The Japan of My Experience

Hur Sumg Im

Five years have passed since I came to Japan and I am very pleased to have had the opportunity to be exposed to various aspects of Japanese culture. Although it is not possible for me to say in a word what Japan is like, especially as I have only resided in this country for five years, I would like, from the point of view of a student from Korea, to express my thoughts on how I perceive Japan and how I would like to see it change. In "The Anatomy of Dependence" by Mr. Doi, the most widely known work on Japanese culture, he says that the Japanese mentality is characterized by the sense of "amae" or "dependence". He came to this realization in a rather dramatic manner. During a conversation conducted in English with a British lady who was fluent in Japanese, she suddenly said "This child did not 'amaeru' much" in Japanese. Then, revering to English, continued with the conversation. When Mr.Doi asked her why she had switched to Japanese, she replied that there was no English equivalent for the word "amaeru". He was struck by how aptly she had pin pointed the peculiarity of the word and its meaning. This I found most interesting because in Korea, we also have a word for "amaeru" which is used in different ways such as "amaeru", "amaembo" and "amanzuru". Therefore, although I was in agreement with Mr. Doi as to the "amae" culture being a good point of comparison between western and Japanese culture, I could not go along with his theory that it was unique to Japan. Other well known theories that refer to Japan as being a hierarchical society, or a culture based on interpersonal relations and on shame (haji), furthermore, could also be applied to Korea where Confucianism is deeply rooted. It is natural that Japanese culture should differ from that of the west as Japan is an Asian country. A truly or uniquely Japanese culture would, however, be one that differs from those of China and Korea, countries with which Japan has had a long historical relationship, as well as those of other Asian countries. Therefore, I feel that to better understand Japan, one should deepen one's understanding of Asian countries.