Nihonjinron
One concept you eventually bump into when studying about Japan is Nihonjinron (nee-HONE-JEEN-rone), a word which literally means “theories on Japan.” A collection of ideas that grew out of 
Japan’s postwar period, the Nihonjinron concepts generally have to do with describing Japan as a unique country, totally unlike the nations of Asia or the West, with a linguistic and developmental history unlike that of any other nation.
Part of this is the belief, held by almost all Japanese, that their language is one of the most difficult in the world, with its mixture of Japanese words and grammar overlaid by Chinese characters with readings that shift by context and region, with a heavy borrowing of foreign loan words for good measure. Another part of the reason Japanese is so hard, supposedly, is that it is so subtle, with so many shades of grey and information that’s implied rather than being specifically stated.
Although some of the ideas seem like they could possibly be valid, there’s a high amount of voodoo in most Nihonjinron thinking, and overall it seems to be nothing more than coming up with ways to feel good about your own country, since everyone feels that their country is special.
Photo found in Typical Japanese Scenes, by Carlos Noboro.
Here I go again — the village nitpicker on the loose — BUT… “nihonjinron” literally means “theories on the Japanese,” not on Japan.
The distinction is vital to understanding the concept. According to “nihonjinron,” the Japanese people (not the country) are themselves unique. Sometimes attempts are even made to make pseudo-scientific explanations based on DNA or physiology (as when, way back in the 1980s, someone tried to say that US beef shouldn’t be imported into the US because Japanese intestines were different from “Westerners’” intestines. Go figure…).
Further problems arise when proponents of “nihonjinron” try to make claims like “the Japanese language and literature is full of aural descriptions that are almost non-existant in western languages and literature because the Japanese brain (sometimes “mind”) is attuned to notice and appreciate such things.”
This pure poppy-cock completely ignores the fact that Japanese poetry, where aural references and onomatopoeia were originally used, established certain classical standards that are observed to this day. In other words, we are talking about literary devices, not DNA.
Put another way, imagine a British or American professor trying to convince the world that iambic pentameter is so prevelant in the English language and literature because the “Anglo brain (mind?)” is genetically attuned to this rhythm. A person making such a claim would be a laughing stock for completely ignoring the social and literary standards that were established in Renaissance England and are sometimes still observed today (are any poets still writing sonnets, I wonder??).
“Nihonjinron” is sort of out of fashion these days, but it rears its ugly head from time to time, for example in books such as the recent “The Dignity of the Nation” (a loose translation of 『国家の品格』) by Fujiwara Masahiko (who is a mathematician!!). In this book he rants on and on about how “the Japanese” are a people who built a culture based on “emotions” and thus “logic” is not “suitable” for them. And so on. Sheesh.
You can check out the book here:
September 14th, 2006 at 3:02 pmhttp://www.amazon.co.jp/exec/obidos/ASIN/4106101416/
Oh, and by the way, what’s REALLY funny about the argument that “the Japanese are not suited to logical thinking” is that the author uses logic to build his argument.
One simply HAS to laugh:shock:
September 14th, 2006 at 3:06 pmI have a friend down in Kyushu who is always driving me crazy with his “logical” comparisons between Japan and Westerners.
He was trying to learn the song “My Grandfather’s Clock” in English, and asked me to help him master the pronunciation and the meaning of the lyrics.
When we got to the line, “And the old man died,” he said something like, “Isn’t it interesting that we have so many different words in Japanese to describe the act of dying, while in English you only have the word ‘die.’”
This guy’s English ability is virtually zero, and yet he jumped to this conclusion based solely on the belief that Japan, and the Japanese are innately more caring or poetic or feeling or something than English-speakers.
More recently I had to listen to him carrying on, after his first trip to the U.S., about how rough and violent the scenery of the U.S. is, which (of course) explains the rough and violent nature of Americans.
He went on to compare this with the gentle and calm scenery of Japan, which. . . etc., etc., etc.
It was then I couldn’t take it any longer and told him he’s a damn idiot. . . proving, I guess, his point about the rough and violent nature of Americans.
September 14th, 2006 at 4:50 pmYes, I hate the “tatemae” that Japanese sometimes embrace, it’s quite silly. My wife has a relative who wants to hang with me because he’s into online business, but he doesn’t know much about his own country, outside of really basic ideas.
