
In February 2023, a snowy city in Fukui all of a sudden made information headlines. The federal government of Ikeda City had printed “The 7 Guidelines of Life in Ikeda” in its promotional pamphlet, and these guidelines laid down by the city committee made folks throughout Japan frown.
The 7 controversial guidelines included very particular solutions for the right way to match into the city:
- Cooperate with frequent native occasions and obligations which you’ll not have encountered in large cities.
- Don’t impose your values on others. Don’t act like city-dwellers.
- Be affected person even when you really feel subjected to the scrutiny of individuals within the village. Although it’s possible you’ll discover it invasive of your privateness, that is the way in which folks welcome you.
With heated debate on-line, the city workplace defined that they need to have made their intention clearer to ask for a greater understanding of native customs amongst new settlers.
The origin of the robust sense of collectivism in Japan
It’s a well known saying in Japan that “the nail that stands proud will get hammered down.” The instance of Ikeda City could be excessive, however the pervasiveness of peer stress in any Japanese neighborhood is palpable all through the nation.
Japanese individuals are overly involved with protruding in any group. Consequently, folks proceed carrying masks regardless that well being tips now not require them, at the least exterior. Workplace employees stay quiet at conferences and keep late on the workplace so long as their supervisors are there, even when they’ve accomplished their work for the day. Fewer entrepreneurs attain the identical bar of success in comparison with different Asian nations.
In response to an skilled, one of many causes folks maintain onto this collectivism is the remnant of the agricultural society in villages way back. Labor-intensive work comparable to rice planting and harvesting wanted villagers to assist one another, every farmhouse taking turns.
This explains why skipping native festivals and snow shoveling could cause deadly injury to your fame in a small city even immediately, particularly in growing old communities like Ikeda. The residents of Ikeda City clear up rivers and apply utilizing hearth extinguishers collectively whereas organizing seasonal festivals. They stand up to each ups and downs as a gaggle to maintain their neighborhood.
The widening cultural hole in Japan
Nonetheless, these guidelines might be staggeringly advanced for folks used to residing in large cities.
Many metropolis residents dwell in flats the place they don’t even know the names of their neighbors. They don’t must foster a way of collectivism to throw their rubbish within the designated space of the constructing any time of the day, they usually can attend native festivals as guests as a substitute of getting to prepare the occasion themselves due to funding from the native authorities.
Reasonably priced lease and a quiet life amidst nature might appeal to burnt-out youthful folks, which is the precise development in Tokyo, however life in rural areas isn’t utterly peaceable both, with nosy neighbors and a protracted listing of to-dos that requires lively participation.
Certainly, it isn’t unusual for Japanese folks to really feel like outsiders of their dwelling nation, significantly when confronted with the cultural hole between rural areas and well-engineered cities.
How folks really feel like outsiders in large cities
If in case you have lived in a densely populated space of Japan, it’s possible you’ll need to declare that you just nonetheless really feel like an outsider, unable to mix in with the crowds that crisscross Shibuya crossing.
Undeniably, what distinguishes an outsider in Japan just isn’t restricted to the cultural hole. Noticeable bodily traits, faith, or language robotically give one a tag of foreigner — the phrase so many non-Japanese residents dislike — gaijin.
Regardless of my Japanese ethnicity, I’ve skilled quite a few awkward moments in Tokyo.
For example, if my bilingual baby speaks to me in English in public, I expertise the sensation of being gaijin as a consequence of folks’s consideration. It’s worse in a confined house comparable to a pediatrician’s ready room. When dad and mom glare at us, I really feel like asking them, Would you want to hitch us? although I’ve but to make that daring transfer.
The hidden voices of individualism in a harmonious nation
Now it’s possible you’ll assume Japan is a superbly attuned nation the place you possibly can’t settle simply, however the actuality is unfathomably convoluted.
One survey gives an intriguing end result: 90 p.c of Japanese folks reply that the Japanese are collectivistic. However, 50 p.c consider they personally are individualists. How is that doable?
This implies many individuals discover collectivistic customs stifling.
I additionally firmly think about myself an individualist, however I nonetheless put on a masks and endure the countless barrage of texts from fellow mothers, muting the chat moderately than leaving the group. I don’t thoughts being labeled as an outlier, however I hold my politeness round my household to assist them navigate their social interactions easily.
The 7 guidelines of Ikeda City might be intimidating, however when you take a deep dive into any Japanese neighborhood, you’ll discover every alluring and multi-layered particular person, although it could take a while for folks to divulge heart’s contents to you about their true emotions.
Simply watch out to not put on too modern of apparel in a small village in Japan. Your OOTD might grow to be the topic of gossip amongst locals. Shibuya Crossing might be a greater location on your Insta-worthy selfies.
Yuko Tamura is a author, cultural translator, and editor-in-chief of Japonica based mostly in Tokyo. Her articles have been featured in The Japan Instances, Unseen Japan, The Good Males Challenge, BBC Radio, and extra.
This text was initially printed at Medium. