Shadows of the Rising Sun – Jared Taylor (English Review)
Autor: Venturelli | Publicado: 2016-06-19T14:54:00-07:00


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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Once in
a while there are some books that we simply have a hard time putting down and
get an empty feeling after they are over. For anyone with even the slightest
interest in the Japanese as a people or their culture, Shadows of the Rising Sun is certainly a book in this category. The
author was born and raised in Japan until he was 17 years old to American
parents. His unique perspective of being a foreigner born and raised in Japan
who also knows a great deal of Japanese culture, history and language allows
him to give a very vivid image of the country and its people.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The book relies mostly on
history, anecdotes and circumstantial evidence to portray the Japanese with
only occasional polling and other scientific studies. While it would have been
helpful to have some more statistics, polling and other data available, the
anecdotes, occasional jokes, theories and overall narratives make a very
satisfying and informative experience that both entertains and educates the
reader. The reader is also sure to learn some Japanese words by the time he
finishes reading. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Being written in the early
1980s, a time where Japan had astonished the world with its rapid economic
growth from the ashes of World War II and many in the West were actively
studying Japan to try to understand its secrets and perhaps emulate them, Mr.
Taylor goes against the current. The basic premise of the book is that Japan is
not and cannot be a role model for the Western World because it became what it
is due to a complex history and set of conditions that made it develop into
what it currently is, and, he argues, that while on the surface the Japanese
might seem like only westernized Asians, they are actually much more different
than what we can see with the naked eye. Westerners that think they know Japan
through its cartoons, or animes, are
especially prone for a shock over how traditional the Japanese still are.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Japanese have one of the
highest average IQs of any human population and the challenging geography of
their country with its few resources and plenty of natural disasters selected
for a highly united and hierarchical people that have a very exacerbated sense
of uniqueness and distinction from other folks and countries. The very limited
immigration allowed for a continuous populace with a sense of cohesiveness,
continuity and shared genes where everyone sees himself as a member of a greater
family. 


***
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;This homogeneity means
that foreigners, usually whites, quickly stand out, being most commonly called gaijin. The Japanese are on one hand
fascinated by themselves with book stores overflowing with works about
themselves that can include some really over the top titles like The Japanese Nose, and From Apes to the Japanese, and, on the
other hand they are very curious and somewhat scared of foreigners. Outside of
the more tourist or business areas of Tokyo the gaijin get tired of being the center of attention as everyone from
little kids to adults stop what they are doing to point fingers and say “Gaijin! Gaijin! Gaijin!” when
they are spotted.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This complex mix of sentiments
of fascination and fear meant that little after the Europeans first entered in
contact with the Japanese led by the Portuguese, the shogunate government
banned all foreigners from the country, giving special permission only for the
Dutch to stay in limited areas so there could be some technological and
cultural exchange in a very limited and controlled fashion. This situation only
came to a halt when Commodore Perry forced Japan to open its market at the
threat of gunships pointing their cannons to Edo (now called Tokyo.)&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Japan is notoriously homogeneous and
the Japanese like it to be that way, having a zero migration rate policy where
foreigners are only admitted in the exact number that people leave and making
citizenship as difficult as possible to obtain. Some of the obstacles include
not recognizing double-citizenship and forcing the foreigner to adopt a
Japanese name and learn the language. The Japanese government makes an effort
to equate citizenship with ethnicity and is extremely restrictive into who they
allow in and even more to the ones they grant citizenship: the census data only
asks for the nationality of residents, 98.5 percent of which have Japanese citizenship,
and genetic studies show that as few as 0.2 of those are of foreign ancestry.
The biggest minority, the Koreans, are less than one percent of the population.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Japanese were and still are
a very hierarchical people. Before the Meiji Restauration in 1868 Japan had one
of the most rigid caste systems in the world, where only samurais were allowed
last names and complete even with a class of untouchables, the eta. Samurais could test their new
swords by simply slicing in half any random peasant without repercussion. The eta, on the other hand, could only live
in specific villages and those were not only not included in the maps, if a
road went through an eta area, this
part of the trajectory was not even included in the distance calculations!
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; While Japan is still officially
a monarchy, its social classes are today mostly defined by age, sex and
occupation. The old are superior to the young, the men to the women and the
company for which one works also plays an important part, with the position
inside the company being a tie breaker. The language reflects perfectly that,
with a series of honorific titles and differential speech to accommodate the
hierarchy. One of the most common and well known of these are the suffixes used
in the end of someone’s first or last name that include but are not limited to:
chan (used usually for women, kids or
“cute” things. The closest equivalent would be “little”, i.e. little Sarah,
little Richard;) kun (used mostly to
boys as the equivalent to sir or mister. Can rarely be used to address girls to
demonstrate hierarchy;) senpai
(senior or veteran) and sama (a very
superior position, something like milord, i.e Kami-sama means God.)
