Japan - Individualism and Approach to Conflict - Cameron Woodard-Littrell

Japan - Individualism and Approach to Conflict


Japan scores 46 on the Individualism dimension. Certainly Japanese society shows many of the characteristics of a collectivistic society: such as putting harmony of group above the expression of individual opinions and people have a strong sense of shame for losing face. However, it is not as collectivistic as most of her Asian neighbours. The most popular explanation for this is that Japanese society does not have extended family system which forms a base of more collectivistic societies such as China and Korea. Japan has been a paternalistic society and the family name and asset was inherited from father to the eldest son. The younger siblings had to leave home and make their own living with their core families. One seemingly paradoxal example is that Japanese are famous for their loyalty to their companies, while Chinese seem to job hop more easily. However, company loyalty is something which people have chosen for themselves, which is an individualistic thing to do. You could say that the Japanese in-group is situational. While in more collectivistic culture, people are loyal to their inner group by birth, such as their extended family and their local community. Japanese are experienced as collectivistic by Western standards and experienced as individualistic by Asian standards. They are more private and reserved than most other Asians.


Misunderstanding of Individualism in Japan


Is healthy "individualism" growing in Japanese society? While we can find quite a few people in Japan who subscribe to "individualism" and practice it, it is doubtful if the concept of individualism is correctly understood and accepted in this country. There seem to be two factors that tend to hinder the growth of individualism in Japanese society.
The first factor is strong pressure to conform and adapt to a group or an organization. As is depicted in the Japanese proverb "the nail that sticks up gets hammered down," those who are different or stand out tend to be avoided and often excluded in Japanese society, leading to a kind of social pressure to conform. Traditionally, the roots of Japanese identity have been in such groups as Ie (family), mura (village) and kaisha (corporation). Among those who possess a strong sense of belonging to these groups, individual members are supposed to show "wa" (harmony) and cooperate to help manage their group smoothly, and any act to disrupt harmony is regarded as "wrong." While this kind of value system may have some merit to facilitate group solidarity, it tends to foster the sense of "yokonarabi" (an understanding that one should avoid being the nail hammered down), and therefore suppresses the dynamics of individualism.
The second factor is the misunderstanding of "individualism" in Japan. It was in the mid-1880s when the English word "individual" was imported and its translation "kojin" widely accepted in Japan. Since around that time, Japan has been actively studying and introducing Western concepts and institutions as engines for modernization. However, Japanese have not understood the true spirit and essence of some Western concepts and institutions. Perhaps individualism is one of those things.


Japan: Conflict & Control


Harmony takes work.


How come Japanese people seem to be meticulously careful about obeying laws and following rules? And they're so polite. Are they really that harmonious and well-behaved?Towards other members of their own group, the answer is frequently, yes, they are very careful about following rules and not causing conflicts. Why is this? One hears two frequent and opposing explanations.

1. Voice 1: Japan is a harmonious society with low rates of litigation, crime, and divorce. Their citizens learn to be attentive to others, to value group goals more than immediate personal gain, and to broadly include everyone in group activities and decisions. Their government ensures that most people have access to basic needs.
   
   
2. Voice 2: Japan is a repressive society that trains citizens to be submissive, where exploitation, violence, suffering, and opposition are hidden in order to keep up the illusion of harmony.

Whether you believe the glass is half full or half empty, producing social harmony (or the impression of it) requires continual attention and significant resources. Everywhere you look in Japan, you can see this investment, Persistent training in cooperation and cheerful obedience in schools. Police officers watching passersby from their neighborhood kiosks. The wearing of uniforms to reinforce group identity. Interminable rounds of meetings to make sure that all sides to a decision are considered. Local associations which enforce expectations of correct behavior in the neighborhood, The ubiquitous lessons in proper behavior, usually illustrated with cute cartoon figures to encourage happy willingness rather than coercion.


Expressing and Hiding Conflict

• Conflict between role and personal views & needs:
  
  

  Tatemae

    is your public face, the opinions and actions that are appropriate to your position and role.
  
  

  Hon-ne

    is one's personal opinion or feeling.

  Where Americans usually feel a person is insincere or outright lying if these two do not match, Japanese tend to see the ability to keep your personal feelings and interests separate from your public role as a sign of maturity. Playing one's role, even if privately you disagree with the policies or actions that you are required to uphold, is usually considered honorable rather than hypocritical.
  
  
• Even when people are angry, they often put aside their own preferences and needs in order to blend in, to avoid causing trouble for others.
  
  
• Self-control, endurance, and duty are valued. In a conflict, Japanese people may fall silent or use humble language that signals but does not express their anger outright. People rarely lose their tempers in public or speak bluntly, unless one of the parties holds significantly higher status.

Conflict within groups is managed through:

• Hierarchy (age, gender, position).
• Using intermediaries and indirect methods of communication.
• Enormous amounts of energy put into behaving appropriately in human relationships, maintaining them through gifts, favors, creating powerful mutual obligations.
• Stigma and penalties for those who raise questions, who are not sufficiently "cooperative."

Conflict between groups is often characterized by:

• Clear boundaries between insiders (uchi) and outsiders (soto). Allegiance and loyalty are usually take precedence over principles or individual thinking.
• Affiliations (work, school, family, neighborhood) are often lifelong, making it risky to break ranks with one's own group.
• Vertical factions rather than horizontal solidarity, which can hinder reaching consensus or collaborating across faction lines.
• Indirectness: to save face, and to allow the other party to also save face, conflicts may be hinted at, discussed via intermediaries, or resolved by someone higher up.
• Harmony behavior creates the illusion of unified, non-political decisions; it can be hard to know who or how to fight it.
• Protests often appeal to human feeling, to the other side's personal sense of obligation rather than to principles or laws.