Western justice and Oriental order
Commentary ( 17 )
Lately, when I’ve had spare time to read something for pleasure rather than for work, I’ve been exploring “A History of Japan” by George Sansom, published in 1963. Obviously it lacks the historical perspective to enlighten the reader much about modern Japan, but the first 100 or so pages on the early history of Japanese civilization have been a joyous read due to the keen analytical observations the author mixes with his detailed historical accounts.
There is a chapter on the impact Chinese culture has had on this country, and near the end is a part about law, its religious underpinnings and the world view it has fostered in the Far East. Sansom writes that even though there are numerous native Japanese gods, there are none who punish the people for committing wrong acts. “Even the so-called bad gods (akugami) are conciliated, because they are mischievous rather than wicked.” There is no equivalent to Satan, a purely evil spirit, and there is a similar attitude held toward law. In both Tang China and Japanese law under its influence, the penal code was given a relatively less important role “because punishment of an individual does not rectify a disturbance of the natural order.”
This tendency to give greater priority to order and stability over justice and morality continues on into the present day. At its core, modern Japanese law has remained largely unchanged since the Civil Code, or Minpo, was created in 1896, with the most notable changes occurring after the country’s defeat in WWII. It was heavily influenced by its German and French counterparts, giving priority to law and order over individual freedom. Also, laws and contracts in Japan tend to be brief compared to their equivalents in the West, and parties to a contract are often left to work out differences as they arise rather than spelling out several methods of resolution for potential conflicts.
Compare this now with the religious and legal traditions we are familiar with in the West. The holy books of our monotheistic faiths recount the various punishments dealt to sinners by God, Jehovah and Allah. The Ten Commandments are absolute, and they have greatly influenced our legal traditions. While we, of course, tend to value order, it is not uncommon for us to upset the order in pursuit of justice. The concept of humanitarian intervention-infringement on another state’s sovereignty, by force if necessary, to rectify an unjust situation or oppose a crime against humanity such as genocide—characteristically arose from Western civilization.
This is not to say that there have not been periods of disorder (the warring states period, or Sengoku Jidai) or moral crusades (witness the parents of Megumi Yokota’s continuous efforts to rescue or find out about their kidnapped daughter in North Korea) in Japan. However, if you’ve been in Japan for at least a few years as I have, then you’ve probably noticed that conflicts are often resolved here in what we may find to be an unusual manner. Here are some of the stories I’ve witnessed or heard of second-hand:
* The bicyclist who got hit with fireworks when passing in front of a reveler launching the rocket on the banks of the Kamo River in Kyoto. An apology accompanied by several deep bows was sufficient to prevent a physical confrontation.
* The foreign visitors who were assaulted by some Japanese youths, pointed them out to the police, and then were told by the police to accept an apology from the offenders, thus closing the matter.
* The club around the corner from the police box in my neighborhood that everyone knows is run by the Japanese mafia (yakuza) has been open for years, and will probably continue to be.
* The cops I saw who decided not to chase the kids on the scooter without helmets and riding down the opposite lane.
* The lack of serious enforcement of traffic laws against bosozoku (motorcycle gangs).
Is this bad or is it good? It all depends on the situation. Take the bosozoku, for example. Yes, they are incredibly annoying, and I would be seriously tempted to run them off the road if they harassed me while I was driving. But does it really do anybody any serious harm if some kids want to be loud once or twice a week? I’ll take them over the Crips and Bloods any day.
Putting up with mobsters, on the other hand, may avoid a violent disturbance for the present, but their activities including loan sharking, extortion, racketeering and prostitution (with poor girls and women from other East Asian countries forced into the industry as slaves) hurts real people. So a very legitimate argument can be made that tolerance in this case is unacceptable, especially as these activities hurt more and more people and drain society’s resources over the long term. Fortunately, Japanese police have been cracking down on gang activities more in recent years, especially since the mayor of Nagasaki was assassinated in 2007 by a gangster who had a grievance against the municipal government.
I have no intention of passing judgment on Japanese or Western attitudes toward justice and order in this article. It is useful, however, living here in Japan, for us to recognize these general differences. When we encounter what we feel to be an injustice at work, or perhaps even in our personal lives, we should keep in mind that rocking the boat will probably just make everyone around us uncomfortable and in the end, likely not achieve anything. We need to accept that we must choose our battles. Sometimes we can win, and sometimes we may even feel that the consequences of being “the nail that stands up” are acceptable.
I in fact had a situation like this when I decided to abruptly resign from a full-time job because I had been lied to about the conditions that would be in my next contract. It was okay, though, because I already had something set up and was planning on leaving the company in the near future anyway. But in other circumstances, like when I was suddenly questioned without any explanation at all by the police on what I was doing, where I was going, etc, thus making me late to a business appointment, it may be better to just let things slide. In my case, I didn’t want to make myself even later by making a scene in front of some cops who probably wouldn’t have hesitated to continue the questioning back at the station.