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Japanese have a very strong
sense of hierarchy that includes everything from brand names, countries and
races, being the Japanese extremely race conscious. While recently the Japanese
are a little prouder of themselves, they still tend to see whites, more
specifically the ones in the Anglosphere as superior to them. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The importance of the hierarchy
is complemented by another very important aspect of the Japanese society: the
group. And there is always a strong sense of who is inside the group and who is
not.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; While society contains many
groups inside of it and the Japanese tend to center their life around one of
them, usually the workplace one, all of them are part of a broader group of the
Japanese nation. The Japanese get their sense of belonging and meaning from the
group, and also feel responsibility for other members’ actions. For example, in
the rare cases where a gaijin has a
camera or cellphone stolen and has been seen being robed or reported the case
in his college or workplace, he will probably be surprised by random Japanese
who might not even know him giving him new cameras or cellphones. The robber
might be despicable and/or an outcast, but still being Japanese, law-abiding
folks will still feel a sense of responsibility for what happened.


&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; While the reasons for this very
strong sense of community comes from evolutionary reasons, where the harshness
of the environment and the Ice Ages killed those who were less co-operative or
were outcasts because of antisocial behavior, Mr. Taylor tries to offer more
cultural and environment only explanations. The author at the time was more of
a classic Liberal, now being very much aware of the genetic differences between
populations that result in a different bell curve of intelligence and behavior
between peoples.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Japanese have a very week
sense of individuality. Even the traditional Japanese house architecture that
does not block rooms with solid walls and doors, but instead with screens or sliding
paper doors helps to suppress individualism as there is no consistently private
place in the house. In fact, the word “privacy” does not even exist in
Japanese.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This strong sense of group
identity where people’s lives usually spin around one central group makes the
Japanese fundamentally different from Americans in their living preferences:
while the majority of Americans prefer single family homes and live in the
suburbs, sometimes even in rural areas by choice, the Japanese prefer to stay
close to each other in big, overcrowded cities. There is significant unused
space just outside the major cities, however, most Japanese would feel lonely
and isolated from their group in these situations.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Japanese companies are well
known for their family like atmosphere. This is deliberate, as the Japanese
seem to be only able to work their best in very close communities that function
like families, the nakama, or virtual
blood relationships. It is for that purpose that when hired, the companies
usually have a ceremony for their new men where parents often attend and
symbolically transfer their responsibility as parents to the company, where the
supervisor-subordinate relationship very closely resembles a father and son
relationship. Many companies make their new hires do some intense group
activity together for weeks or months, sometimes even real military drills in
the Japanese Self-Defense Forces before they actually start their work in order
to create strong bonds and family like relationship between employees.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One interesting key difference
between the Japanese and Europeans is the way they look at morality: whites
believe in an “universal” moral code, principles and ethics that everyone
abides or should abide to. That is probably why Christianity took a hold on the
West and the logical conclusion of egalitarianism and individualism.
Christianity with its universalist world view of individual salvation and one
all-mighty God created the idea of individual in the west and gave birth to a
“culture of guilt”. Being God all-knowing and all-seeing, there is no point in
trying to hide something, as European populated countries people have a
conscience, or superego, where they feel guilty or even punish themselves for
things that nobody witnessed. The Japanese, but also Orientals in general are
alien to this idea: they have a very week sense of individuality and see moral
issues as circumstantial. They depend on occupation and the end goal. There are
multiple gods, and the distinction between gods and men can often blur,
therefore, one could say the Japanese have a “shame” culture instead of a
“guilt” one. While Japan has very low rates of crime and corruption, cheating
on a test, copying what other company is doing and many other things can be
justifiable just as long as it is for the benefit of the whole and one is not
caught in the process.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The collective is always put in
a higher regard than the individual. Individual successes might be somewhat
recognized and have a small compensation, but never much above the rest. While
the mean IQ of the Japanese is slightly above that of Caucasians, the
distribution of IQ is narrower (fewer dull people but also fewer geniuses) and
groups and companies look for team players instead of lone-wolves. In a company
setting for example, if a worker achieves a breakthrough he is valued, of
course, but it is assumed that credit goes also to the person who hired the
employee, the supervisor who assigned him to the project, his colleagues and
even the janitors and others that helped to make the environment a suitable one
for the work in the first place.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The group demands loyalty and
expects its members to help each other, loyalty to the end, which makes the
Japanese despise whistle blowers and sometimes going as far as putting the
blame in themselves to shield their superiors or even kill themselves in order
not to give names in a corruption scandal for example. While that does not mean
that “traitors” do not exist, they are seriously frowned upon. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Being the folk the biggest of
all the groups the Japanese claim loyalty to, it is admirable the sense of a
shared destiny they have. The Japanese are very conscious of their lack of
natural resources and therefore the importance of productivity and trade for
the survival of their country. The gusto in which most Japanese throw themselves
into work, even to ones that do not have any particular prestige is enviable.
