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Social Conformity and Nationalism in Japan

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Social Conformity and Nationalism in Japan SOCIAL CONFORMITY AND NATIONALISM IN JAPAN by Chie Muroga Jex B.A., The University of West Florida, 2005 A thesis submitted to the Department of Anthropology College of Arts and Sciences The University of West Florida In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Anthropology 2009 The thesis of Chie Muroga Jex is approved: ____________________________________________ _________________ Rosalind A. Fisher, M.A., Committee Member Date ____________________________________________ _________________ Terry J. Prewitt, Ph.D., Committee Member Date ____________________________________________ _________________ Robert C. Philen, Ph.D., Committee Chair Date Accepted for the Department/Division: ____________________________________________ _________________ John R. Bratten, Ph.D., Chair Date Accepted for the University: ____________________________________________ _________________ Richard S. Podemski, Ph.D., Dean of Graduate Studies Date ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my deep appreciation to Dr. Terry J. Prewitt, Dr. Robert Philen, and Ms. Rosalind Fisher for their willingness to be my thesis committee members. My fellow anthropology graduate student, Trey Bond, also gave me many helpful suggestions. They have inspired and sustained me with insightful comments, patience and encouragement. I also wish to especially thank my bilingual husband, Timothy T. Jex for always taking time, and patiently proofreading and correcting my English grammar despite his busy schedule. Without these professional and generous supporters, I could have never done this. They will always have my heartfelt thanks. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ................................................................................................. iii LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................. vi ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... vii INTRODUCTION ..............................................................................................................1 CHAPTER I. PEOPLE AND NATION OF JAPAN ............................................7 A. People and Language ................................................................10 B. Isolation: Environmental and Historical Contexts ....................15 C. Character and Value of Japanese People...................................23 1. Concept of Nature and Law ...........................................23 2. The Emperor and the People Depicted by Benedict ......30 3. Dominating Concepts.....................................................36 CHAPTER II. THE RELIGION OF JAPAN ........................................................45 A. Japanese History of State and Religion .....................................47 1. Rise of Myth and History ...............................................47 2. Emperor and Shogun......................................................50 3. Religion in Early Modern Period ...................................51 4. Religion and Education ..................................................54 5. Religion after World War II ...........................................58 B. Concept of Religion ..................................................................61 1. Concept of Kami ............................................................62 2. Multiplicity of Religion in Japan ...................................63 3. Social Stigma of Shūkyo.. ..............................................66 4. Religion and the Secular ................................................72 C. Japanese Religion: Nihonism ....................................................74 CHAPTER III. THE SOCIALIZATION OF JAPANESE VALUES AND NATIONALISM .............................80 A. Nationalism and Education .......................................................80 1. Early Childhood .............................................................80 2. Textbook Controversy ...................................................87 3. Nationalism and Archaeology........................................93 B. Propaganda: Nihonjinron ..........................................................99 1. Tradition Constructed ....................................................99 iv 2. Social Hierarchal System .............................................103 3. National Essentialism...................................................105 CHAPTER IV. SOCIAL CONFORMITY AND NATIONALISM TODAY ...........................................................109 A. Nationalism after War .............................................................109 1. Economic Nationalism .................................................110 2. Traditional Values, Modernization, and Suicide .........112 3. Educational System Today ..........................................116 B. Nationalism Revival ................................................................120 1. Powerful Nationalists ...................................................120 2. National Anthem and Flag ...........................................124 3. Nationalism Revival and Anti-Japan Movement .........126 CONCLUSION ................................................................................................................134 EPILOGUE ......................................................................................................................137 REFERENCES ................................................................................................................138 v LIST OF TABLES 1. Christianity by Country in 2005..................................................................................69 vi ABSTRACT SOCIAL CONFORMITY AND NATIONALIM IN JAPAN Chie Muroga Jex It has been said that the thought processes and attitudes of Japanese people are distinctly different from those of people of other cultures. From the perspective of an anthropologist and a Japanese expatriate, I argue that the thoughts and attitudes of Japanese are profoundly correlated with pressure to conform with social norms and nationalism which are not usually discussed or apparent to outsiders. This paper describes Japanese culture and attempts to explain the conceptual differences in some major ideas between Japanese and Westerns. It also analyzes how Japanese language, education, and religions intertwine with each other, function, and are used as ideologies for building Japanese nationalism and shaping Japanese people. This paper is divided into four major sections: (1) The People and Nation of Japan, (2) The Religion of Japan, (3) The Socialization of Japanese Values and Nationalism, and (4) Social Conformity and Nationalism Today. vii INTRODUCTION What words come to your mind when you think about Japan? Japanese terms, such as Zen, geisha, samurai, karate, sushi, sumo wrestlers, anime, kamikaze pilots, or Japanese brand names, such as Nissan, Honda, Mitsubishi, Nintendo, and Sega are quite familiar to many western people. Japan has always been portrayed as a country that has a unique culture by both Westerners and the Japanese people. This thesis explores the view that the thought processes and attitudes of Japanese people are distinctly different from those of people of other cultures. Although some scholars claim that this is due to differences in biological and physiological effects on mental processes between races, in this paper, I will discuss the psychological and philosophical effects of cultural socialization. The characteristics of Japanese culture and Japanese people have been observed and described by many Western scholars, and Japanese have been both admired and criticized for their historical actions and positions. There are a myriad of books and articles about Japan available today. Although most of them describe the uniqueness of Japanese culture beautifully, generally they lack depth when analyzing and investigating the distinct causes of Japanese philosophy, in other words, why Japanese think the way they do. In this paper, I delve into works by scholars such as Eika Tai from North Carolina State University and Timothy Fitzgerald from University Stirling (UK), who critically discuss and deeply examine the underlying structures of Japanese culture, tradition, religion, and philosophy. For example, in 1 “Rethinking Culture, National Culture, and Japanese Culture” from Japanese Language and Literature, Tai (2003) looks into the historical process of nationalism and colonialism and elucidates how Japanese culture and tradition have been invented by elites through education. In an article, “Religion and the Secular in Japan” from Electronic Journal of Contemporary Japanese Studies, as an expert on the relationship between religion and ideology, Fitzgerald (2003) discusses how western scholars’ criteria of understanding religion can lead to misunderstanding the reality of Japanese culture and religion. He reviews many books about Japanese religion and points out some scholars’ misinterpretation of Japanese religion, supported by his life experience in Japan as a scholar and a husband of a Japanese woman. From the perspective of a Japanese expatriate, and supported by the indispensable works of the last sixty years by these various scholars, I argue that the thoughts and attitudes of Japanese are profoundly correlated with the pressures to conform with social norms and nationalism which are not usually discussed or apparent to many others. Through interacting with other Japanese from an early
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