Japanease is a short film I made in Meguro in September 2007 at the time of the harvest festival. One of the amazing things about the Japanese people is how they retain their old culture, their sense of being Japanese. They appear to be truly at ease with their identity.
Most western people have absolutely no idea about Japan and the Japanese and whenever I listen to people talk about them I am staggered at how they can present their ignorance as fact.
The other day someone said to me, "Well of course the Japanese have become American since the Second World War".
This sort of idea sounds to me the same as someone saying, "Well London is exactly the same as Mexico City." In other words, complete nonsense.
The underlying characteristic of the Japanese, as far as I can see, is an enormous capacity for pragmatism. The Japanese people I know will do whatever suits them best in all situations. If there is no advantage, that is to say that the individual sees no personal advantage, then there is no benefit and if there is no benefit then no Japanese is interested. If they are going to bend over backwards it is because they have just walked past a 5000 yen note.
Here we have a real example of the difference between western and Japanese thinking, the western mind will look at this statement I have just made and think either "How mercenary" or "How rude towards the Japanese." but the Japanese person will think "There is no way I would have walked past a 5000 yen note in the first place. There is never any need to bend over backwards unless you are stupid."
This fundamental pragmatism is best illustrated with religious belief. Another person only last week made the statement, "Well most Japanese practise Shinto."
I say rubbish. You think, "Ah, they are Buddhist then." and I say "No, wrong again."
For the Western mind, wedged nice and firmly into monotheism thanks to our Judaic heritage, the idea of being able to hold two separate beliefs at the same time appears untenable. For the Japanese the idea of only having one faith seems to be putting all of your eggs in one basket!
The Japanese mostly practice Buddhism and Shintoism, simultaneously and without the slightest sense of conflict. At the most pragmatic level, Shintoism is about making sure the spirits are with you in this life time, they guard you against illness and protect your good fortune. On the other hand Buddhism is about re-incarnation and the life beyond this one. Therefore it makes perfect sense to practise both. Funerals are conducted by Buddhist monks, marriages and life ceremonies are held by Shinto priests. Both religions conduct festivals throughout the year and the Japanese attend them all.
This attitude was a great problem, and still is, for the Christian missionaries. You see it is quite possible for a Japanese person to practise Christianity but they practise it Japanese style. This means that they attend to the duties and requirements of three religions.
In August 2009 I was talking to an elderly Japanese woman who told me that she was a Christian. I smiled and nodded politely knowing that she would go on to say more.
"You see they have a really nice lunch after mass on Sundays, the food is really very, very good."
If the menu changes or the chef is replaced by someone of lessor ability there could well be a fall in the congregation! Nothing insincere, nothing disrespectful just enormous pragmatism on a scale the western mind struggles to deal with.
The "Japanese are now Americans", GOOD GOD NO, they lost a war, were burnt to the ground and so did whatever was necessary to re-build Japan. They took American investment, they learnt American techniques, they bought American products, they wore American clothes but they never sold Japan and they certainly never lost their culture, it was what makes them what they are: Japanese.
No comments:
Post a Comment