Literature review on Japan - Essay Example

Literature review on contemporary Japan Japan is the largest democracy in East Asia and the second largest economy in the world (Berger, T.U. 2003).The country has risen to the status of a non resistant power with cultural influence from around the world. The various aspects of contemporary Japan that include geographical, political, economic, cultural, educational and religious phenomenon are discussed in detail (Japan, 2005). The role and constitution of families in Japan has undergone changes in the twentieth century with respect to their tradition. But the concept of continuing family keeps their dear ones close. The people of Japan believe that even if a family does not live together with grandparents and parent, the proximity of separated family should be so close that they can share a bowl of hot soup on a day. This reveals that the concept of family and values has much significance in Japan. The educational system of Japan and workplace culture has grabbed much attention for its severity. This may be recognized with the huge economic success and technological progress of the country. Japanese believe in working hard from a very young age to survive in highly competitive settings. Japanese consider themselves of belonging to a homogenous society. They have a strong sense of national identity and there are no much racial or ethnic divisions. Though they have a feeling of oneness of being Japanese, Japan is most influenced by popular culture. The culture of young people in Japan is dominated by media with sitcoms like Pokemon, manga and Hello Kitty (Bestor, T. & Hardacre, H 2004). Japanese economy is second only to the United States in terms of having a high GNP. Major industries in Japan include automobile, real estate, manufacturing, communication, construction, services and distribution. Agriculture contributes only 2% to the total GNP and paddy is the main agricultural product of Japan. Japan lacks resources for raw materials and there is no much scope for the mining industry. Japan is one of the world’s largest technologically advanced manufacturers of automobile products. Japan exports automobiles, cars, electronic products, computers and chemicals are Japans main export items .The main single trade companion is the United States to which more than one quarter of the total goods are exported. Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, China and Singapore are the other countries to which Japan export its goods. Japan imports goods like machinery and equipment, fuel, oil, food products, textiles, raw materials and wood. These goods are imported mainly from the United States, China, Indonesia, South Korea and Australia (Japan Guide 2008). Japan is the world’s first nonwestern country to become industrialized as early as 1930 and was the first to commence a political democracy institution. This was followed by its defeat in World War II which resulted in various political events. The rule of long term single party, LDP(Liberal Democratic Party) , reliance on United States for military security, sustenance of balance between high economic development and relative social equality, low expenditure on military hardware and a strong sense of national security. In the late 1980s, Japanese economic model was praised by the West for its competitiveness. The interminability of the LDP’s single party rule was stressed by the then political analysts. Hence twenty first century was considered to be Japan’s Century. But suddenly, the beginning of 1990s witnessed the collapse of the Japanese economy and the LDP split, ushering in a decade or more of economic instability and coalition government, and widespread social problems. Currently a wide range of debates regarding the future of the country’s economy is going on. Other political issues under debate in Japan are related to defense and security. A solution to all these issues is essential for the future progress of Japan (Pempel, T.J. 2003). Geisha is a widely prevalent culture that evolved during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in Japan. The culture is still in existence in Japan. Geisha (meaning people of arts) are professional women who entertain elite people of the society with their performance of traditional art. They are trained when they are quite young in traditional dance, japense musical instruments, flower arrangements, poetry, ceramics, literature and tea ceremony. The geisha tradition started from the hokan or taikomochi period when there were court jesters who were male. The present concept of geisha includes only women. The modern geisha evolved from the contributions of Odoriko (dancing females) and Oiran (courtesans). Dance is included in geisha according to the recommendations of Odorika. Geisha are trained from their childhood and girls from poor background are bought by Geisha houses to train them professionally. In the beginning geisha work as apprentice and perform the task of maids and then as assistance to senior geisha’s and earn money for their maintenance and education. After years of training they earn the status of a geisha. On completion of training geisha’s perform work with senior geishas in banquets, tea houses and parties which is their working atmosphere. Kako was the first geisha who was a courtesan and had the capability to perform several Japanese arts and restricted herself to performing artistic programs. Very rarely of a geisha has the option to take a danna (or a husband) who has the capability to maintain a geisha mistress. The relationship is clearly restricted to the financial ability the man to support a geisha (Japanese Lifestyle 2004). Tea ceremony is an age old ceremony of Japan where powdered green tea is prepared and served to a small group of people by an expert practitioner. Sado (means the way of tea) refers to the study of tea ceremony. Geisha along with other arts are trained on the preparation and types of tea and are trained for sado which includes the general manners to be maintained in a tea room, the correct way of taking tea and sweets, the gestures and the phrases used by the tea ceremony attendees (Tea Ceremony. 