Diversity in Japanese Society - Essay Example

Diversity in Japanese society Name Professor Institution Course Date DIVERSITY IN JAPANESE SOCIETY Introduction Diversity is the state of containing or being in possession of different elements. The subject matter in this case illustrates how Japanese culture is diversified, based on their cultural beliefs. Japanese society was originally viewed as the same. It was believed that the entire population comprises of people of the same language, traditions and beliefs. After introduction of formal education, scholars emerged who studied this theory deeply and with much interest. They discovered that among the large existing communities in Japan, they all have their own unique way of doing things. That even though they are governed by the same law under the same land; their traditions were actually diversified. There were those of different classes and it was not right to group them as heterogeneous society (Lee et al 2006). Several factors however have come up across the whole land which proves it is a diversified nation. Minority communities based in Japan has generally challenged the thinking of heterogeneity (Lee et al 2006). Most of them are immigrants from across the world, most from Brazil who arrived in Japan with the aim of securing jobs and better living conditions. It is clear that Japan is a developed state with wide variety of industries, thus attracting most workers from across the world .They came with distinct traditions from their motherland, and even though they have assimilated Japanese culture, it is not that they completely abandoned what their motherland gave them. As time goes, they establish themselves and became part of the nation, even with their different backgrounds (Lee et al 2006). Famers in the village have also aided cultural diversification. With the locals not willing to work in the firms, Japanese men in the rural who did farming had turn to ladies from other Asia countries who were willing and able to work with them in farm production (Okano & Tsuchiya 1999). These ladies also assist in some roles like nursing, medical care facilities and support welfare. These are people who are in legally, and are treated as part of the. They originated from different society, and therefore to assume they have fully foregone their original culture and adopted what they have found is not true (Okano & Tsuchiya 1999). Their children are then a mixture of both traditions, further widening diversification. Existence of indigenous community (Ainu), who live in the northern parts of the nation highlights that they are not all equal. It is a small community with population estimated to be around twenty thousand. Attempts to make the nation united with same practices failed considerably as this community had their own way of doing things which were unique to most communities in the region. The Burakumin community is assumed to be community with evil deeds, and most other tribes are not comfortable with their practices, forcing them to flee away and live in other place where they feel more comfortable (Okano & Tsuchiya 1999). Other community called Okinawans is also subject to prejudice. They reside in southern Japan and there is belief that they are ethnically different from others. This illustrates that some citizens suffer prejudice, and minority groups are not treated the same way with the other communities. Disparity in income of the people further suggests the state is not homogeneous (Sugimoto 2010). Research has shown that among a group of seven workers, one of them live below the poverty level. Living standards and practices of people are mainly determined by what they own. Other families own lots of properties as compared to others, this gives their children a better platform to begin as they inherit their forefathers’ properties. It is not possible to find a rich person living the same standards with a poor individual, and for such a case, such state cannot be classified as with people of equal abilities. The social stratification mobility (SSM) in their 2005 report identified three major variables across the whole state (Sugimoto 2010). It was discovered that even though there was a sense of ones, education, wealth and occupation, they were not equal. Those who had wealth and had inherited large portion of it were found to keep going with the same standards. Their children attended good schools, later after school worked in good industries, and generally were far much ahead of those from relatively poor families. More than half of students found in universities doing good courses are children of those who work on big organization with bigger posts (Sugimoto 2010). There is direct proportionality of course taken by student to level of income earned by the parents. Those from poor or middle class families also did courses that they could afford, and mostly not what they wanted. Community development is measured mostly based on performance on traits like economic strength, power and ability to influence politically, level of education attained, access to information and so on (MacConnell 2010). The whole Japanese as a unit can therefore not be classified equal when there is huge disparity in several sectors like the mentioned above. Ability for persons to gain and understand information and use it for knowledge purpose varies from all. Those who had their parents influential will continue with the same influence unlike those who had to start from the bottom. Like other societies cultures around the world, Japanese one is no different. Some communities within the state are dominant over the others and the dominating ones forms subcultures of the minor tribes. It does not suggest an aspect of homogeneity, but it shows that in an attempt to bring entire groups together, dominating values held by the bigger communities are used as bases by the minor groups (MacConnell 2010). Language also plays a key role in diversification. Though there is one language in the uptown of Tokyo which is regarded as Japanese mother language, there are other diverse languages spoken by the occupants. This is just what tries to unite them, but their initial language still remains used by each community in their society (Routledge 2007). The nucleus sub cultural issues are predominant in the state, helping to shape the face of Japan in the outside