Any kind of work has its importance to keep the social web going and
functioning properly.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Obviously none of this could
work if it was not for a strong conformity: the strong conformity to the group
offers meaning and the hierarchy dictates the proper behavior. Perhaps the best
example would be the way that schools function in Japan.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; To begin with, practically all
schools in the country use the same curricula and textbooks. Schools are just
as responsible to raise children as the parents themselves: the same sensei (teacher/professor, but literally
meaning “the one born before [you]”) oversees the same group of students for
many years and pretty much nobody skips or loses a year in Japan, forging and
strengthening bonds between classmates themselves and also the paternalistic
relationship between the sensei and
the students.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As one might expect, the
Japanese are not known for their creative thinking. Schools have a heavy emphasis
on getting the right students to college and they are extremely focused towards
memorization instead of actual learning. The top tier universities, like the
Todai (Tokyo University) are the preferred ones that the majority of men wish
to go to (in Japan female education is seen as a novelty, a way to find a
husband. Differently from the West, the majority of four-year college graduates
or higher are men.) Once inside the colleges, with an extremely stressful
competition for admittance that leads many Japanese to commit suicide, it is
astonishing to foreigners how the atmosphere completely changes: the professors
barely do any teaching, many times do not show up and have some senior student
teaching in his place and barely anyone ever fails to graduate. The big names
in the university universe are just that: names that help to open doors to you,
however, actual knowledge is something the students have to look for themselves
or simply do an in-job training.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; It might be astonishing to say
this, but the educational system resembles a lot the Brazilian one: there is
stiff competition to enter public universities of prestige, with a mafia of
high-schools and supplementary courses with heavy focus on memorization to help
people to enter those universities. As soon as a student enters the university
the environment completely changes, being very relaxed with near automatic
promotions and professors that do not really care for teaching.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In Japan what is actually taught
in college does not really matter. It is a mere symbol, because the big
companies do not really care for any specifics of education. They have a very
rigid hiring system where they only hire for entry-level positions with in job-training.
Not only that, the only ones hired are fresh high school or university
graduates with at maximum a second chance: either the worker gets hired the
year they are expected to graduate or the very next year. The amount of
investment, both financial and emotional that Japanese companies, at least the
bigger ones invest in their employees is immense, so anyone who might fail to
be perfectly molded by having unusual experiences is too risky and too much of
an oddity to be hired.


&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This strongly conformist and
seniority minded mentality leads to a worship of titles, authority and
trademarks. This is actually very similar to America, only differing in the
degree that that Americans are more polarized than the Japanese. While whites
and blacks, Republicans and Democrats, suburbs and city dwellers in the United
States live almost in different but parallel worlds and therefore worship
different titles, authorities and trademarks, the Japanese are a very
homogenous and coherent nation so they tend all to agree to a certain extent in
which figures should be venerated.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; That might be seen as strange
for Americans because they like to think that they are more open-minded or
skeptical about the authorities, but that is many times not actually the case,
at least from the outsider perspective. Americans are very pragmatic and
usually know everything about two or three main topics that they absolutely
dominate while neglecting the rest. In those subjects or areas of life that
they do not dominate, they are extremely humble and generally believe what
specialists say without scrutinizing it. They are the experts in the field so
they should know better. There are plenty of “sacred cows” in America, figures
and institutions we are not supposed to criticize in any way, shape or form for
various reasons and to various degrees: Martin Luther King Jr cannot ever be
criticized, having a national holiday in his homage, (legal) immigration cannot
be criticized, most Americans worship the Founding Fathers as if they are gods
and, if you are a “Republican” or “Conservative” there is a bizarre worship of
Ronald Reagan that me as a foreigner cannot comprehend why it still exists when
a candidate with his same visions today would be immediately labeled as
“establishment”, “moderate” or “cuckservative”. Everyone also assumes everyone
has or wants to have Apple products.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; As a tangent I remember speaking
with my then father-in-law, who was convinced that we needed to resurrect
Ronald Reagan to fix the country. When I told him that Reagan gave amnesty to
the illegals, created the Hispanic History Month, tripled the national debt,
was the one who banned fully-automatic weapons and started disastrous trade
deals he looked to me with an astonished face and said “what the hell did he do
right then?”
