Japan and China: Political and Culture Differences - Research Paper Example

Japan and China; Political Culture Differences al Affiliation: Japan and China; Political Culture Differences Introduction Peoples’ sense of belonging is now keener than ever before. While people interact with the current changes in the world every day, their activities are majorly influenced by how they think about their nations and cultures. China and Japan have many things to share, but there are cultural differences that make the Chinese and Japanese people unique. The differences exist in all spheres of life from politics, economic ideologies to cultural demographics such as sex, extra-marital affairs, marriage, and many more ((Xu & Pan, 2015). This paper will focus on differences between these two countries especially on their political ideologies, how the two have been striving to shape up and maintain their political heritage and the current situations regarding national politics. The paper will contribute to this topic by reviewing the literature on previous studies done touching on this subject. The paper will also make a presentation of the researchers arguments with scholarly backing where necessary. The paper will finally, end with a conclusion summarizing the investigators discussion. Research Question Many people especially the non-scholars have been trying to understand the historical perspectives of these tow countries China and Japan. They seem to have many questions especially on why Japan made huge progress than China and what China has done now that it is growing at a very high rate. This paper seeks to solve this puzzle by from the political perspectives of the two countries. The paper will also touch on the governance efforts in the two countries that may have contributed to the difference in the progressive development of the two countries. China has also shown high prospects of becoming the next world superpower; what could they have done differently to achieve all this progress in the past decade? This will be observed concerning Japan. The paper will, therefore, seek to answer the following general question. What is, are the political culture differences in the two countries and their effectiveness in contributing to the development of the economies involved? The Literature Review Orientation Studies show that the Japanese people are more reserved than the Chinese people (Barnouin, Barbara, and Yu, 2013). The reason given for this argument is that the Chinese people happen to come from a large country with non-homogenous people (Nish, 2007). The Japanese people are also known to have a particular liking to dainty things and have a greater propensity to learn foreign cultures (Nish, 2007). Unlike the Chinese, they greatly adore the love for quality rather than quantity (Whiting, 2014; Ogata, 2012). Ogata (2012) supports this argument “the quality of products coming out of Japan is great as can be seen in their Toyota cars’. Other scholars gave a major focus on the great production philosophies from Japan with the argument that they are known to have produced some of the greatest management and operational philosophies in the world. Some scholars call them the fathers of quality management (Iriye, 1992; Barnouin, Barbara, and Yu, 2013). They take pride in their good workmanship and simplicity (Whiting, 2014; Ogata, 2012). Chinese have consistently proved their love for quantity rather than quality (Iriye, 1992). In fact, in some parts of the world, Chinese made products are frowned upon for the belief that they represent poor quality. Unlike the Japanese, who are friendly and welcoming, they sometimes present arrogance and self-absorbed. Scholars have also observed that they are likely to invite you to their homes for a meal unlike in Japan (Iriye, 1992). In China, it is easy for foreigners to stay and make friends than in Japan. These studies used qualitative analysis to present their results and findings. This study will also employ the same technique in making a conclusion. Japan Political Values and Ideologies Japan is a nation that has been described as one of the few non-European nations that have managed to modernize without eroding its culture. The Japanese people as said before are conservative and very innovative of things that keep their culture and promote their diversity (Barnouin, Barbara, and Yu, 2013). Under the rule of Japan’s first constitution, called the Meiji Constitution of 1890, the Japanese government formed the first modern legislature. This legislature was called the “imperial diet” (Dongon et al., 2012). The Japanese is based on representative and democracy (Dongon et al., 2012). The Japanese people do not hold any sovereign power since the promulgation of their first constitution. The only powers they hold are the ones granted by the constitution. Political participation in Japan is also very restricted, and this is the reason many citizens