Honors tokyo 2017
A Guide to Getting Lost in Tokyo
Reflection on:
In Precarious Japan, Allison stresses the influence of family on the changing of Japan’s national identity in 20th century, even up until the present. Within Japan’s familial structures, Allison mentions the ‘traditional’ gendered roles, with successful families having men being “sarariman” and women managing the household, along with taking care of the children that represented “hope” and “the future” (24). However, the separate spheres ideology that Allison describes is not unique to Japan. The United States also had such family structures in play for much of the 19th and 20th centuries. The largest distinguishing factor thus appears to be Japan’s unique version of “capitalism”, in which after World War II, Japanese working men were usually committed to their company for a lifetime in a family-like setting (Allison 25). Apart from this, family structures do not seem too different from America’s during ‘America’s Industrial Revolution” after the Civil War in the late 19th century. Then, why is Japan’s state so much more “precarious” than America’s now (in terms of declining birth rates, rising suicide and depression rates…)? I argue that in addition to what Allison argues about the lifetime work commitment, immigration also plays a large role in the difference between America and Japan’s progress... ... During America’s period of industrialization in the late 19th century, there were also many incoming immigrants, who helped with lots of the menial labor and low-paying jobs. For instance, Chinese immigrants contributed to America’s railroads, which built the foundation for necessary transportation around the country that literally paved the way to industry. In contrast, during Japan’s period of heavy industrialization and fast urban growth in the mid-20th century after WWII, the United States was “locking” Japan by forcing it into a second era of seclusion (Dower 23). With the U.S.’s neocolonial power over Japan, immigration in and out of Japan slowed or even practically stopped, as no Japanese were allowed out, and control was strict. Therefore, without foreign workers, who usually take on many of the unwanted jobs, Japan may have been forced into a culture of overwork and diehard loyalty to a corporation. Japan’s seclusion from the rest of the world during its period of development adds to its independence and closeness/tightness, further building on the image of family. Thus, as Allison argues, family is one of the biggest factors in Japan’s identity, but I argue that this family model is partially brought on by the United States’ control over the country, hence its seclusion and tight grouping into family-like structures.
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