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Again looking at the Japanese
sense of greater good and strong feeling of conformity, they always seek for
harmony and agreement. Even in things that are supposedly meant to be somewhat
spontaneous and messy, as protests, never, or hardly ever are. Reporters from
other countries are often astonished by individually inquiring protesters in
Japan. The same protesters who was passionately holding a sign or chanting a
phrase will suddenly say humbly “well, that was what the group decided to use
as a slogan. I do not feel any particular strong connection about it.” In an
atmosphere of consensus like that it is not a surprise to know that the
Japanese hardly ever sue each other. It is no coincidence that the U.S has 20
times more lawyers per capita than Japan.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; While the Japanese are very
hierarchical and conformists, they are not, however, very rational. As
mentioned before, as their morality is circumstantial and often in a case by
case scenario, the Japanese do not appreciate cold logic or mechanical
interaction. Sentiments are often taken into account, and a small misconduct
like speeding or even minor shoplifting can be dismissed without a fine if the
authorities believe the perpetrator made a sincere apology. The justice system
has a lot of flexibility in order to judge crimes taking “feelings” and other
intangibles into account.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Relationships that in America or
Britain usually are seen as just an ad
hoc, circumstantial thing, like boss-subordinate or teacher-student, where
outside of the environment where they belong the individuals are almost complete
strangers to each other is the complete opposite in the land of the rising sun.
Bosses and teachers are father-like figures in all aspects, serving not only as
role-models but also benevolent authority with a very human touch to it. They
care to know about personal problems and want to offer guidance and help. This
includes even relationships, with relationships between employees in the same
company being actively encouraged and facilitated by supervisors and others who
act as match-makers.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; With all this tenderness of
human relations and space for feelings and other intangibles to be taken into
consideration, the ultimate form of communication for the Japanese is silence.
Many types of symbols, like facial expressions, way of dressing, body language
and others communicate feelings, ideas and tastes implicitly, and the Japanese
seem to be masters in understanding what is in between the lines. Where other,
more direct peoples might demand a spoken or written word for an agreement, the
Japanese might close a deal with only a smile. Where a “no” would be needed,
the Japanese might just make an uncomfortable face. Attitudes and implicit
communication are valued and well understood, while saying “I love you” or
having to define things is seen as a waste of time and a sign that there is a
lack of understanding between parties.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Other thing that the Japanese
value, other than implicit communication is gaman,
patience, perseverance, self-control and the ability to endure quietly.
Whining, self-pity and similar attitudes are despised. The Japanese believe
that to submit stoically and with serenity, even in the face of adversity is a
great virtue that makes the victim morally superior to its harmer. Therefore,
situations that would be seem as shameful or even humiliating for Westerners
are potentially a source of great respect and pride for the Japanese. Instead
of those slightly eccentric persons who challenge the rules and do things in
their own way, the heroes for the Japanese are those who suppress their own
desires, feelings and comfort for the greater good of the community.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Coming back to how the Japanese
are not extremely logical and rational thinkers, superstition flourishes in
Japan. There are amulets for everything, big companies try to outfox their
rivals by having temples for the fox god of prosperity Inari, usually in the
roofs of their companies. Some widely accepted believes that have no basis in
logic are that if you sneeze it means that someone is talking ill about you and
if something made of porcelain breaks by itself something really bad is going
to happen.

