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Necktie-Alcoholics: Cultural Forces and Japanese Alcoholism

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Necktie-Alcoholics: Cultural Forces and Japanese Alcoholism Necktie-Alcoholics: Cultural Forces and Japanese Alcoholism By KEIKO KATO A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of The requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS IN ANTHROPOLOGY WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY Department of Anthropology May 2000 To the Faculty of Washington State University: The members of the Committee appointed to examine the thesis of KEIKO KATO find it satisfactory and recommend that it be accepted. Chair ii Acknowledgment The completion of this thesis would have been impossible without the help of many people. First of all, I would like to thank Linda S. Stone who suggested viewing the Japanese drinking custom from the perspective of anti-structure (communitas). I would like to thank Raymond A. Jussaume Jr. who pointed out the importance of this research topic and suggested focusing on the “dysfunctional” part of Japanese unique customs that are generally perceived as “functional.” I would also like to thank John H. Bodley for inspiring me with his perception, which critically analyzes the problems of the contemporary world-trend of globalization, and Nancy P. McKee for providing the first opportunity in my graduate studies to think about the concept of amae from a linguistic point of view. I appreciate Michael Feise, a physics graduate student, for elaborately editing my incomprehensible papers and for his emotional support, Diane King and Donna Dwiggins, my office mates, for useful discussions. I would also like to say thank you to all my informants especially Shouichi Shimosato, an editor of the self-help group bulletin Sunadokei. Finally, I would like to thank my father Junji Kato who persistently suggested studying alcohol problem (his research topic) since I was in an undergraduate, even though I constantly denied. I believe that now he is happy because his kind daughter finally accepted his demand. iii NECKTIE-ALCOHOLICS: CULTURAL FORCES AND JAPANESE ALCOHOLISM Abstract by Keiko Kato, MA Washington State University May 2000 Chair: Linda S. Stone This thesis is an anthropological investigation of Japanese “necktie-alcoholics (nekutai-aruchu),” white-collar workers who have an alcohol dependence syndrome but are not considered alcoholics by Japanese society. The thesis explores why, and with what social consequences, necktie-alcoholics are not recognized as alcoholics. I examine the function of drinking in Japanese society in terms of the anthropological concept of “communitas,” a conceptual world induced when communication on an emotional level (honne) lets people become more intimate with one another (uchi [inner] relationship). The significance of alcohol is that it lets a person’s mental state become ego-centered (honne) rather than society-centered (tatemae), and if this sentiment is shared, it has a great potential of inducting communitas. This thesis discusses how this works in Japanese society by considering work-related drinking from the perspective of the Japanese concept “amae (feeling of seeking care, to be cared for by somebody).” Due to this function of drinking, which unites people on a more intimate base and is linked to the “productivity” of the group (company), necktie-alcoholics are not recognized as alcoholics as long as they play their roles as a worker. However, in Japan, on top of the basic function of drinking (inducing communitas), drinking occasions have become an institutionalized strategy so that people intentionally drink to become favored by people iv of higher status and so effectively satisfy their amae (i.e. toriiru). Often, people blindly follow the belief “sacrifice is good” and employ tatemae (superficial) behavior. It is this value of self-sacrifice in the name of “productivity” that prevents Japanese from realizing necktie-alcoholics’ physical and mental discomfort that comes from drinking. In Japan, many people experience stress because of the high value the society puts on productivity. The phenomenon of necktie-alcoholics is hidden behind the materially prosperous society; but economic prosperity and necktie-alcoholism are different sides of the same coin. The admired “economic growth” with its side effects is not limited to Japan but a trend in many industrialized societies today. v Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGMENT................................................................................................................................... III ABSTRACT.................................................................................................................................................. IV LIST OF TABLE...........................................................................................................................................VII LIST OF FIGURES........................................................................................................................................VII PROLOGUE................................................................................................................................................... 1 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................................ 5 Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 5 Motivation............................................................................................................................................. 10 Method.................................................................................................................................................. 14 CHAPTER 2: ALCOHOLISM IN JAPAN.......................................................................................................... 21 Definition of Terminology..................................................................................................................... 21 KAST and the Japanese Alcoholics....................................................................................................... 26 CHAPTER 3: JAPANESE SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS........................................................................................ 32 Amae and the Japanese Vertical Social Structure ................................................................................ 32 The Process of Creating a Vertical Relationship.................................................................................. 40 Uchi/Soto and Honne/Tatemae............................................................................................................. 49 CHAPTER 4: FUNCTION OF DRINKING........................................................................................................ 60 Communitas: Theory by Victor W. Turner............................................................................................ 60 Emotional Unity and Anti-Structure ..................................................................................................... 63 The Function of Drinking; Workplace as Uchi.....................................................................................70 Problems Stemming from the Japanese Function of Drinking ............................................................. 76 CHAPTER 5: WORKAHOLIC SALARYMEN ..................................................................................................... 84 Work as Top Priority in Life ................................................................................................................. 84 Pitfall of Workaholic Salarymen – Family Circumstance .................................................................... 90 Middle-aged Salarymen and Economic Growth................................................................................... 95 CHAPTER 6: ANALYSIS AND CONCLUSION............................................................................................... 101 Analysis............................................................................................................................................... 101 Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................... 106 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................................................................................................................ 109 APPENDIX................................................................................................................................................ 114 Appendix 1 .......................................................................................................................................... 114 Appendix 2 .......................................................................................................................................... 116 Appendix 3 .......................................................................................................................................... 118 Appendix 4 .......................................................................................................................................... 120 GLOSSARY............................................................................................................................................... 121 ENDNOTES............................................................................................................................................... 122 vi List of Tables Table 1. ALCAAD Score of Japanese Executives and General Salarymen ................................................
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