2004). Like Geisha, Samurai is a warrior of pre-industrial Japan. But today Samurai means warrior of nobility rather than foot soldiers. They were defined as learned people with good culture and later lost their status to perform the duty of a soldier. Currently they are civilian government servants and their swords are used only for performing rituals (Samurai 2004). Japans contemporary music also has won many hearts in the west. The modern era composers like Toru Takemitsu, Yuji Takahashi, Jo Kondo has in their composition an innovative global trend retaining the flavor of traditional Japanese music (Gregory Shepherd. (n.d)). A1996 report indicates that around fifty four percent of the total Japanese population consider themselves as both Shintoist and Buddhist. They follow both the religion despite their isolation from the particular Shinto shrines and Buddhist temples. The above data proves that both the religions coexist in harmony. But this data does not give the number of regular worshipers. Vast number of people visits shrines and temples only during festivals or other religious ceremony (Asian Info. 2000). Two important Japanese holidays are based on their religion. Cultivation festival or matsuriis of Shinto origin and nencho gyo is of Buddhist origin (Japan-101. 2005). Environmental and Natural Hazards: Air pollution mainly from power plants results in acid rains which in turn acidifies lakes and endanger aquatic life. Japan is a largest consumer of fish and tropical timber. Natural hazards include the presence of both sedentary and active volcanoes. Yearly around 1500 earthquakes occur. Tsunamis and whirl winds are common (Central Intelligence Agency 2008). Tokyo is often referred to as a collection of villages though its one of the worlds largest, highly industrialized city. This is because Tokyo still exhibits a strong sense of neighborhood such that these neighborhoods are organized around a Shinto shrine, a local neighborhood association, or a shopkeepers association, each cluster or small units usually consisting of eight to ten square blocks. Rural life in Japan is characterized by family farms and they are still politically significant. Contemporary rural Japan is characterized by decline in population and majority of the people is aged ((Bestor, T. & Hardacre, H 2004)). The sixteen years school education in Japan is extremely tough for children where the examinations are highly tough and preparing for the entrance examinations to enter to the next higher level of education during their after school hours make childhood days devoid of friendship and games. Japanese believe in the saying that job worth doing is worth doing. Also the workman is expected to work with full dedication, not just the eight hours of work but whatever the extension the firm is expecting. And another practice in Japan is that a person who has entered into an organisation will stick to it till retirement. But from 1990s Japan had witnessed a recession, resulting in a crumbling of corporate like Mitsubishi, Mitsui, the workers who earlier had a habit of working till life time, started changing companies. Brighter and darker side of Japanese society: The brighter side of Japanese society reflects very negligible illiteracy, drug abuse, AIDS, poverty and homeless people. The darker side include aged population, declination of vitality, unfair tax system, and unattractive education system with little transition and shifting of industries to overseas (Haberman, C 1988). Japans influence on global culture: It has a global influence on consumer trends and pop culture through its products ranging from cell phones, videogames to racing cars and animation cartoons. The foremost reasons for Japans influence on global culture may be due to the transition .i.e. transition towards leisure culture. The economic recession which occurred in Japan during the past decade and competition from China and Korea also would have played a role in prompting the Japanese designers to bring out innovative products to influence the world (Palmeri, C 2004). To conclude, contemporary Japan is portrayed in the west as a nation which remains stagnant in its ways incapable of change and as a result welcoming its nation decline and loss of pride at the international level. However to days Japan is at a transition stage in a wide range of areas such as politics, economy, technology, international relations, business, governance and many social issues too. Rein T. Seger, the editor of the book A New Japan for the Twenty First Century asserts that the second strongest national economy in the world is in the process of fundamental re-engineering and will continue to have a huge impact globally towards progress. (Segers, R.T. March 2008). Reference Asian Info. 2000. Japans Religion and Philosophy. Retrieved from http://www.asianinfo.org/asianinfo/japan/religion.htm. Accessed on August 31, 2008. Berger, T.U. 2003. Politics and government in contemporary japan. Retrieved from http://www.bu.edu/ir/courses/500/Berger%20IR%20570.pdf. Accessed on August 31, 2008. Bestor, T. & Hardacre, H. 2004. Contemporary Japan: Culture & Society. Retrieved from http://afe.easia.columbia.edu/at_japan_soc/ . Accessed on August 31, 2008 Central Intelligence Agency. August 21, 2008. TheWorld Fact Book. Retrieved from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ja.html#Intro. Accessed on August 31, 2008. Gregory Shepherd. (n.d). Music of Japan Today: Tradition and Innovation. Retrieved from http://home.sprintmail.com/~emrichards/shepherd.html. Accessed on August 31, 2008. Haberman, C. August 28, 1988. The Presumed Uniqueness of Japan. Retrieved from Linkedin Digg Facebook Mixx Yahoo! Buzz Permalink http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=940DE4DA1E3CF93BA1575BC0A96E948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=6. Accessed on August 31, 2008. Japan. 2005. Retrieved from http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0107666.html. Accessed on August 31, 2008. Japan-101. 2005. Religious practice in Japan. Retrieved from http://www.japan-101.com/culture/religious_practice.htm . Accessed on August 31, 2008. Japan Guide. 2008. Economy. Retrieved from http://www.japan-guide.com/e/e644.html. ccessed on August 31, 2008. Japanese Lifestlye. 2004. Geisha. Retrieved from http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/culture/geisha.html Accessed on August 31, 2008 Palmeri, C. July 26, 2004 . Is Japanese Style Taking Over The World? Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/04_30/b3893091.htm. Accessed on August 31, 2008. Pempel, T.J. 2003. Politics of contemporary Japan. Retrieved from http://polisci.berkeley.edu/courses/syllabi/Fall%2003/ps243c.pdf. Accessed on August 31, 2008. Samurai. 2004. Retrieved from http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/culture/samurai.html. Accessed on August 31, 2008. Segers, R.T. March 2008. A New Japan for the Twenty-First Century An Inside Overview of Current Fundamental Changes and Problems. Retrieved from http://www.informaworld.com/smpp/title~content=t790784223~db=all---. Accessed on August 31, 2008. Tea Ceremony. 2004. Retrieved from http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/culture/japanese_tea_ceremony.html. Accessed on August 31, 2008 Read More