Order in Japanese Society: Attachment, Authority, and Routine

Abstract

ion, is difficult to fine-tune, but it certainly carries rather profound implications for Western social science theory as applied to Japan. As already mentioned, the assumption of individual independence is central to such things as the expectation of rational choice and the instinct for freedom. evidence of differences along these lines has slowly been piling up. Studies of infants indicate that Japanese mothers provide more physical contact and are relatively less inclined to stimulate their offspring, preferring them to be calm rather than active, in comparison to mothers in the United States. Earlier observations that Japanese mothers verbalize with their children much less than their American counterparts have been confirmed by the recent work as well.33 In fact, a review of the child-rearing literature from the Tokugawa period on by Kojima Hideo reveals a persistent emphasis on providing the before age five or six with sleep and physical satisfaction, without particular concern for developing much in the way of independent self-control or verbal skills.34 Whereas American mothers of elementary school children rate verbal assertiveness and social skills very high among the goals of child-rearing, the Japanese mothers tend to focus more on emotional maturity, compliance to adult authority, and courtesy in social exchange. Americans, for example, tended to focus more on talking with their children about the content of problems, whereas the Japanese tended to pay attention to the situation (i.e., social relations) surrounding a problem.35 A separate analysis of the Japanese image of the good child indicates an emphasis on openness and receptivity.36 key term is sunao, meaning a natural positiveness and acceptance of things, especially adult guidance. Other studies reveal the Japanese mother's approach to control to be 32. Kimura Bin, Hito to hito no aida (Tokyo: Kobundo, 1972) and Hamaguchi Esyun, Nihon-rashisa no sai hakken (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha, 1977). 33. Summarized in Miyake Kazuo et al., Issues in Socioemotional in Harold Stevenson, Hiroshi Azuma, and Kenji Hakuta, eds., Child Development and Education in Japan (New York: W. H. Freeman & Co., 1986). 34. Kojima Hideo, Childrearing Concepts as a Belief-Value System of the Individual and Society, in Stevenson et al., eds., Child Development, pp. 39-54. 35. Robert Hess et al., Family Influences on School Readiness and Achievement in Japan and the United States: An Overview of a Longitudinal Study, in Stevenson et al., eds., Child Development, pp. 147-66. 36. Merry I. White and Robert A. Levine, What is an ii ko (Good Child)? in Stevenson et al., eds., Child Development, pp. 55-62. 19 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.144 on Wed, 07 Sep 2016 05:34:38 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Journal of Japanese Studies quite different from the American.37 She is inclined to regulate behavior through appeals to feelings and to the unwanted consequences of the act, while American mothers tend to assert their authority as parents. Japanese mother seeks to avoid confrontation with the child's will and much less frequently expresses her anger directly. She seeks instead to create and then utilize a close emotional bond with her as her central means of control. Anger and the assertion of authority are avoided because they will alienate the from its bond with the mother. In this approach, patience and forbearing become parental means of regulation based on the assumption that the natural effects of the bonding involved are to sensitize the to the parent's feelings and wishes. goal patiently sought is the child's understanding of what is proper behavior. To this end the mother will often speak to the in the guise of the injured third person or thing, as in saying The table says 'ouch' when the pounds the table.38 Presumably, the sunao is one who has not come to separate its will from its mother's, who has not been alienated from its initial identification with the mother, and who thus comes to understand quickly. Teaching the to think and act independently is not mentioned as a parental goal. But what if patience fails? Again recent studies of child-rearing offer some insight.39 Under experimental conditions when mothers are asked to express anger, the effects on Japanese children have been demonstrated to be much greater. That is, relatively unfamiliar with their mother's anger, Japanese children become well behaved much more quickly than their American counterparts. point is that in the Japanese pattern, if force or authority must be exerted, its power is greater by virtue of its infrequency. message has not been weakened by too much repetition. symbolic threat of a loss of parental tolerance and love is particularly strong in other words. A fascinating thing happens to this pattern in nursery school, kindergarten, and early elementary school. Let us first note that most mothers report the reason for sending children to nursery school is to teach them what cannot be learned at home, especially from pampering mothers, namely how to integrate with their peers. crucial term in their explanations is not cognitive development, or play, or greater independence, but group living (shudan seikatsu).40 It is this term that teachers also use most frequently to encapsulate the meaning of nursery school and kindergarten experiences. Shudan seikatsu, furthermore, is regularly presented 37. Summarized in Miyake et al., Issues in Socioemotional Development. 38. I am grateful to Dr. Anne Fernald for this illustration. 39. Also summarized in Miyake et al., Issues in Socioemotional Development. 40. See Lois Peak, Learning to Go to School in Japan: Transition from Home to School Life (Ph.D. diss., Harvard University School of Education, 1987). 20 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.144 on Wed, 07 Sep 2016 05:34:38 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Rohlen: Order in Japanese Society to the children as a happy time of playing and sharing together. Thus, although observations of the pampering-mother syndrome would lead us to predict a major discontinuity in the child's life when he or she arrives at school, no severe discontinuity is experienced. Observations of early education show the teacher continuing in the mother's practice of seeking control without an emphasis on asserting direct authority or using criticism.41 crucial tools applied by the teachers in their management of surprisingly large numbers of students involve, first of all, the thorough teaching of selected basic routines that punctuate the day. Second, as do mothers, teachers use indirection in settling problems and seeking to gradually shape the children's understanding rather than trying to forcefully control their behavior. Order is shaped gradually by repeated practice of selected daily tasks (such as putting away shoes or cleaning the room) that socialize the children to high degrees of neatness and

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