***

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; After describing the Japanese
people and many aspects of its culture and mentality, Mr. Taylor then turns to
more specific institutions and questions that might interest Anglos about Japan
and tries to provide some lessons that we might learn from them. Even that
being the case, the fascinating narrative that can bring so much joy to the
reader fortunately does not give way
to a cheap ad hoc sense of questions
and answers.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Being this book published in the
early 1980s, when many were astonished by the success of Japan’s economy and
worried about an “oriental takeover”, obviously the first more focused approach
goes to “the company”, or the Japanese economic system as a whole.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A very important and honest
thing that the author does is to express clearly that there is no way to
emulate what the Japanese did to immensely improve their economy because peoples
are different. The Japanese cohesiveness and sense of uniqueness, together with
their high IQ, strong hierarchy, group mentality and conformity combine to make
the Japanese formidable workers. Not only their productivity is very high, work
days of more than 10 hours are common and many Japanese men take pride in
saying they never take a day off other than the mandatory national holidays in
their entire career.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Other aspect that Mr. Taylor
writes about that usually is not mentioned elsewhere is that Japan’s economy is
divided into two tiers. The first class one, giants like Toyota, Honda or Sony,
that have the ultra-modern equipment, are very clean and contains all the most
know Japanese firm characteristics and, there is the second tier, the dirty,
ill equipped industries that poorly train their workers and usually supply
temporary or contract jobs for the richer companies. Contractors and especially
temporary workers are looked down and do not have all the benefits that actual
employees have. Most of the Japanese firms are in number the latter and in
market share the former.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Most of the following
information is more representative of the first tier industries, as the second
tier ones often lack the resources to make those possible.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Japanese companies are known for
not firing their employees even during recessions. On the other hand, they expect
a very serious commitment of their workers. They only hire recent graduates
from high school or college, and exclusively for entry-level positions once a
year in the same lot. Once inside, the workers are to work as a family sticking
together and moving up together. Also they rotate functions from time to time,
as to have a more complete understanding of how the factory works. This,
together with seniority being the most important aspect for promotions results
in the higher ups having a close to complete knowledge of the many areas of his
company and also a lot of sympathy for the newer hires as they were previously
in their positions.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Japanese management and their
style is nearly the complete opposite of the Anglosphere version of it:
managers are usually leaders instead of bosses. They might have their own
offices but those are used mostly to receive guests, supervisors and even
higher ups are on the assembly line or in a desk right with their workers,
getting their hands dirty and often leading by example instead of just ordering
others around. While in America or Britain it often happens that the “kids”
with the reputable college degrees, solid work performance or connections find
themselves to be the bosses of an older work force with more time on the
company than themselves, in Japan the bosses almost certainly came from the
bottom and have more company time than their subordinates, which automatically
earns them respect. That makes Americans or Britons more likely to be
ostentatious to earn respect of their employees: a big desk, two secretaries
and others are often used as status symbols. The Japanese simply do not need
that and adopt the philosophy of to be rather than to seem.


&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Other major difference is the
decision process. Being a manager or even a CEO in Japan is more of a
ceremonial and honorific position than an actual powerful one. It has more
benefits and its perks, however, even the pay is not that much different from
other workers. The Japanese CEO averages only 11 times the pay of an assembly
line worker, when in the United States the CEO earns on average 475 times the
pay of an entry-level worker. In Japan, the decision process is a bottom up one
instead of a top down one, which still ends up with the CEOs having the final
word, but this one is more a symbolic one than an actual decision. Everyone’s
opinions, from the assembly line new hires to the supervisors working all the
way upward must be heard and considered, with the final decision being a
consensus one, often a compromise, that everyone can accept. Meetings are
fundamentally different than the ones in America, with not only a lot of
ritualism, flattery and formality, but also an eagerness to compromise and to
find factors of agreement instead of differences. Even when someone disagrees,
they start by pointing out the parts of the other one’s idea that they agree
with. Often the boss does in fact end up getting most of his main ideas and
desires to be put forward due to his influence and presumable knowledge,
however, with many small changes and additions that came in the middle of the
lengthy decision process with near endless back and forth and amendments from
other managers, supervisors and even entry-level position workers. 