So I do my best to try and understand our Japanese hosts rather than pointing out and ridiculing the ways in which they are different from us. There’s certainly something to be said for peace and harmony, even if things don’t always go the way you think they should. Besides, are you going to change the fundamental world view your society has instilled in you just to accommodate Japanese visitors to your country? If you know about Japanese culture, then yes, maybe you will. But most won’t, right? So when in Rome…or Tokyo, or wherever…
Order by Time Order by Popularity
17 Comments
Login to comment
0
JeffLee
A flawed premise. Japan (and other Asian countries for that matter) deals with criminals far more harshly, using the death penalty. All other "Christian" Western countries (apart from US) ended this.
Prison and sentencing also tend to be harsher here. Usually bereaved family menbers are seen in the news calling for bloody revenge, as in death. Sorry, that's the reality of modern Japan, where majority of population supports death penalty and harsh sentencing.
-2
McAlpine
Jefflee,
You have got to be kidding me. Prison sentences are a piece of cake in Japan.
0
notimpressed
I thought those were good observations of the some of the most infuriating aspects of Japan. But it is also correct that it is something we need to to understand and get by with. The foreign nail that sticks up will be plucked and chucked.
0
tkoind2
History tells us that Japan and China have been ruled by wealthy ruling classes who imposed systems of "order" in an effort to control and rule their populations. The benefit of social order is control. Both China and Japan have spent most of their histories ruled by warlords or regional despotic rulers. Like any other form of despotism, absolute rule in the name of social order over individual consideration is necessary or this form of rule cannot persist.
Likewise socio-political structures equally influence religious structures as does the reverse. So it is also arguable that the definition of dieties in Asia mirrors the political and social realities as well and may even be the result of the values postulated by the ruling class and their political structures.
While there are subtle differences, the methods of control are quite similar in both east and west. The key difference in my opinion comes from the difference in the stages of socio-political advancement that separates the east from west. Asia did not have left leaning political change until the 20th century and then it was done in a collectivist manner. Both Japan and China were still ruled by despotic factions in the begining of the 20th century making their development towards individualistic or left leaning collectivist or liberal ideologies lag far behind the west.
In the west radical thinkers, primarily led by merchant classes fed up with the leaching of prosperity done by the ruling class decided to change political systems to be more friendly to individual profit taking. While promoted as liberty, it most often was about taxes and the latitude to make more money.
That gave way to more truly liberal thinking which has yet to really take hold anywhere.
Now that Asia has the same powerful merchant class, I think the ideas of social order will soon give way to the notions of prosperity. We already see this in the demise of full employment in Japan, the changes to the social contract between business and the population and the growing dissatisfaction of the working class over the long standing order.
What we have here is a political development gap far more than and Oriental vs Western gap.
0
Beelzebub
The old order, which got things done by brute force and corporal punishment, is gone, leaving a vacuum in its place. Now people do whatever they want, with no regard for meiwaku to others. The lack of discipline has created a generation of human beings who are utterly absorbed in themselves. All consumption, leisure, entertainment and other activities center around the fulfillment of the need for instant self gratification on the most infantile level. Japan's self-indulgent society has spawned 100 million Peter Pans -- the boys (and girls) who never grow up. That, essentialliy, is what the new "order" is about.
0
Nessie
I'd say the contrast is more with liberal Englightenment values than with Christian values. For some reason, Japanese and Japan-watchers identify these as "Christian values," which is a stretch.
0
fds
i don't think the old order is imposed so much by force and punishment as by group dynamics of japanese society in general. but its not only in japan that there has been a breakdown of order imposed by society, i.e. common courtesy. i think that this has happened in the u.s. and other countries too. its just that the vacuum is much larger in japan where such group dynamics played a much bigger part in controlling behavior than law as in western countries. the problem is that japan has been slow in recognizing the breakdown and filling the void.
0
shinjukuboy
Beelzebub,
A nation full of self-indulgent peter pans. Sounds good to me, and sounds like a lot of fun. At least they aren't out suicide-bombing and killing whole populations, etc. Yes, I'll take the peter pans any day.
0
senseiman
As someone who, in addition to reading Sansom's work, is also a law school graduate I'd like to offer a few observations about this article:
A) It is not correct that Tang China and Japan the penal code was "given a relatively less important role". As anybody who has studied classical Chinese law knows the Dynastic codes were NOTHING BUT penal law. Private law as such didn't really exist in China until relatively recently and the whole concept of law was as a tool for social control by the ruling class ("Rule by Law" instead of "Rule of Law").
B) It is also absurd to suggest that Japanese law has "remained largely unchanged" since the Meiji era. I don't know where to begin with what is wrong with that statement...there is a massive amount of academic literature devoted to nothing but the subject of how much Japanese law has changed in recent years.
C) Conflicts may be resolved in different ways here but the extent to which culture influences that is highly questionable. Ancient religious beleifs are probably even less relevant. Most of the early theories that culture played a prominent role in determining the law in Japan have been discredited by later studies. The myth of the reluctant Japanese litigant who wants to avoid bringing confrontation into the open because of their cultural views has bee exposed as a poor reflection of reality. Structural impediments (like cost) play a much larger role.
