Category Archive:Japan and Korea

By Miao Zhou

An important Japanese value is giri, which refers to the “social obligation” and duty to act as expected by society (Wood, n.d). According to the Japanese Cultural Orientation (2011), children often feel “filial piety” which means to show kindness and respect to their parents and to people outside the home in order to emphasize the worthiness of their parents and ancestors. The Japanese are essentially loyal to their immediate family only. They truly believe in reciprocity as they keep a mental record of the values of gifts being given to them and when there is a special occasion the gift will be returned (Wood, n.d).

Social hierarchy is present and individuals are aware of their social status and position within their family, at school and at work (Japanese Cultural Orientation, 2011). Wood (n.d) explains that strong mutual support and trust is shown in the work place. Corporations provide grants to individuals who have pleaded for it or to those who demonstrated hard work (Wood, n.d). However, when a request is made and accomplished, the individual must return the favour later on (Wood, n.d). It is rare for Japanese corporations to fire their employees since they respect each other and believe their employees will return the favour (Wood, n.d).

Although gift-giving is unwritten, oftentimes it is necessary and can be seen as a ritual. In December, the Japanese celebrate “o-seibo”, which simply means the end of the year where they congratulate each other for enduring another year and to wish each other a happy new year (Japanese Cultural Orientation, 2011). During this celebration, they give gifts to families and employers in order to show appreciation for their help and kindness. A similar celebration happens in July called “o-chugen” where gifts are given in honour of one’s ancestors (Japanese Cultural Orientation, 2011). Generally, “o-seibo” and “o-chugen” gifts may include food or daily necessities such as fruit baskets or other sweets that are packaged nicely and overly priced (Japanese Cultural Orientation, 2011). Apparently, the gift wrapping is viewed just as important as the gift itself. Large gifts are usually wrapped in a cloth called “furoshiki” and the cloth can range from simple (cheap) fabric to expensive silk (Japanese Cultural Orientation, 2011). The gift also includes meaningful words and phrases to show gratitude. However, certain items should not be given due to its symbolic meaning. Footwear, watches, and writing utensils should be avoided since it symbolizes harm and bad luck (Japanese Cultural Orientation, 2011). Some flowers such as lilies, camellias, lotus blossoms and any white flowers in general should not be given since it symbolizes death and funerals (Japanese Cultural Orientation, 2011). Also, plotted plants are believed to trigger sickness therefore they should be avoided as well (Japanese Cultural Orientation, 2011).

The Japanese sincerely value politeness and gratitude. Overall, they respect each other and give gifts to families and employers on special occasions. However, it is rare for the Japanese to donate to organizations and to people they do not know since when they give, they expect something in return.

Works Cited
Japanese Cultural Orientation. (2011). Technology Integration Division, Defense Language
Institute Foreign Language Center. Retrieved from http://fieldsupport.dliflc.edu/products/japanese/co_ja/japanese.pdf
Wood, M. D., (n.d) “A Brief Introduction to Japanese Society,” Rutgers University, Department
of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice. Retrieved from http://crab.rutgers.edu/~deppen/Japan.htm

By Melissa Tan

The Japanese people, historically influenced by ethical and religious beliefs of Buddhism, have responded as a collective community and remained altruistic in spite of recent devastations in their country. These characteristics have been personified by a group of elderly citizens who have volunteered to risk their lives in place of young workers for cleanup efforts at the heavily damaged Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant.

On March 11, 2011, a 9.0 magnitude earthquake struck approximately 130 km off the eastern coast of Japan, resulting in a devastating tsunami and widespread destruction of property and infrastructure. As of July, statistics by Earthquake-Report.com indicated a death toll of 15,588 with 5,133 still missing and hundreds of thousands left homeless. Dubbed as the worst natural disaster in the country’s history, the earthquake and tsunami left dangerous ripple effects on local nuclear power facilities, triggering explosions, fires and partial meltdowns, all of which have leaked dangerous levels of radiation.

In response to efforts to bring the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant under control, the Skilled Veterans Corp, a civic group formed mostly of former professionals all over the age of 60, lobbied the Japanese government to allow them to take the place of the younger workers. Yasuteru Yamada, the 72 year-old retired engineer who founded the group, recruited approximately 500 volunteers through word-of-mouth and his embracement of technology, e.g. e-mail and Twitter, to take on the task of risking radiation exposure. Kazuko Sasaki, also 72 years-old, explained her participation in the Skilled Veterans Corp as a moral obligation to the country’s future, “My generation built these nuclear plants, so we have to take responsibility for them. We cannot dump this on the next generation.”
But why would people risk exposure to high levels of radiation to help people they do not personally know? Religion has had a major influence on Japanese culture; particularly, Buddhism is a strong basis for philanthropic activities in the country. By volunteering one’s time and/or money, an individual would be acting in line with dhamma, “principles of behaviours that human beings ought to follow so as to fit in with the right natural order of things”. Charity is perhaps the greatest of virtues given that it “[displays] a person’s compassion, love, generosity and community mindedness”. Despite such benevolent acts, individuals are expected to do so for the sake of giving and not for any form of compensation (dāna).

Further, to some individuals and societies, the act of sacrificing one’s life for the greater good of the community, compounded by the fact that financial or material rewards are not expected in return, most definitely falls outside of commonly accepted principles of codified generosity in what is considered “appropriate” to give. Time, money or gifts are understood as typical acts of volunteerism7. Generosity in and of itself, of course, is not exclusive to the Japanese people; there are many historic and present examples of volunteerism and philanthropy all over the world, as well as those influenced by a variety of religions.

Some western media organizations have gone as far as to dub the Skilled Veterans Corp as the “suicide corps”. However, the volunteers do not view it in such a manner; instead, they consider their actions, perhaps the ultimate sacrifice, as the right thing to do in order to allow the next generation an opportunity to live their lives, just as the elderly have already lived theirs. As contested by one brave volunteer, “We have to work but never die”10.

Works Cited

1 Earthquake Report. (2011). Japan Tohoku tsunami and earthquake: The death toll is climbing again!. Retrieved from http://earthquake-report.com/2011/08/04/japan-tsunami-following-up-the-aftermath-part-16-june/.

2 Craft, L. (2011, July 4). Elderly Japanese volunteer for nuke cleanup. CBS News. Retrieved from http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/07/04/earlyshow/main20076634.shtml.

3 Craft, L. (2011, Sept. 12). Japanese Seniors: Send Us To Damaged Nuclear Plant. NPR. Retrieved from http://www.npr.org/2011/09/12/140402430/japanese-seniors-send-us-to-damaged-nuclear-plant?sc=17&f=1001.

4 Access to Insight. (2011). A Glossary of Pali and Buddhist Terms. Retrieved from http://www.accesstoinsight.org/glossary.html.

9 Lah, K. (2011, May 31). Japanese seniors volunteer for Fukushima ‘suicide corps’. CNN. Retrieved from http://articles.cnn.com/2011-05-31/world/japan.nuclear.suicide_1_nuclear-plant-seniors-group-nuclear-crisis?_s=PM:WORLD.

10 Buerk, R. (2011, May 31). Japan pensioners volunteer to tackle nuclear crisis. BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-13598607.