Bronze-level articleJapan

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'''Japan''' (日本国 ''Nippon-koku'' or ''Nihon-koku'', depending on who you ask) is an East [[Asia]]n nation occupying an archipelago, or group of islands (the major ones being the largest island of Honshu containing the capital city of Tokyo in Honshu's Kanto region, the northern island of Hokkaido, the westernmost island of Kyushu, and Shikoku situated south of Honshu and east of Kyushu, though numerous smaller islands exist within Japanese waters) which lies on the western-most edge of the Pacific Ocean.
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'''Japan''' (日本国 ''Nippon-koku'' or ''Nihon-koku'', depending on who you ask) is an East [[Asia]]n nation occupying an archipelago, or group of islands (the major ones being the largest island of Honshu containing the capital city of Tokyo in the island's Kanto region, the northern island of Hokkaido, the westernmost island of Kyushu, and Shikoku situated south of Honshu and east of Kyushu, though numerous smaller islands exist within Japanese waters) which lies on the western-most edge of the Pacific Ocean.
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Japan's flag is a simple design with a red circle on a white background, representing the sun (the country's Japanese names literally translate to "sun origin").
  
 
==Historical background==
 
==Historical background==

Revision as of 01:12, 13 October 2012

Japan (日本国 Nippon-koku or Nihon-koku, depending on who you ask) is an East Asian nation occupying an archipelago, or group of islands (the major ones being the largest island of Honshu containing the capital city of Tokyo in the island's Kanto region, the northern island of Hokkaido, the westernmost island of Kyushu, and Shikoku situated south of Honshu and east of Kyushu, though numerous smaller islands exist within Japanese waters) which lies on the western-most edge of the Pacific Ocean.

Japan's flag is a simple design with a red circle on a white background, representing the sun (the country's Japanese names literally translate to "sun origin").

Contents

Historical background

Historically, Japanese governments maintained an isolationist policy, engaging in some trade (and a few invasions) in China and Korea, but rejecting virtually all contact with the West. This came to an end in 1854, when the American Navy forcibly created trading contacts and treaties. Japan at this time was still a feudal society of peasants, samurai and lords, ruled by a shogun (general) in Edo (modern Tokyo), while the power of the Emperor (in Kyoto) was little more than nominal. The sudden influx of industrial-era Western technology provoked a political crisis, culminating in the restoration of imperial rule (the Meiji Restoration) in 1868.

The first acts of the Meiji government were to put through rapid reforms to industrialise, militarise and Westernise Japanese society, forcibly dismantling the longstanding feudal hierarchy. The Meiji era saw the development of a strong nationalism, promoted by the adoption of State Shinto as national religion, a creed which emphasized the Emperor's status as an incarnate deity. This nationalism was accompanied by expansionist wars against Russia and China, and aggressive colonialism in Taiwan, Korea and Manchuria. The resulting international tensions culminated in Japan's bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1941, bringing Japan and United States into the Second World War, and America's nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945, which put an end to it; the Americans required that the Emperor disavow his divinity.

Since the war, Japan has been a peaceful and democratic country, growing in wealth and influence, at least partly due to American occupation and investment in the years following 1945. However, Japanese conduct during the war, including the atrocious treatment of prisoners of war, has left a lasting resentment in occupied nations, which continues today in areas such as China, Korea, and Southeast Asia.

Modern Japan

Japan has been in an economic rut for the past 20 years[1]. Instead of temporary unemployment, certain generations are screwed over royally for life if they enter the job market in a recession as Japan follows a "lifetime" employment model[2]. They have a very high life expectancy and the third-highest GDP in the world, despite currently being in a depression. Japan used to be a world leader in innovative technology, but now they just make good cars and some good electronics offshore. Japan retains surprisingly traditional agricultural practices. It is a land of contrasts, due to absorbing a large amount of Western cultural influence over the last 150 years, but still retaining its own unique culture and traditions.

The Japanese are generally socially conservative,[3] with a heavy emphasis on conformity and group identity. Politically, post-war Japanese governments have been fairly liberal and progressive, with increasing environmental concern in recent years, including legislation enforcing all new multi-storey buildings to have a roof gardens. Despite being a major international power, and absorbing many Western influences, the Japanese tend to be very inwardly focused, and can be xenophobic in some respects.

