Certainly, there are plenty of things about Canada that would appear quite obviously *wrong* to any casual observer. Key amongst those problems, in our homelessness problem, (or *rough sleepers* as some might call them). In Vancouver, they are a scourge. College *Activists* (or more accurately known to me as "Kids who want to assuage their white guilt about being born into privilege after being braiwashed by uni profs") want to centralize the homeless in outdoor 'cities' or 'shanties' to manipulate public perception of the homeless and to more easily control the vulnerable...with the unfortunate consequence of making a ready made target for drug dealers, further exasperating the problem. (Note: this has turned into a rant somehow.)

In Japan, the homeless are few and far between. In fact, in the Prefecture surrounding the Osaka and Kyodo region, I noticed only one homeless person after spending considerable amounts of time in all the urban centres in the area. (This is similar to Ireland, where I only noticed *one* homeless person. And 1)It was in Belfast, not the republic...2)He was well dressed and could have simply been a drunk, older man) Why the difference between Japan and Canada? On any comparison ratings of 'cultures' or 'societies', Europe and Japan both come out higher in the 'collective importance' as opposed to the 'individual importance'. Collective thinking, the idea goes, is more key to Japanese culture. The family, the society and the group are able to look after their own more effectively. This contrasts greatly with Canada, where the state has taken on more of these responsibilities.

A common observation of Japan made by foreigners, is that 'pretty' Japanese girls hook up with western men (typically English teachers) because:
a) westerners are less 'chauvanistic' than Japanese men
b) it is a long, free, English lesson if you are with western man
This, I believe, is very simplistic and I believe that these observations are based on a superficial understanding of the situation. As English teachers, young western men are typically teaching young girls in their classes anyways, and may take advantage of their role as a 'sensei'. This is common in western cultures where university professors will take on more than simply a 'teaching' role with young women (and sometimes men, too).

Are Japanese men sexist? As a western observer with very little understanding of the culture or the language, how can you really make this comment? Is it so obvious, like in a culture like the one the Taliban presided over that there is overt sexism? Its tough to say if it is more or less sexist a culture than western society. Mistresses are probably not more common, but perhaps less covert than in the west. It *might* be considered acceptable for some men to have mistresses, but maybe it's just more obvious that they have them then in the west. Some of these perceptions of Japan are completely overblown.

A key example of this would be the phenomenon of middle age business men dating teenage girls. In the mid-nineties, this was blown way out of proportion, and the result was that one small aspect of Japanese life was put under a massive magnifying glass. Subsequent studies could only confirm that about 5% of late teen girls ever date an older business man.

I'm out of observations right now...I might update this, I don't know...