1 JAPANESE SOCIETY ANTH 1784 Monday 18 00 20 30 Instructor Dr Gabriella Lukacs TA Juliette Neu Review Questions for Exam 1 Please bear in mind that many of the questions pertain to the readings that we will discuss on September 30th Definitions Orientalism o Is based on a distinction made between the Orient and the Occident o Is a discipline by which the West controls the Orient Cultural nationalism o Aims to regenerate the national community by creating and maintaining people s cultural identity when it is about to be threatened Giri Ninjo o Giri repayment of the exact amount of on Japanese are obligation centered bound by obligations and duties rather than motivated by rights and choice o Giri Ninjo Obligation Feelings vs Desire Shame culture Benedict o Japanese is a shame culture rather than a guilt culture like western o Social scientific or pseudo scientific theory that aim to theorizes the countries Nihonjinron uniqueness of Japanese culture Characteristics 1 Cultural explanation a Examples i Vertical vs horizontal structure ii Ie 2 Race Thinking a Race and Japanese uniqueness b The invention of the Japanese race c d http www alllooksame com 3 Language and communicative culture Japanese culture belongs exclusively to Japanese people a Westerners communicate b Japanese communicate through empathy 4 Holistic approach 2 o business conglomerates that produce distribute and do more than it is Eg Mitsubishi Sumitomo Mitsui Sanwa Fuyo and Dai Ichi Horizontal keiretsu known Vertical keiretsu Kangyo o Eg Large auto firms that have their own suppliers sales and distribution companies Lifetime employment system o It is a form of job security o It makes workers committed to their companies o A hybrid of the English word free and the German word Arbeiter or Freeter worker Unwilling to commit to an employer Do not want to live lifestyles like their fathers Work to finance their hobbies Average length of tenure nine months Average income 1 000 month Recession hit old people and young people the hardest The figure for men aged 15 to 24 was 10 7 In 2001 part timers made up 23 of the workforce 70 50 30 quit their jobs within three years of leaving school In 2001 Japan s unemployment rate reached a record of 5 4 Offstage resistance o Office ladies do not engage in formal protest Multiple crisscrossing lines of division among them Short average tenure Solidarity among them is low o Instead of formal protest offstage resistance o Practices of offstage resistance reconfirm women s marginality within the workplace o These practices promote stereotypes unprofessional inability to make rational decisions too emotional not committed The Cardboard House Art Movement Mouri o The Shinjuku Cardboard House Art Movement Giving visibility to those who are forced to be invisible in urban An example of how the freeter generation organizes A project to transform public spaces into a space of political space conflict Salary man o The lifetime employment system there is a give and take relationship between labor and management o Dressed in the same suite and shoes o Same routine everyday 3 Office Lady o There is no clear job description for office ladies o Do office ladies deserve treats from their male colleagues o Office ladies do not see men as their fellow workers They call their fellow male workers ojisan When a man took the office lady s juice uchi soto o Office ladies do not help men in their struggle for promotion o The functions of gossip Reputation is important to men A strategy of bonding between office ladies Gossip makes it costly for men to discriminant against women o Office ladies do not engage in formal protest Multiple crisscrossing lines of division among them Short average tenure Solidarity among them is low Questions 1 What are the three definitions of culture we discussed in this class Are notions such as power conflict or class taken into consideration in these definitions of culture a We are all unique individuals but we share certain assumptions nose blowing slurping noodle soup or spaghetti b Learned behaviors beliefs attitudes values and ideals that unite a particular population c Culture is a means of adaptation 2 How does Edward Said define orientalism a A way of coming to terms with the Orient that is based on the Orient s b special place in the European imagination Is a style of thought that is based on the distinction made between the Orient and the Occident c A systematic discipline by which the West could manage and produce the Orient politically economically and aesthetically 3 What makes a scholarly portrayal of Japan Orientalist a A text is orientalist if i ii iii iv It exoticizes a given culture instead of demystifying it It offers a homogenous portrayal of a culture instead of showing the internal contradictions and conflicts It depicts a condition without explaining how it has evolved It describes a society without situating it within the context of larger transnational processes 4 4 How do researchers in the culture and personality school approach the study of society and culture a Broader generalizations can be made about specific cultures if we examine dominant patterns of behavior b Dominant personality types reveal national character i Relationship between culture and personality c Cultures are persons with coherent and stable personalities i Belief in integrated behavior d Identifies characteristic patterns of Japanese culture and dominant personality types in Japan 5 What major national characteristics i e patterns of culture did Ruth Benedict identify in Japanese culture a Hierarchical Social Structure i Accepting his her position within social hierarchy b Traditional Society Indebted to the past i ii Righteousness in Japan depends upon recognition of one s place in the great network of mutual indebtedness that embraces both one s forebears and one s contemporaries c The Principle of Reciprocity i On obligations and sense of indebtedness ii Gimu the partial repayment of on iii Giri repayment of the exact amount of on 1 Japanese are obligation centered bound by obligations and duties rather than motivated by rights and choice d Giri Ninjo i Obligation Feelings Desire e Sincerity Makoto f Self Respect Jicho g Self Discipline Jiko Jiritsu i Japanese are more disciplined than westerners h Shame Culture vs Guilt Culture 6 It is a prevalent stereotype that Japanese culture is a copy culture Does The Japanese Version the documentary we saw in class support or refute