Japan, its History, Values, and Technology

Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences,University of Wisconsin - Green Bay

Japan and the U.S. Compared

JAPAN	UNITED STATES
147,500 square miles (somewhat smaller than California)	3,618,770 square miles
119,200,000 population (1982)	234,250,000 population (1982)
811 inhabitants/square mile	64 inhabitants/square mile
76% urban	79% urban
GNP $1.0 trillion (1982)	GNP $2.6 trillion (1982)
National Budget $190 billion (1982)	National Budget $700 billion (1982)

In latitude, Japan extends roughly between the latitudes of:

Insularity
Deliberate and selective adaptation of foreign influences
Emphasis on harmony, form, ritual, ceremony
Bushido - code of feudal honor
- Westerners have a morbid fascination with the ritual of seppuku ("hara-kiri" is considered vulgar by the Japanese)
- Reality check: A highly-trained (and expensive) caste of warriors will not last long if the losers kill themselves after every battle!
- Bushido was far more complex; it allowed for honorable surrender and even changing sides in a conflict.

Chinese influence wanes
Native Japanese culture grows
Emperors become figureheads subordinate to military chiefs
Northward expansion.
Originally, Japanese culture occupied thesouthern half of the Japanese islands. The northern half wasoccupied by an aboriginal people called the Ainu. During thisperiod, Japanese culture occupied all but the northernmost islandof Hokkaido. The small Ainu remnant lives on this island today.

Feudalism - Stage I
Growth of Samurai or warrior class
Shoguns (military chiefs) control Japan
1274, 1281 Mongol invasion attempts, both times thwarted by atyphoon (Kamikaze = "divine wind"). The Kamikaze pilots of World War IItook their name from these events; the expectation was that theywould save Japan from defeat just as the typhoons had.

Terminated when shoguns feared the rising influence of Europeans,especially Christianity.

Rapid modernization and adaptation of European and Americantechnology

1904-1906 Russo-Japanese War
The unexpected defeat of Russia marked Japan's emergence as a global power.
1920's - Period of political and social liberalism
1930's
- Nationalism and ethnocentricity
- Military dictatorship and totalitarianism
- War in China

De-militarization
De-deification of Emperor
Both sides pleasantly surprised
- Japanese had expected harsh treatment
- U.S. had expected stubborn resistance
Ironically, the egoism of General Douglas MacArthur may have played a constructive role. He was comfortable receiving the adulation the Japanese traditionally showed leaders.
Has been termed "History's most successful social engineering experiment."

Most Westerners are struck by the differences between Japan and the West. Very few notice the similarities.

Technology
Why has Japan shown such a remarkable affinity for Western technology?
Insularity
- Lack of external invasion
- Freedom to develop without interference
- Isolationism
- Ability to adapt foreign ideas
- Freedom to select or reject external influences
Cultural hybridization
- Japan/china
- England/france
- U.S./immigrants
Acceptance of Christianity
- Missionaries found Japan to be by far the most receptive Asian country to Christianity
- Cult of Amida Buddhism may have preconditioned Japanese to some Christian concepts
Feudalism
- Development of knightly code of conduct
  - Chivalry in Europe
  - Bushido in Japan
- Ability to recover from defeat or setback
- Emphasis on self-direction
- Possibly an outgrowth of knightly class, which created an influential cadre of self-aware individuals who in theory, and sometimes even in fact, conformed their conduct to an internalized code of behavior.

Created 22 May 1997
Last Update 22 May 1997