This isn't to say that all of your conclusions are wrong, just that you should be careful about publishing pieces in which you make statements based on a very superficial understanding of what you are talking about.
0
Giorgo
@tkoind, what we have here is a teleological assumption. I'm not sure the social order that exists in Japan today is any more "primitive" or less "developed" than the European one. It's just the product of a different history. The reason changes like the erosion of lifetime employment are now happening is not a sign of progress, but a sign of the increasing hegemony of Western liberal capitalism, for better or for worse.
But let's not jump to the conclusion that that's the "final goal" of politics.
@senseiman: besides needing to get a better screen-name :P, you make good points. Alex Farrell, you can't just take four or five anecdotal examples of what you've witnessed and make sweeping judgements on the character of a nation. That's the classic tourist mistake. Just because Japan's history has seen an emphasis on order doesn't mean that it's forever ingrained in the Japanese psyche. Granted, the Japanese may be more perceptive to the language of order than more Western norms such as charity, but this is in no way significant enough to make judgements, and especially not analyses.
Upon visiting Rome, I urge you to go around giving massive slaps to people in the face, and see how many of them adhere to the Catholic exhortation to "turn the other cheek". Religion has very little effect on people's behaviour, but because it's one of the most strikingly different things about foreign countries, we tend to ascribe all differences in behaviour to what is most salient to us.
0
tkoind2
Giorgo. By progress I am referring to the development of socio-economic systems through history. We can define monarchial systems, rule of warlords and such. We can define socialism, stages of capitalism and other forms of government.
If you draw out the progress through some of these stages, Asia was late to shed warlord rule in favor of monarchys and then non-democratic state rule. They were also late in joining the progress towards rule of capitalism.
So by progress I mean in terms of travel along this system line and not a judgement of which system is better or worst.
If I apply a value judgement about the beneficial progress of economic systems, I would argue that all nations have some distance to go yet.
My main point is that control is the real issue. Whether by the point of a weapon, threat of repression, or access to wealth legal systems share the fact that they all exist to exercise control. The difference is the purpose of that control and who is weilding it. And that has more to do with development along this polical system time line than any influence of culture or religion.
0
senseiman
Giorgio - True True. It seems about half the commentary articles on this site are written by people making the tourist mistake!
0
womanforwomen
Japan is my second home, and now that I am here to stay I notice a few things that I wish would change. The treatment of East Asians and the decline in family values is a very sad aspect. I wish Jpeople gave more considertaion to the treatment of women, their own as well as women from other poor nations. They do not deserve to be treated this way.Due to lack of education and understanding, they end up in Japan but the way they are treated is very sad.It is hard for the Jpeople to treat them as equal human beings because this mentality has been infringed over many years and through some very damaging experiences. So I see that the only way to rectify this is to discourage them from coming here. Because if they come here, no matter what level of education they have they are treated in the same level. If it is not askng for too much, Jland and its people should encourage the governments of those poor countries to educate the women in their own countries.
0
mnemosyne23
I can understand your point, WforW, but I'm afraid this would only make the matter worse, not better. As with any issue, large or small, ignoring it or trying to avoid it won't make it go away. The only way to overcome a problem is to face it head on and say, "This is a problem. We're going to fix it." The more women of both Japanese and foreign descent join in this debate, the better the chances of genuine change taking place. And let's not forget the men! Men have voices and a stake in this, just as much as women do. But nothing will happen if people don't organize and demand it happens.
0
womanforwomen
The victims do not understand the gist of the problem. If you ask those women why they do not help themselves, most would answer that well we deserve a good life and so we came here. So they see that getting married to a Japanese man will solve their problems. But statistics will show that it is not so. The women live miserbale lives and they are eternally in the hands of the brokers who bring them here or are treated as slaves by their husbands. I am not from East Asia, so it is sometimes hard for me to to understand what these victims mean when they say they are here to have a better life in the first world. some reports by IOM have some interesting statistics and real experiences.
Most certainly, the men should be invloved to resolve this issue. they have been avoiding this whole thing and denying that this is a serious issue.
On the other hand, it is heartbreaking to hear the life stories of Jwomen whose husbands leave them for young foreign women who are willing to slave for them.
Very hard to make people understand that this issue is contributing greatly for the current social breakdown in the country.
0
jeffrey
Is this bad or is it good? It all depends on the situation. Take the bosozoku, for example. Yes, they are incredibly annoying, and I would be seriously tempted to run them off the road if they harassed me while I was driving. But does it really do anybody any serious harm if some kids want to be loud once or twice a week? I’ll take them over the Crips and Bloods any day.
Crips and Bloods the bozos are not. However, they are hardly harmless noise-makers blowing off some youthful steam. Some groups are associated with the yaks and are involved in drug dealing. And if you indeed tried to run one or more of them off the road, it might be the last thing you do in Japan with the use of all your limbs.
Back to top