Japan, Teamwork, Harmony Ideal - understand-culture

Leaving the Room

The General Council of the Liberal Democratic Party decides by unanimity, as a matter of custom. A 2016 paper by the political scientist Nishikawa Shin’ichi gives examples of how dissent has been handled. In 1974, two dissenting members were asked to leave their seats voluntarily, so that the council could adopt the Japan-China aviation agreement “unanimously.” In 2015, a member who opposed the security bills left before the vote, and the decision counted as unanimous.

On June 28, 2005, the council’s chair, Kuma Akio, broke the custom. He put an amendment to the postal privatization bills to a vote by show of hands.

Do Not Rage When Others Differ

Article 10 of the Seventeen-Article Constitution, traditionally credited to Prince Shōtoku and dated 604, begins: Ikari o tachi, ikari o sutete, hito no tagau o ikarazare. Cut off resentment, cast away anger, and do not rage when others differ.

Crossing on Red Together

Akashingō minna de watareba kowakunai: if everyone crosses on a red light together, it is not scary. The line began as a dark gag by the comedy duo Two Beat, Beat Takeshi and Beat Kiyoshi. It was printed in a book of their jokes in 1980.

Japanese Wikipedia explains the phrase this way. Even something that is forbidden can be done without psychological resistance when it is done as a group. The phrase entered the eighth edition of the dictionary Sanseidō Kokugo Jiten in 2021.

Not Causing Trouble for Others

The education company Benesse asked mothers what kind of person they hoped their child would become. In Japan, 71 percent answered hito ni meiwaku o kakenai hito, a person who does not cause trouble for others. Newsweek Japan reported the figure in 2019 but did not give the year of the survey.

A Benesse report of 2018 on the lives of young children describes the wish that a child should not cause trouble for others as a traditional value that parents still hold.

Consideration and Cooperation

The official record that Japanese elementary and junior high schools keep for each pupil includes a section called kōdō no kiroku, the record of conduct. The reference form lists ten items.

Among them are omoiyari, kyōryoku (consideration and cooperation), kōsei, kōhei (fairness and impartiality) and kōkyōshin, kōtokushin (public spirit and public morality).

The Crusher

In the group discussions of Japanese job hunting, students sometimes meet a kurasshā, a crusher, who wrecks the discussion. A job guide for students notes that interviewers watch for cooperation and the ability to respond flexibly.

A career column on the site All About is blunter: “There are often students who try to push their own opinion through. Count on that student failing.” It adds that what the group discussion assesses is teamwork.

The Vocabulary of Togetherness

Ichiren takushō (一蓮托生): one lotus. In Buddhism, being reborn on the same lotus flower in paradise. Today, sharing actions and fate to the end, whatever the result, as in shinu mo ikiru mo zen’in ichiren takushō da, live or die, we all share one fate.

Onaji kama no meshi o kū (同じ釜の飯を食う): to eat rice from the same pot. Comrades who ate from the same pot feel close to one another. It is also used for people who worked in the same workplace.

Civil Conciliation

Article 1 of Japan’s Civil Conciliation Act of 1951 states its purpose: to resolve civil disputes through mutual concession by the parties, in a way that is reasonable and fits the actual circumstances.

The Seventeen-Article Constitution

The Seventeen-Article Constitution, which the Nihon Shoki dates to 604 and credits to Prince Shōtoku, ends with this rule: Sore koto wa hitori sadamu bekarazu. Kanarazu shū to agetsurau beshi. Matters should not be decided by one person alone. They must always be discussed with others.

Its first article opens with a related idea. Harmony is to be valued, and avoiding opposition is to be the principle. Other early sources date the text to 602 or 605.

One Team

On December 2, 2019, the grand prize of Japan’s annual New Words and Buzzwords Awards went to ONE TEAM. It was the slogan of the national rugby team at the Rugby World Cup 2019 in Japan, coached by Jamie Joseph.

Under captain Michael Leitch, the squad of 31 players included 15 players from seven other countries. The team won all four of its pool matches and reached the knockout stage for the first time.