SHAKE UP IN JAPAN!

The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home. Confucious

Note: Check out this special site for children called Earthquakes for Kids.


Nearly twenty five years ago my husband and I honeymooned in Japan. I was struck by several things:

Streets in Tokyo were packed with smallish people scurrying purposefully around the city. Pint sized vehicles, especially delivery and other trucks, reflecting the lack of space, jammed the streets. Underground one found a network of subways and what amounted to another city filled with stores and restaurants. The bullet train moved people across the country at 300 km per hour. Mount Fuji's majestic beauty seemed to float in the distance. The population was both friendly and welcoming. Schools were huge and filled with large classes of well-behaved children focused on their learning. These same children took responsibility for taking care of and cleaning their learning environment. People practiced moderation in their food portions, and there was little sign of obesity. And most impressive of all, one experienced a general attitude of respect for others.

The latter was evidenced when I accidentally left my purse on a bench in a busy part of the city, only to find it in that same spot later that day. When discussing this experience with some Japanese acquaintances I learned such honesty was a rule rather than an exception. I was amazed at this level of honesty which often seems missing in large urban areas of the U.S. , indeed in much of the rest of the world.

Now we are watching in horrified disbelief as the entire population of a very small country deals with the devastation of a 9.0 earthquake and a following Tsunami, terrible in scope and damage. The destruction and cost defies understanding, but a couple of things stand out.

The Japanese people are still respectful and purposeful. Yes, they might be used to earthquakes, and the resulting fallout, but nothing prepared them for "the big one" last week. How they are dealing with this tragedy should be a lesson for all of us.

We see no signs of looting or violence, and we see people, whose hearts must be breaking, pitching in to help each other, even to the point of sharing their precious water. This level of respect should give us all pause, since we in America have come to expect both looting AND violence in our own catastrophes - witness what happened in Katrina.

The question is, " Why there and not here?" We have long heard about the tight-knit families in Japan, their respect for elders, and their emphasis on education and personal responsibility. Does it break down to family values then?

An article from Country Studies, states that the Japanese people value harmony, order and self development, and believe that anti-social behavior will doom society. Children are taught from an early age about their society's interdependence, first in the family and later in the society at large. Group harmony is especially important.

The influence of Confucianism on social order is strong. From the essay "Da Xue" (The Great Learning), comes this statement: "Their persons being cultivated, their families were regulated. Their families being regulated, their states were rightly governed. They states being rightly governed, the whole kingdom was made tranquil and happy."

Because the country's population is both small and homogenous, control over social order is easier to exert and maintain than in a country like ours that allows for greater inclusion of other cultures. It would be difficult to fully discuss here the cultural differences that cause the Japanese to be so respectful to others while many of us seem to have such a profound lack of that trait.

To me, this is the defining difference. Japanese society is homogenous, and children learn their values from the cradle. The United States is an ever-changing population of people from all over the world who bring their own belief systems with them, some of them violent. Add poverty, access to guns, little media censorship, and a feeling of entitlement by many, and you have a recipe for disrespectful behavior.

Here are two scenarios that might be illuminating. In Seattle, if I have a class of learners from homes where respect is the norm and education is valued, the children are respectful and open to learning. If a new student comes into the class who acts out and is prone to disrespect, that student is absorbed into the class which, as a group, forces the "lone student" to conform to the class norms.

On the other hand, if I have a class of students, many of whom are disrespectful and act out, those students who have been taught to be respectful at home will often cave in and either add to the chaos or become passive. After all, it sometimes feels like more fun to be naughty than nice.

It's my belief that we probably can't be like the people in Japan overall in terms of respect. We can only try to influence our unruly citizens to see that being respectful and law-abiding is more advantageous in the long run.

Luckily for Japan their citizens are honest, hardworking, ambitious, well educated, and understand the importance of working in groups, They will need all of those traits and skills to survive the coming days, months and years ahead. They did it in the past after WWII. I think they can do it again. In the meantime we, as Americans, should learn a lesson from our Pacific Rim neighbors by modeling honesty and integrity in our daily lives. Good luck and God bless to Japan and its people!