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Japan does not have trade
unions. Instead, Japan has enterprise unions. That means that workers are not united
by trades across companies’ borders, instead all employees of the same firm are
under one union, that looks after the welfare of all workers. This tends to
create a lot of cooperation between the enterprise’s leadership and the unions,
both of which understand that the fate of the company and of the workers are
essentially one. That results in the very unique Japanese phenomenon where the
majority of CEOs were themselves the leaders of trade unions and where strikes
are minimal and usually very civil.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This might resemble a lot actual
corporatism instead of the caricatured version that is often used as a mean of
insult interchangeably with crony capitalism. This sense of shared interests
that see society as an organic body is even more reinforced by the profound
relationship that business have with the government, that coordinates, creates
conditions, regulations, directories and leads the economy without actually
planning it with the Ministry of Internal Trade and Industry.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; All of these creates an
atmosphere of long term planning and less focused on profits and more in place
holding or market share. Supervisors and managers are not rushed to show
results soon or encouraged to take decisions that may earn them a big bonus now
that will knowingly hurt the company in the long run because of the seniority
and life-long employment system. The management then has time to make long term
investments without fearing for their jobs and an incompetent or unimaginative
supervisor can make a more competent subordinate the de facto supervisor while keeping his position, which happens
shamelessly and near eliminates the effect of bad management. In the West a bad
supervisor, in fear for his job might screw over the more competent workers
because they are a threat of competition as they can easily be fired or
replaced.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The previously mentioned family
like environment of the Japanese firm and the Japanese desire for tenderness in
human relations and activities is really remarkable. Workers and their
supervisors often go to drink together after work and forge truly meaningful
relationships. The company becomes the center of the universe of the employees,
that start the day by literally singing the company’s anthem, the same one which
helps them with housing, transportation and even marriage. The big companies
also have beach resorts and many other places where their workers might spend
vacations or weekends together. In something that might seem truly bizarre for
us in the West is how companies often pay higher ups in the company, especially
in negotiation positions to go to hostess bars – a very popular thing for those
who can afford it, with their possible clients. Hostess bars are extremely
expensive places bars where each client (almost always a man as women usually
are assigned dead-end low importance jobs) is assigned a hostess that sits with
him, lights his cigarettes, engage in cheesy small talk and pretend to laugh to
his jokes while light pawing happens. The hostess bar is meant to forge
relationships between the possible business partners and no actual negotiations
or sex occurs in the place. As mentioned before, this is important because the
Japanese seem to need to be a nakama,
or virtual blood related group as a condition sine qua non they cannot operate effectively.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Of course not everything is
perfect and there is a lot of imitation of other companies that happens to the
always consensus looking Japanese. If two or three main competitors did one thing,
it is because it is the right thing to do… Right?
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Other weak point, that at least
used to exist and to astonish westerners was the lack of a retirement plan.
When workers retire, or are forced to retire due to their age, they only
receive a lump sum amount and nothing else. Most of the elderly have to get
another job or depend on their children after their company days are over. That
is probably one of the reasons that contributes for the average Japanese
household to save fully 30 percent of their income.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; After discussing about the
Japanese economy, Mr. Taylor turns to the Japanese attitude about sex and sex
roles. Of all aspects of Japan this seems to be the one that people most often
get wrong, perhaps because of the wide availability of Japanese porn both in
movies and cartoons (hentai) that are
so popular throughout the world.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; What does not help in this
discussion is that for even for the Japanese themselves it must be a really
confusing topic: (censored) sexual imagery is even more prevalent than in the
West but sexual activity is much lower and as a whole the society is much more
conservative. This is not a mere impression, as worldwide studies show that
Asians in general and the Japanese in particular have very low levels of
premarital sex, very low frequency of sex inside the marriage and saving
virginity until marriage is still common – in fact, surveys show that more than
a quarter of unmarried men and women above 30 are still virgins!
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Prostitution is illegal in Japan
and nudity is censored everywhere, even in porn movies. Strip clubs exist and
are popular, but the strip dancers cannot remove their panties. Bordellos do
exist and have exotic themes, like ones that resemble a hospital and have all
women dressed as nurses, but there are no penetration rules, even though they
might not always be enforced. The part that often strikes foreigners as strange
is how can there be so much porn movies and hentais,
often of a violent nature and easily accessible, but with such a rigid and
crude censorship where there is a complete ban on genitals and pubic hair.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In part because of the ultimate
form of expression in Japan is implicit communication and in part because of
the complete censorship of genitals, a lot of the sexual content in Japan is
suggested instead of explicit. And this paradoxical attitude and sentiment
about sex results in the very strange situation where despite the fact that
rape in porn is such a fetish and in crowded places like in the metro groping
is a very common everyday occurrence, actual rape is almost inexistent in Japan
as it has one of the lowest rates in the world.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Below this surface we can see
that Japan is actually a very traditional society, where half of the marriages
are still arranged. There seems not to be much rebellion against arranged
marriages and it is in fact so common that the ones that are not arranged are
called “love marriages”. Arranged marriages are especially common for families
who only have daughters, because in the Japanese Shinto tradition perpetuating the
bloodlines and family name is seen as a sign of respect for ones’ ancestors.