world. With its vast industrialization, many people around the world visit them, for one reason or the other. With good morals and practices portrayed by the parent culture, visitors normally go back to their countries with good picture and will to try out their traditions, further spreading their cultureit as those who like it find themselves behaving like them (Routledge 2007). It is from this state that recognition and respect of Asian values were achieved. Many political leaders echoed these sentiments on cultural diversification, and aspect of uniting people. Among those who gave their verdicts include, Lee Kwan Yu who were the former Singapore prime minister, Mahathir who was Malaysian prime minister among others. They all agreed that the spread of United States culture in many parts of Asia which were threatening to force out the Asian native traditions should be eradicated (Yamamura & Streeck 2003). The US and Western Europe culture were seen by many as the best and most Asians had reverted to it, abandoning their native culture. Japanese diversification therefore helps in maintaining the Asian traditions. Over past years, reputation and Japan image in the world has significantly developed. People can now associate with them freely, and most people feel free to visit them, some for job opportunities, others go for casual trips. Their cultural goods has spread significantly across the world, and in most cases, people have accepted them. (Manga and anime) are among the games that has received much attention and cheers all over the world (Yamamura & Streeck 2003). They are developed basing on Japanese attributes, therefore as people play, they also get to learn how Japanese culture work. Establishment of their industry as a world leading mainly in electronics manufacturing vehicles of the Toyota brands has help to facilitate diversification and acceptance of their products. It creates a feeling across the whole world that their superior products are as a result of acceptable culture, which is then spread all over the universe (Yamamura & Streeck 2003). The rise of the cultural industry is also something worth recognizing. It was acknowledged internationally, and it was no surprise when its soft power was debated in the United States (Marshall 2008). Before this time most of their products were only sold in the markets across Asia, and when the US finally accepted to receive their products, it further enlarges their market. It was also during the middle twentieth century that Japan economy starts rising. With diversification of their culture which were acceptable throughout, it enable them improve economically. It is not only in politics that changes were noted, politically, they also emerge as a top country. With all communities being treated to feel as one thing, unity built enable good governance which improves their politics and made them emerge as one of the top state (Marshall 2008). Dominating subculture in Japan is in accordance with double codes (Marshall 2008). They are practiced in many parts of Japan which contradicts by a large margin with accepted norms with culture like they have. Their language has a distinct meaning that comes than what it actually means. It is from such words which have hidden meaning that it shows some people speaking this language do not actually understand what they are talking. It is not that they don’t know, but the inner meaning of statement they make shows that there is existence of misunderstanding and misinterpretations of meaning. Others understand the actual meaning, while others just speak it as it is their native language (Lie 2001). Examples of words which are commonly confused include, soto which means outer side and uchi meaning inner side. Among the majority communities, when referring to members from their side, that is the major sub culture, they say uchi and when it is not theirs or from the other community, they refer to as soto. This draws a boundary in confidential matters to be discussed since one need to look at surrounding to know who is around (Routledge 2007). They feel free in company of their fellow uchi members, and can talk almost anything unlike in the company of outsiders as they have to be careful in what they are speaking. Communist party among the citizens illustrates the existence of inequality among them. This can be witnessed during elections in which approximately ten percent of total votes casts are communists. The middle class label is losing meaning as in this state, the rich opt for capitalism structure and the remaining becomes communists (Healey 2012). This forces people to either refer themselves as the upper class or the lower ones. Existences of many classes in which people can be grouped also further shows diversification in their culture, meaning they are not all the same throughout the society. Marxian researchers gave an analysis of Japanese standard of lives and how they all relate among themselves (Healey 2012). There are the communists who are small in percentage, new middle, working, old middle, farming and self employed. The first group capitalist, is a group of the rich members of the community, they are mostly corporate managers who earn high incomes and have good living conditions as compared to others. They are more powerful and influential than others, and in short they control most of what is going on in the state to benefit them (Lie 2001). Working class consists of two groups; the skilled and non skilled, temporary and part time workers. They are the majority currently in Japan, and they pose low level of education and most if not all of them are discontented with status of the jobs they are doing. They view employment as means of maintaining themselves rather than source of satisfaction and fulfillment of their dreams. They start their jobs early in the morning, and prefer to move out of work place as early as possible as they feel more appreciated at home or even help in communal work. They participate in these extra activities to acquire satisfaction which they don’t get in their work stations (Healey 2012). Middle class is of two groups; the old, who are none employed and they work for themselves like farmers and business men, and new comprising of middle office managers and junior clerks. Farmers in the old class however have declined overtime as a result of industrialization