September 14th, 2006 at 5:38 pmMost Japanese feel they can speak for all of their compatriots, whatever the subject. So, it’s always a bit of a jolt when I find out how little they know about other Japanese, even their friends and family. Just this morning, a young woman told me that almost no Japanese have tattoos, except of course, yakuza.
September 14th, 2006 at 7:02 pmBut then, she never heard of Mixi, either.
Good point, Ghoti. That comes from everyone supposedly having the same opinion on things (= “joshiki”). In America we know that there are “two” Americas at least, e.g. conservative/liberal, Christian/other, and so on.
September 14th, 2006 at 7:54 pmThe whole idea that the Japanese language is some sort of inscrutable code should’ve been debunked when American intelligence routinely “deciphered” the “code” during WW2. The Japanese military believed so utterly in the myth of the difficulty of foreigners picking up their language that many of their communications were never encrypted, just sent straight in the clear in Japanese (a good example of this is how the Americans ferreted out that Midway would be the Imperial Navy’s next target).
September 15th, 2006 at 6:05 amMy personal handheld Turing Bombe (c/w remora encryption tools) is perfectly adequate for the job…(wot’s the problem?)
*by the way if it was good enough for the Enigma code - nihongo will be a picnic*..:roll:
http://www.remora.com.au/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bombe
September 15th, 2006 at 6:46 amGetting back to nihonjinron, it actually predates WWII, let alone the postwar era, by a half century. The precursor thought may go back into Japanes antiquity, but it began to be exploited for socio-political reasons during the late Meiji Era and came into its ugly fullness during the Showa militarist period.
September 15th, 2006 at 11:30 am[...] This survey is in response, I presume, to a recent best-selling (2 million at the last count) 日本人論, nihonjinron book, 「国家の品格」, “kokka no hinkaku”, “Dignity of a Nation” (please visit this link to marxy’s translation and analysis of the book) by an apparently bonkers right-wing author, Masahiko Fujiwara. [...]
September 15th, 2006 at 11:01 pmDang! late to the party again! Oh, well someone may see this comment.
I’ve been here around 20 years and been told at various times that this small island nation:
1) … is the only country with 4 seasons (Then why do other languages have words for the seasons? And anyway, Japan has five if you include the rainy season!
2) …does not have any gays. (I said, come with me to Ni-chome and say that in a loud voice!)
3) …has never had slaves (umm, what about the Koreans in WWII? Could they have just left?
4)…has history that is more difficult than any other nation’s!
5)….has natives who do not like dark houses. This last comment was said by a Japanese as he sat in my old Japanese house, designed, built by and lived in. ahem, Japanese.
War propaganda decreed that Japanese intestines were longer (or was it shorter?!) than westerners and could not digest meat, in part, evidently, to squelch complaints about war-time shortages. To my knowledge no one has ever done testing to prove/disprove this theory. I also saw a crazy professor who was convinced that Japanese brains were different.
If they believe all of that, well, maybe their brains ARE different!
September 20th, 2006 at 12:04 amDon’t forget the snow.
An attempt was make by the ski makers association here to set “standards” for skis (in an apparent attempt to restrict imports) years ago because Japanese snow is “different.”
September 20th, 2006 at 9:16 amWell, an awful lot if it is artificial. Does that qualify?
September 20th, 2006 at 10:41 amOf course, around 1992 or so all that was removed (the ski importing thing). Now Japan is, at least based on the products you can buy, a very open economy, at least compared to what it was back when I got here.
September 20th, 2006 at 11:02 amPPayne, you are so right. My experience dates from 1987. What one can get now compared to then is like comparing day to night.
Unfortunately, the importers and distributors are still jacking up the prices on imports atrociously. Contrary to what they will tell you, Japan’s import duty schedule and fees are nominal, except for those related to a few agricultural products and certain protected, minority dominated industries; the real cost is in the labyrinthine port procedures virtually controlled by a few trading houses and longshore unions. With that cartel choking off competition, the middlemen can charge whatever they want, and maybe feel patriotic about limiting volume. What better deal than making big money from limited volume, and getting off on your perception of meeting patriotic duty, too?
It will continue to get better. The Japanese public are not fools. You can fool some of the people, but you can’t fool all the people for very long..
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