Japan is well known to have one of the highest suicide rates in the world [4][5]. The high suicide rates can be explained for two reasons: the high economic and social pressures in Japan [6], and the fact that the Japanese culture does not view suicide as a sin [7].

Principal cultural exports of the Japanese include Godzilla movies, sushi, tiny electronic thingies (including video games about Italian plumbers in a land of mushroom people), cute cartoon characters, cute cartoon characters being raped by mysterious tentacles, Shonen Knife, ninjas, and excellent copies of German cars.

Modern-day Japan is a constitutional monarchy, not unlike several European countries, with the Emperor of Japan currently being the world's only monarch to be referred to as an emperor in English.

Language

Japan has its own language and uses a writing system that consists of three different alphabets: two phonetic ones and one drawn from written Chinese. Despite the use of some shared characters, the Japanese language is unrelated to any form of Chinese. It's not exactly clear what it is related to (except some bizarre similarities with Finnish).

There are relatively few sounds and tones in Japanese. Words imported from English or other languages often sound unrecognisable when they are adapted to Japanese pronunciation and absorbed into the Japanese vocabulary. This issue is compounded by the tendency for Japanese speakers to assume that any loanwords are from English[8]

Japanese grammar also has subtle nuances, with the subject of a sentence often indicated by context. Honorific and deferential language and etiquette come into play in various social situations, and direct answers to questions are usually avoided, especially where a straightforward "no" could offend but a vague "perhaps" would not. No wonder the Japanese have been described as "inscrutable." [9]

Japanese is usually transliterated into the Latin alphabet using the Hepburn system, so these days Japanese transliterations tend to be a lot more consistent than languages using, say, the Arabic or Cyrillic alphabets.

Religion

This robot died for our sins. Wait, that can't be right...

Most Japanese people practise both Buddhism and Shinto (the latter being Japan's native polytheistic and animistic religion), but do not consider themselves to be religious. This can be difficult for Westerners to understand, and often leads to misrepresentations in demographics. For example, a survey of international atheism statistics suggests that 65% of Japanese are atheists,[10] however, another survey from the same source indicates that between 50% and 90% of Japanese are Buddhists.[11] The confusion comes from the fact that Buddhism does not fit into a Western dichotomy of theism and atheism, and that many Japanese citizens take part in Buddhist observances and festivals without considering themselves to be religious.

Similarly, Shinto, a religion rooted in Japanese folklore and tradition, is compatible with Buddhism, and the two have been intertwined in Japanese culture for over a thousand years, although they were forcibly separated during the Meiji era (1868 to 1945). Christianity has a very unique status in Japan. Despite the fact that it was illegal in Japan during the Edo period (1603 to 1868), after the American occupation of Japan after World War II, and the romanticism of all things American, Christianity became "popular" in a very secular way. Today, the Christian Cross is a very popular piece of jewelry for women and girls. (On a TV drama, for example, you are likely to see the main character wear a cross in at least one of the 11 episodes), Weddings in Christian church are increasingly popular[12] to the point that over 90% are Christian-style[13] (followed sometimes by a second wedding in traditional garb), and many people have adapted to "god bless" or "good god" (using Kami as the term for god) as expressions of doubt, fear, and joy - while not believing in that very god. In a similar vein, Christmas is a huge holiday there, complete with Santa, Christmas trees and decorations, and yet very little knowledge about what is actually being celebrated. In fact, Japanese culture treats Christmas as a lovers' holiday for romantic gift exchanges.

Whaling

Whaling has been practised by the Japanese for hundreds of years, but has become a source of international and domestic controversy. Japan initially opposed the moratorium on commercial whaling in 1986, but complied under international pressure. However, Japan has continued whaling at a lower level (though increasing in recent years), ostensibly for the purpose of scientific research, into whale population and distribution, and into whether a restricted level of commercial whaling can be sustainable. Consequently, a few restaurants and shops in Southern Japan continue to sell whale meat as a byproduct of this research.

Recently, whaling has been criticized within Japan, perhaps reflecting changing dietary trends. Whaling is still supported in rural communities across Japan.