have no interest in participating in politics. According to Dongon et al. (2012), individuals in Japan are taught to put the interests of the group first. In other words, the Japanese people are more than willing to give up good lifestyles for hard work, limited personal liberty and poor living conditions for the benefit of the group. Studies have also noted that males majorly dominated the Japanese political arena and females were not very much recognized. Women have been credited with high participation in the voting process since they believe that it is civically right (Dongon et al., 2012). A new political culture emerged when the political attitudes of the Japanese started to change. According to Clark & Hoffmann-Martinot, (1998), three main factors contributed to the rise of a new political culture in Japan. The first one is the economic ideology that advocated for a shift from agriculture and manufacturing to technology of "high tech". The second is the social ideology that promoted the increase in the number of smaller families and weakening of extended family links to occupation and education. The fourth idea was about governance where the government was to develop state welfare programs that were to solve major problems that were experienced in the past. Hoshu Kakushin has illustrated the new culture based on these three main objectives as follows. In the past In the present Hoshi-meant the support for rearmament of Japan and a pre-war regime Hoshu-meant support for market economy, small governments, and economic development Kakushin-meant support for opposition to anti pre-war regime and rearmament of Japan Kakushin-meant support for equality, big governments and participation. The new culture led to the shift in the manner in which citizens viewed political parties. They refused to be treated as clients of political parties because they had more resources (Dongon et al., 2012). This has led to a huge and enormous development of the Japanese people into the current modernisation. China Political Values and Ideologies The striking feature of the peoples Republic of China is that the country has been very rapid and uneven in the change of political culture, values and ideologies (Khampa, n.d.). Scholars have argued that the communist party of China has majorly shaped chinas politics. However, they also acknowledge that the communist stand has been undergoing changes throughout the years (Alessandro, 2015). The people of China have for a long time identified themselves with the rule of a communist ideology and this according to some scholars is the reason for chinas lag in development. Contrasted with Japan, Chinas ideology has been less effective and the current growth experienced in China is a result of combined ideologies (deLisle, 2015). The communist party was in power from 1946-1976, and it took power in the culmination of Chinese civil war. This party took it upon themselves to drive the communist ideology. The people pf China relied on a peasant farming. A worker here meant "property-less class," (deLisle, 2015). The party believed it could change the China into a wealthy nation based on the communist ideology. This ideology failed to bring the much-anticipated growth. In the year from 1978 onwards, the country entered into a major reform phase that saw the countrys shift from communist ideas to capitalist. This has slowly shaped the Chinese people and politics today. According to Sunshine (2015), China began to shift from the communist ideology under the reign of Deng Xiaoping whose economic ambitions led to the dissembling of communes and creation of space for private businesses environment. The justification he used to convince his fellow members of the communist party is that it made no sense whether the cat was black or white. What made sense is that the cat would be able to catch the rat! The hidden meaning of this phrase is that even the capitalist policies are good and are justified if they bring success in developing the economy of China. This worked great as China started to witness tremendous economic development and due to this, the Chinese people have overwhelmingly supported the reforms engineered by Deng Xiaoping. Despite these moves, some scholars have noticed that the Chinese government has not shifted entirely to capitalism. This has been noted in the country’s 60th anniversary where the state boldly proclaimed that socialism is good (Sunshine, 2015). To demonstrate this, the government is still owning all land in China. Sometimes the government sells land to private developers and compensate people forcing them to look for another place to live. Normally, the government leases land for a 70 years period in the belief that by the time end of this period, the house owner will need to rebuild it anyway. Political freedom is however not much as in the recent past people have held demonstrations for political reforms in China (Sunshine, 