Chrysanthemum and Sword
While ago I came across two peculiar quotations both from the same book
“ The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” written by an American Anthropologist Ruth Benedict.
One was made by the ousted Japanese PM Kan saying [Culture of Shame] out of the book.
Other was, in reference to my description somewhere [keep one’s place and to do the job which was given]
—- one of my friend asked me “Is that the same, what Ruth Benedict said in her book ?”
non
—– What made me surprise was that this book is not yet dead and still read by the people 🙂
It seems this book is still a distinctive reference when people try to learn the Japanese culture though, shame,
it was hastily written on her misunderstanding of the culture and people’s psychology.
non
As Ruth Benedict’s coined notion of [Japanese Culture of Shame] against [Western Culture of Sin]
are both based on her miss-observations of both cultures —–
* If her observations had even a shred of truth, the fact such as [ 90% of the lost money totalling
£23 millions, found in the disaster zone of Japan, has returned to the rightful owner ] ! ! !
could ever happened. While nobody was watching, why they bothered to take the money to the police ?
And why no police man put the money into his pocket, even in the time of utter chaos ?
* And, there were so many excuse or justification of the Riot and the Looting happened in
this country, expressed even in the comments to my Blog. Why ? ??
non
The notion of the [Shame] in the Japanese culture is not against other’s eyes but to
the Eyes of the Heaven —– therefore, no escape or excuse.
And this feeling has been so deeply sublimated, even Japanese themselves doesn’t know Why = it is almost
a chemical effect, like a feeling of loathe a filth. —– (This is the Ethos originated from the ancient Shinto )
non
In the western culture, the Right or Wrong = Morality is based on the Commandment written and
given by their Judea Christian God —– therefore, how to read it (and how to interpret ) is
depend on the case.
As the God was designed like as a person, he use the same language and may answer you and
the matter may be negotiable with a sacrificed offering.
So that, with an excuse there is no absolute Morality. Wrong may be easily changed to Right.
Worse still, when the influence of the religion evaporated, there is no basis of Morality left.
—– yet still, Ruth Benedict thought that the western Morality is absolute and Japanese one is relative 😀
( In the same shoddy eyes, she couldn’t see the fundamental pattern of the Japanese Ethos is the Zen —– but
she mistook it as the Confucianism)
—
Yoshizen's Blog 
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Sound funny though, I’m still not shure, silence might be the gold 😀
Yoshi, if it’s any consolation, among Westerners who know your people and country well, you have a reputation for astonishing honesty, compared to our cultures. When you say that large sums of money have been found and returned to their owners, that is entirely in keeping with what I understand of Japanese norms. I haven’t read Ruth Benedict, so I can’t comment on the accuracy of her observations, but rest assured that no-one here thinks Japan has a criminality problem.
Robin
Rusty Ring: Reflections of an Old-Timey Hermit.
Of cause, nobody knows what was the real total = 23M could have been only
among the 50M lost.
And of cause, Japan still has crimes. But the criminals does know what
they have done, and DON’T complain harsh prison condition, brandishing
the Human Right. ( They knew they have forfeited it by themselves)