The crooked nail gets hammered down

There's an "infamous" proverb in Japanese, "deru kugi ha utareru" - as the dictionary translates as:

"the nail which sticks out gets hammered down (used to encourage conformity)"

This sounds frightening to a westerner, and makes one think of the usual stereotype that Japanese people are all the same, think the same, look the same, dress the same, have no creativity, and here's this maxim of their culture "encouraging conformity."

Of course, that is just a stereotype, and quite inaccurate.

To make a comment on the "Japanese copy everything, but never innovate" thing, well it's obvious from recent history that that is not true. The difference between innovation and renovation is a really minute issue that's up to a lot of philosophical debate to begin with. Then we add in that Japan was "modernized" very late in the game. Sure, they started to implement western schooling and things like that in the Meiji restoration period (late 1800's to early 1900's), but their true "modernization" was not until after the second world war.

The end of that war and the subsequent "modernization" started a mere 72 years ago, short enough for your parents or grandparents to remember. And we compare this with the Western project of centuries or millennia. So in 72 years (including dealing with the aftermath of the war, with most of Tokyo burnt to the ground etc), Japan has emerged as a world power, a huge economy, and tons of technological renovation and dare I say innovation.

To quote zizek, "What interests me in Japan is that it is a good argument against the vulgar, pseudo Marxist evolutionary notion that you have to go through certain evolutionary stages. Japan proves that you can make a direct short circuit. You retain certain elements of the old hierarchical superstructure and combine it very nicely with the most effective version of capitalism as it pretends to be. It's a good experience in non-antropocentrism. It's a mystery for Western sociologists who say that you need Protestant ethics for good capitalism."

In the fields of robotics, animation, comics, it is obvious the whole world is watching Japan. I think this takes care of the "no creativity" issue.

Next, "look the same." That's a joke if you've ever been to Japan. If you want some pointers as to some really innovative, creative (and usually home-made, home-designed, etc) people, then check out the magazine Fruits

http://fashion.3yen.com/2005-07-08/fruits/

or the site:

http://www.japanesestreets.com/

I have a lot to say on that, but for another time.

Next, we have the "think alike / behave alike" thing. That's going to really be another post.. But I wanted to share something minor that struck me in this regard.

eBay pulled out of Japan very early. Yahoo took over here. So if you talk about auctions in the US, you say "we have this junk, let's ebay it" and the Japanese say "let's yahoo it."

I think japan's way of doing business was pretty opposite ebay's. Part of it is.. japan is small so everyone is used to ordering delivery stuff, and theres a billion ways to pay for it without resorting to evil like paypal or nonrecoupable money orders etc. There's also the trust issue and the level of manners (see previous posts about this) involved.

Anyway, I've been looking at a japanese auction, and the terms for it struck me. This person was encouraging conformity. Encouraging everyone to think alike. And here's a brief translation of what his terms are for his auction:


"Recently it's been seen that some people win an auction but then make no contact, they're just silent. I don't think that is the right way to be as a human being. Then, they make a claim saying, 'yes, but i have things to do in life, there are things that come up that have to be dealt with, etc.' but isn't it really true that "there are things that come up that have to be dealt with SO you should make contact"? It's not that those things get in the way of dealing with a seller. the seller is another thing you deal with in life. So please contact. If you were to arrive late to work or school and say 'yes, but i have things to do in life, there are things that come up that have to be dealt with, etc', would that be acceptable? i don't think so."