Group of high school girls who studied for their university entrance exam with an English teacher. Notice that they're all making the victory sign. |
I'm not a psychologist, but it really doesn't take a
scientist to identify group thinking and its effects in Japan. There are
some good things about it and some unfortunate things. I realize that the
term "groupthink" has a negative connotation here in the United
States, but I believe that not all of the negative effects attributed to
"groupthink" are present in the type of group mentality you find in
Japan, China and other southeast Asian countries. Since I'm not qualified
to speak about any other Asian country, I am going to restrict my comments to
Japan.
In Japan, you're either in the group or outside the group, whatever that group happens to be. It is very telling that the Japanese word for "foreigner" means, literally, "outside person." The largest "group" that a Japanese belongs to, therefore, is the group labeled "Japanese," and even though a lot of things have changed in that country, I believe that one reason Japanese still have a hard time accepting non-Japanese into their ranks as "citizens" is that their original criteria for membership in the group is being racially and ethnically Japanese and speaking the Japanese as a native language. Even people who "match," racially, have trouble fitting in if their ethnicity is Chinese, Korean, or Thai. (Japanese, Chinese, Koreans, Thais, Cambodians, Tibetans, Burmese, and Laotians, are "racially Asian. Perhaps "mongoloid" is a more exact term, except that it has gained negative associations here in the United States. Although India is part of Asia, for example, only Indian people who live near the Tibetan border are "racially Asian." Not everyone who lives in Asia is mongoloid-Asian.)
My friend Mitsuko in downtown Osaka, by Hanshin Department Store. Photo by Linda LeBoutillier |
Businessmen on their way to work |
Office ladies (OLs) on their way to work |
I used to watch a TV show called "G-Men '75," a long-running detective drama in Japan. At the end of every show, the character of Superintendent Kuroki, played by Tetsuro Tamba, always came around at the moment his underlings made the arrest. Every single time, he would confront the criminal and say, "You... you're not even human!" (...0r something to that effect.)
I think a lot of Japanese who are more worldly might wish to disagree with me, but if they look honestly at their compatriots who have never been out of the country, they will see that this is a deeply-held belief, even though it is rarely spoken aloud.
Respect for Authority
This is an old picture, but students still bow like this to their teacher in the morning. One student acts as the leader and barks out commands: Stand! Bow! Sit! |
Bowing. Notice that one person is bowing a little lower than the other. |
When my ex-husband's extended family found out I
was his wife (rather than his girlfriend), they stopped calling me by my first name
and started addressing me as "honorable wife." Their verb forms
were a little more formal, as well. The switch was automatic and immediate.
The Japanese are aware, I think, that their blind obedience to the authority of the Emperor and by extension, to everyone who ruled in the Emperor's name (including General Hideki T Tōjō, for example), has gotten them into trouble, and they know that they lost in World War II because of it.
Conformity
Japanese high school boys wear a uniform that is very military in nature. |
One of the many popular singing groups in Japan. |
Reticence
The Japanese say that if you give your opinion all the time, you are being waga-mama, or selfish. The waga part of the word comes form the pronoun "I" that only the Emperor can use: wagahai. I'm sure there must be a lot of Americans who were frustrated when they asked a Japanese exchange student, "Do you like....?" when they came to the United States. The Japanese tend to get flustered and ill-at-ease, and they will make general statements such as, "It's nice." It's hard to pin them down to what they like, and even harder to pin them down on what they don't like. Sometimes they manage to answer by telling you what "we Japanese" like or dislike. Then later they qualify the answer by giving their own opinion. It's as if you have to hear the "accepted answer" before you can hear the real one.
The Japanese love to ask Americans whether they can eat sushi or nattō (fermented soybeans), and they love to laugh when an American tells them he/she hates it. I think they like hearing that because they secretly wish they could be as free to express their likes and dislikes as Americans are.
I think there are probably a lot of Americans who have told a Japanese that they "liked" some possession of theirs and found, to their chagrin, that the very object they expressed admiration for was given to them as a gift. That's another reason that you don't go around "liking" things in Japan.
Collaboration and Consensus
The Japanese are masters at working together in collaborative groups and getting consensus. However, I think many Americans are misinformed about the way Japanese go about getting consensus. All they see is the meeting where everybody is in agreement and nobody speaks in opposition. What they don't see is me-mawari, the procedure used to gain consensus. That happens before the meeting. The leader of the group, or the one who is supporting a particular idea, will go around personally to each and every member of the group, individually, and talk to them privately to get their agreement or approval. This is where the opposition is stated – privately. The Japanese don't convene a meeting to make a decision until they have completed the me-mawari process. By that time, it's a formality for everyone to be in agreement. The term me-mawari literally means "eyes going around," and it corresponds to the idea of making eye contact with each person in the circle to ascertain their consensus.
The key is whether or not a person and his or her associated group are "known" or not. If you don't know a Japanese person's name or the group he/she represents, the Japanese will feel free to act as they please. If you know the group they represent, and they misbehave, then things are different, because their deeds might shame the group. It's important to note that the shame doesn't stem fro having done something intrinsically wrong. Rather, it comes from having embarrassed the members of their group in the eyes of outsiders.
When the heads of companies are accused and found guilty of wrong-doing, they will publicly apologize, and they may even end up killing themselves because of the shame they caused the company. Similarly, people who shame their family for some reason or other do sometimes end up committing suicide. :-/
Shame and Saving Face
The concept of "shame" is a complicated one in Japan. It's one thing to shame yourself, but when you shame your whole group, that's when things get tough for a Japanese. That's when people start thinking of suicide, and a lot of people still actually do it. I knew several people who committed suicide while I was in Japan.The key is whether or not a person and his or her associated group are "known" or not. If you don't know a Japanese person's name or the group he/she represents, the Japanese will feel free to act as they please. If you know the group they represent, and they misbehave, then things are different, because their deeds might shame the group. It's important to note that the shame doesn't stem fro having done something intrinsically wrong. Rather, it comes from having embarrassed the members of their group in the eyes of outsiders.
SONY executives apologizing |
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