2015). It has been noted that today the communist party uses the communist ideology to preserve its power essentially making China a combination of two ideologies, communist, and capitalist with each ideology dominant in a given area. The capitalist ideology is largely present in the economic arena while the communist ideology in the political arena. Discussion Many scholars believe that the Japanese political and economic policies have had a profound impact on the Chinese economic reorganization. The fact that Japanese economy developed first has been putting pressure on the Chinese powers to bring their economy at par with that of Japan. The two economies, however, have greatly been influenced by the western powers such as the United States (Whiting, 2014). Other scholars like Jonsson (2008) agree that the Western powers brought much influence especially in the Japanese politics and economy have supported this proposition. Countries that have been cited to play a major role include the United States and Russia (Ogata, 2012). Currently, the Chinese economy is aligned with the Russian ideologies while the Japan economy is aligned with the United States ideologies (Starr, 1990). This writer further posit that, the Chinese economy exhibits influence from both the United States and Russia (Barnouin, Barbara, and Yu, 2013). The young population in China, for instance, have in the recent past demanded change in the political culture to promote democracy (Starr, 1990; Iriye, 1992). This according to the opinions of some citizens has helped the Chinese people to develop at a faster rate recently (Whiting, 2014). In general, studies have found that, because of the influence of the American economic policy, the Japanese government adopted capitalism on which its tremendous growth and development are attributed. Those countries that stuck with communism showed little progress in development. Together with her ally, the United States, Japan has influenced the change in foreign policies in China (Starr, 1990). Conclusion From the studies, it can be summed that no culture remains solely conservative. All the cultures are prone to influence from foreign practices. However, on overall, the Japanese culture dominated over the Chinese culture and was found to be more conservative. The Japanese love their country and embrace quality in all facets of life. The Chinese like to experiment life in new areas and with new people. These two differences serve to highlight the major difference on the cultural orientation of the two. Reference List Alessandro, S. D’. (2015). Traditional cultural values, political ideologies and luxury consumption desire in china: A conceptual model. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/1053727/Traditional_Cultural_Values_Political_Ideologies_and_Luxury_Consumption_Desire_in_China_A_Conceptual_Model Barnouin, Barbara, & Yu, C. (2013). Chinese foreign policy during the Cultural Revolution. Kegan Paul Intl. Clark, T. N., & Hoffmann-Martinot, V. (1998). The new political culture. Westview Press. deLisle, J. (2015, March 19). Politics and governance in the People’s Republic of China: From ‘A revolution is not a dinner Party’ to ‘To get rich is Glorious’ to creating a ‘Harmonious Society’. Retrieved 5 November 2015, from http://www.fpri.org/articles/2011/08/politics-and-governance-peoples-republic-china-revolution-not-dinner-party-get-rich Dongon, S., Angeli, J., Atalig, W., Ostromecki, K., Gombocz, B., Mandocdoc, K. G., … 15, cpaige. (2012, November 11). Japan-Political culture. Retrieved 5 November 2015, from http://www.slideshare.net/stephaniepublico/japanpolitical-culture Jonsson, A. (2008). A transnational perspective on knowledge sharing: lessons learned from IKEAs entry into Russia, China and Japan. The international review of retail, Distribution and Consumer Research, 18(1), 17-44. Khampa, N. (n.d.). The Role of Communist Ideology in Contemporary China. Retrieved 5 November 2015, from http://jnu-matrix.tripod.com/China.html Nish, I. (2007) “Overview with regard to Relations between China and Japan, 2002-2006.” China Quarterly (2007) 124 (2008): 601-623. Online Ogata, S. N. (2012). Normalization with China: a comparative study of US and Japanese processes (Vol. 30). Institute of East Asian Studies University of California-B. Starr, J. B.. (1990). [Review of Normalization with China: A Comparative Study of U.S. and Japanese Processes.]. The Journal of Asian Studies, 49(4), 913–915. http://doi.org/10.2307/2058272 Sunshine, E. (2015, August 5). Chinese Politics: Power, Ideology, and the Limits of Pragmatism. Retrieved 5 November 2015, from http://blog.acton.org/archives/17957-chinese-politics-power-ideology-and-the-limits-of-pragmatism.html Whiting, A. S. (2014). China Eyes Japan. University of California Press. Xu, Y., & Pan, J. (2015). China’s ideological spectrum. http://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2593377 Read More