Like here, women usually are the ones who adopt the husband’s name, but in some
rare cases (again like here) the men might adopt the wife’s name. This usually
happens in a family where the husband has a brother or more that will carry the
name forward and the wife has no male siblings, being that the only way to
perpetuate her family’s surname.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; After marriage most women quit
their jobs if they ever had one and become full-time moms later on, being
expected to do all the shores and parenting. Men who change dippers or do
dishes are seen as effeminate and not to be trusted.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There is also no chivalry in
Japan like carrying the bags or holding doors opened. Romance is not expected
or common in Japan: women are expected to act in admiration with a submissive
role and frail attitude to their husbands, also acting as “moms” when the
husband is ill or perhaps feeling very down. Based on international surveys and
other data, cheating is not that high in Japan but men usually do not even try
to conceal it, generally being one night stands and with “professionals” or
women that do not participate in the normal boundaries of morality. Hostess
bars or Turkish baths are usually the choice, and again, they are fundamentally
different from the West in the sense that tenderness is expected instead of a
mechanical thing. Both at least pretend while in the professional environment
to be interested in the client and admiring him. Sex itself might not even
happen or might happen outside of those places as there are no penetration
rules in brothels and Turkish baths (even though they might not be always
enforced). Women are generally faithful and if they are not and are caught… All
hell breaks loose.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; There is a huge inferiority
complex on the part of Japanese men in relation to Caucasians. Orientals have
on average much smaller penises than whites and many seem to think that
Europeans might also be much better in bed than them. The paranoia reaches
proportions where some might believe that if a Japanese woman ever experiments
with a Westerner they will never appreciate them again. This is personified by
a Japanese diplomat, Kawasaki Ichiro, who wrote a book in English in 1969 where
he said “Of all the races of the world, the Japanese are perhaps physically the
least attractive, with the exception of Pygmies and Hottentots.” The Japanese
women seem to have the same opinion despite the fact many Caucasians find them
attractive, many go as far as to surgically remove their epicanthic fold to
look whiter (epicanthic folds are the extra layer of skin that makes Asians
have their distinctive eye shape.)




Before surgery, upper figure. After surgery, lower figure.




&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One aspect of Japan that seems
to astonish many foreigners is how they so readily thrash their culture.
Fortunately, in the past decades this trend is reversing, however, by the time
this book was written it was probably the peak of the Japanese lack of care for
their own forms of cultural expression. This obsession for the West in general
and Anglos in particular came from a sense of inferiority that was first
brought by the commodore Perry forcing the Japanese to open their markets and
later came by the defeat in the World War II. Both humiliations brought a sense
of despair and inferiority in the Japanese for the decades after the events.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; This sense of inferiority led
Japan to a quick and strong process of westernization. This process of westernization
and the desire for it was so intense that intellectuals of the time called for
mass conversions to Christianity and even for a program of mass miscegenation
to strengthen the race!
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; While this self-imposed genocide
did not take place, the Japanese were very successful in industrializing and
creating a strong modernized Army which they used to conquer resources and land
in other parts of Asia to compensate for their scarceness at home. Japan became
increasingly nationalist and completely subjugated and annexed Korea until 1945
in the hope of eliminating the Koreans by indirect means. After the end of the
Second Great War again the Japanese got into a submissive position and looked
with great admiration towards the Americans.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Japanese school system
greatly neglects its national culture, which is eclipsed by Western curricula.
The traditional Japanese architecture has been largely replaced by a Western
style one, which is a shame because many forms of traditional Japanese panting
and dance absolutely require a tatami floor that is now completely absent of
most relatively new buildings. Japanese food and calligraphy at least are still
taken very seriously, being national patrimonies.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; A really sad and also comical
situation is how the English language penetrated Japanese daily language. The
Japanese are terribly bad in speaking English or writing English but still the
language is found everywhere. This leads to all sorts of “home grown English”
that most Japanese do not know is not actually proper English and might use
when visiting foreign lands. T-shirts in Japan for example, are full of
non-sense “home grown English” such as “chickens of the pool”, “Arabian camel”
or “cool elegance”. Misspellings are also common, with advertisements about
ways to change your PARSONARITY. Many Japanese have absolutely no idea of what
is that is written in the products they buy. It is not that uncommon to see
housewives walking with bags with the word “shit” printed all over it and
things of that nature.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; One would expect that in a land
where so few are actually proficient in English, the ones who actually are
would be very valuable, however, that is not the case. Having a good knowledge
of English is an oddity for the consensus and uniformity driven Japanese.
Fluent English speakers also have their career paths narrowed by becoming stuck
as translators, negotiators or diplomats, but never being CEOs or important
politicians. Not even in universities that knowledge is viewed as desirable.
Students of unusual backgrounds are view as a sort of problems and disagreement
instead of a “cultural enrichment”. Unlike here in America where universities
actually discriminate against locals, not only because of affirmative action,
but because non-residents of the county and state and foreigners pay a much higher
tuition.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Approaching the end of the book
the author then turns his focus to how the Japanese use their leisure time.
“Leisure” in fact was not even a word in Japanese and they use the English word
nowadays to describe it. The concept itself is a new one for the Japanese. Not
counting martial arts, they did not invent a single sport and very few games.