and rural urban migration (Lie 2001). Small scale entrepreneurs referred to as self employed, forms another important group of autonomous proprietors. Some of them have high ability in constructions which became essential during industrialization as most of them applied the knowledge they had into practice. The rich members of the old middle class are much conservative both in social life and in political arena have low educational backgrounds and are not outgoing in nature (Okano & Tsuchiya 1999). Their way of doing things is different from those of different class. From this, it clearly illustrates that the Japanese people are different in various perspectives. There is religious diversification in Japan. Buddhism and Shinto are the dominating religion in the state. Shinto is believed to be an ancient religion in the country, and is dated back to invention of Japanese culture. Buddhism is believed to be imported culture, but it latter came to be the major religion (Bouma & Pratt 2010). They follow religious rituals and are mostly observed during ceremonies like weddings, funerals among others. There are Christians in the region. Though they are among the minority, they still have their religion respected and they express themselves much like the Buddhism or the Shinto. Islamic religion though minority group also live in Japan. They all have their religion respected, and this shows how diversified the people in religious issues are, but still able to stay together harmoniously (Bouma & Pratt 2010). There are many native speakers in Japan also. Nihongo is the most common language spoken across the whole state and is believed to be spoken by around one hundred and twenty five million people. It is the dominant language in the region and is considered as their national language. This does not restrict other languages from being used across the state also (Okamoto & Shibamoto 2004). The ryukyuan and the ainu are also among the most common spoken languages, there is existence of minority Koreans, Chinese and English speakers, whom from them migrating to Japan, they still maintain their original language, therefore making the state a to have different languages. Several Japanese native speakers with their background in Japan are also found in most parts of the world currently. They have explored most parts of the world and taken their culture with them, showing that it is not only in their motherland that their culture is practiced, but also across the whole world (Okamoto & Shibamoto 2004). Their mode of dressing also suggests that they are different in most parts of it. Currently, most people dress the way they feel comfortable in, and not how culture and tradition suggests for them. This freedom to do whatever they feel is great for them since the inception of cultural diversification further illustrates that it is not heterogeneous society (Okamoto & Shibamoto 2004). There are also those people with different beliefs in the state and all of them are made to feel comfortable, even with difference they have regarding traditions (Okamoto & Shibamoto 2004). Some food also considered stable or Japanese stable food are also what other members of this society are no eating. With existence of Chinese, Koreans and English among other sub cultures, their stable food is not all the same. These are citizens who are fully members of the state; therefore to consider them all the same is not true reflection of what is actually there. Discrimination in japan also exists; it is a problem that mostly the foreigners undergo in their society as other Japanese do not view them as part of their culture. It is however not racial discrimination that is most common with them. Foreigners have problems in getting good jobs and houses as compared to other Japanese. From this type of discrimination however, it is possible to argue that these people undergo such challenges because of their race. For none Japanese, to get a house to live in in particular is usually a challenge since the house owners mostly prefer fellow Japanese than a foreigner. From my own point of view, japan is a state with many subcultures in it. Existence of different classes of people, different language speakers and different practices in this state highlights variances in the way their society does things. It is important to mention their peaceful and understanding coexistence also as one thing that has helped them achieve a lot with their largely diversified society. In conclusion, Japan is a country that is believed to be homogeneous in their culture in the world. With this in mind, one could be forgiven for thinking that they are people who does the same things, have the same tradition, and generally, same culture. However, it is clear that Japanese culture is widely diversified, not only within, but also across the world. Their products have been accepted in the entire world (Lee et al 2006). Their people are free to move in any part, all classes of people are found here, the rich, the middle and low income earners are all there. Acceptance of their traditions which other subcultures all over the world view it as good, and they adopting it from them also helps in diversifying their culture more. References Bouma, G. D., Ling, R., & Pratt, D. (2010). Religious diversity in Southeast Asia and the Pacific: National case studies. Dordrecht. Healey, J. F. (2012). Diversity and society: Race, ethnicity, and gender, 2011/2012. Thousand Oaks, Calif: Pine Forge Press/Sage. Lee, S., Murphy-Shigematsu, S. & Befu, H. . (2006). Japan's diversity dilemmas: Ethnicity, citizenship, and education. New York Lie, J. (2001). Multiethnic Japan. Cambridge, Mass. MacConnell, D. L. (2000). Importing diversity: Inside Japan's JET program. Berkeley .Marshall, Y. (2008). Heterogeneous Japan: The cultural distinctions between western and eastern Japan. Okamoto, S., & Shibamoto, S. J. S. (2004). Japanese language, gender and ideology: Cultural models and real people. New York: Oxford university press. Okano, K., & Tsuchiya, M. (1999). Education in contemporary Japan: Inequality and diversity. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Sugimoto, Y. (2010). An introduction to Japanese society. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. Yamamura, K., & Streeck, W. (2003). The end of diversity?: Prospects for German and Japanese capitalism. Read More