There have been several incidents during which Japanese whaling ships have come under attack from environmental groups such as the Sea Shepherd.[14]

Japanese food

As an island nation, the vast majority of Japanese food has long been fish and other ocean products including seaweed. Rice has been a staple starch in the nation for nearly 2000 years, though noodles have been a staple starch since their introduction by the Chinese. Pickled foods, from fish to vegetables to seaweed, is generally part of every traditional meal. Other staples include shiitake mushrooms, a variety of soybean derivatives (soy sauce, miso, tofu, natto), and green tea.

Traditional Japanese food is viewed as an art form, and like most things Japanese, a celebration of nature and of the seasons. A traditional Kaiseki meal is served in multiple small courses, each one highlighting not only the natural foods available in the area and during that particular season, but highlighting the colors and shapes of the season. Because of the cost of the quality of ingredients, as well as the time to produce what are actually as much art as food, kaiseki has become a rather elite and expensive tradition, reserved for special occasions or the finest of restaurants and onsens. Despite this, Japan is also the world's leader in instant noodles, the food of choice for destitute college students worldwide.

In the early 1900s, a "western" ideal swept across Japan, bringing many popular western dishes to Japan, including "curry", "spaghetti", omurice (omlette rice) and "hamburger" (really Salisbury steak). Over time, of course, those dishes became Japanified, and are no longer quite the western food one might expect.

Like everything else in Japan, there is a struggle between the traditional and the "western", as each year brings trend changes over what is "popular". Some years, a revisit to the traditional restaurants is the hip thing, and other years it is "famuresu", family restaurant style eating.

Tl;dr: It's still fucking awesome.

Devotion to racism

As a highly insular island nation, it is perhaps unsurprising that racism runs rampant. Zainichi, or ethnic Korean residents of Japan are still regarded as un-Japanese despite, in many cases, having no linguistic cultural ties to any other nation. Scientific racism is alive and well in Japan,[15] and is frequently invoked as a form of protectionism. Attempts to import foreign rice into Japan have been met with stiff resistance, frequently backed by claims that Japanese people are so different from the rest of the world that they cannot properly digest foreign-grown rice. At other times, winter sporting-goods manufacturers have been refused permission to import skis because Japanese snow is "too different." A 2005 UN study of race relations in Japan stated that racism was "deep and profound" and that most officials failed to recognize that racism was a serious issue.[16]

When applying for naturalization, each person must show a "history of good behavior"[17] which used to be seen as a code word for "complete and total cultural assimilation"; however, since the 1980's acting "Japanese" is not a legal requirement, though individuals will not generally be accepted into local society if they do not follow traditions closely.

One of the more bizarre manifestations of Japan's "extreme nationalism" in the post-war era was the case of celebrated author and playwright Yukio Mishima, who got rather confused with the whole 'pen is mightier than the sword' thing. Following the publication of what he regarded as his finest novel, he led his personal cadre of sexy young male samurai wannabes on an attempted military coup. On delivering an impassioned nationalist speech to the Japanese army, he was met with laughter and derision, and thus decided to commit seppuku (ritual assisted suicide), thus ending his literary career in a particularly bloody mess of sun, steel and intestines. The man who beheaded him served a relatively short jail sentence, and is reportedly still alive.

Footnotes

  1. Nikkei over the last 20 years
  2. Japan offers a lifetime job, if hired right out of school
  3. Although not in every way - there has never been a strong anti-premarital sex movement in the country, and the relative lack of sexual taboos was a source of continuing astonishment in the early twentieth century. See any world atlas published before World War II.
  4. CNN: Desperate Japanese head to 'suicide forest'
  5. USA Today: Suicide epidemic grips Japan July 20, 2008
  6. New York Times: Asia: Japan: Guidelines To Reduce Suicide Rate June 9, 2007
  7. SpringerLink
  8. Examples: Baito for a part-time job, which is actually from the German Arbeit; maron for chestnuts, which is actually from the French marron
  9. Thank you, Bill Bryson!
  10. The Largest Atheist / Agnostic Populations Zuckerman, 2005
  11. The Largest Buddhist Communities
  12. Western style weddings in Japan
  13. Faking it as a priest in Japan
  14. Wikipedia: Sea Shepherd
  15. [1]
  16. [2]
  17. [3]
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