Even games like shogi, that we usually tend to associate with Japan were
actually Chinese imports. That is of course until the advent of the video-games,
where the Japanese are either the top or the second biggest creators of content
in the world.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Perhaps because the Japanese are
so serious at work and until recently had so few opportunities to entertain
themselves, they do take their games and sports VERY seriously nowadays, being
baseball the favorite sport by far.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Drinking is a very important
escape valve in Japan as people tend to accept anything that drunkards do as
“valid” and harmless. This creates an atmosphere where many pretend to be drunk
in order to behave in ways that they could not normally do otherwise. Again the
culture of shame and moral relativeness instead of guilt and “universal
values”. The same men who was chasing waitresses and not keeping his hands to
himself suddenly “becomes” sober if taken to a corner to speak serious
business. Bars can vary their prices enormously and they usually do not have
their prices in the menus. Some bars take advantage of it by charging absurd
prices for their drinks to the point that they have hired thugs to persuade
people to pay for their drinks. Almost every bar and many restaurants seem to
have a karaoke and the Japanese
absolutely love to sing. Generally, they are patient and take bad singing
quietly, nevertheless they have a limit for their tolerance – some actually got
beaten or even stabbed because of their horrible singing.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Things that might be considered
childish in other countries like video-games or comic books are actually taken
very seriously and are appreciated in Japan. The best-selling magazine in Japan
by far is actually the Shonen-Jump, a monthly magazine aimed at boys that
contain one chapter of many different action mangas (comic books).
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Japanese also love their
cars and have a passion for shiny new things. It is impressive the amount of
semi-new things they throw in the garbage because of the strong distaste for
used stuff plus the general lack of space most Japanese have in their
overcrowded cities.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Near the conclusion, Mr. Taylor
now moves to the image that Japan has in the outside world, where their big
success in positive trade balances with the automobile and technology
industries makes them despised in the rest of the First World.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Japan, like virtually all the
now successfully industrialized countries industrialized by heavy tariffs and
government intervention. The author is more of a free-trader but is
open-minded, one day telling me he should read more into “the other side” of
the argument to see if it could convince him. Many countries now have tariffs
specifically designed for Japanese imports because of how the Japanese State
and business work together to promote exports and protect their own internal
markets.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Of course the reason why the
Japanese are so successful in exportation is not only because of government
assistance but also the willingness to adapt their products to the tastes and
laws of other countries. While the United States seems yet not to have
understood that the Japanese drive on the left and continues trying to sell
them cars that have the steering wheel on the wrong place, the Japanese go
completely out of their way if necessary to offer to foreigners a product they
will want to purchase.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; The Japanese are becoming more
nationalistic, however, changes to the Article IX of the constitution imposed
to them by the Americans is taking a long time to change. The mentioned article
forbids Japan to ever enter into wars again and, if literally interpreted, also
to even maintain an Army at all. The Japanese did nonetheless create a small
but well equipped Army for strict defensive purposes. It does not include a
single airplane bomber or ship larger than a light cruiser as it is not
supposed to go on offensive. Last year (2015) prime-minister Abe Shinzo made a
provision thereby the Japanese Self-Defense Forces can be used for collective
self-defense, which means that they might intervene to help an ally in a
foreign war.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; In the concluding chapter
eleven, the book tells us that the younger generation of the Japanese at the
time was already getting a bit more relaxed since they were already born in
prosperity instead of having to reconstruct their country from the ashes like
their parents and grandparents did. What is really dangerous is the demographic
bomb. The abysmal fertility rate made the population age extremely fast,
whereby in Japan adult diapers sell more than infant ones. With the shrinking
workforce and few people available to take care of the elderly Japan now lives
a permanent economic recession. If something is not done immediately there will
be a point where either Japan opens the floodgates or they will be in such a
weak position that any other country can conquer them.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Mr. Taylor concludes by arguing
that what works for the Japanese will not work for us because it was something
that developed organically to fit the inclinations, desires and needs of the
Japanese and can only work for their high trust society. The US of A should in
its place go back to its tradition of liberty, innovation and hard work instead
of falling even further into the trap of dividing the stagnant or shrinking
economic pie. While this is easier said than done and there are many things in
place currently that impede this from happening like affirmative action, mass
Third World Immigration, free-trade and political corruption, the author’s next
book, Paved With Good Intentions is
focused on white and black race relations in America.
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; Generally speaking an excellent
and fascinating book about Japan, Shadows
of the Rising Sun should be a required reading for anyone interested in
Japan and the Japanese, as it is only learning about the differences in others
that we can truly identify and value ourselves.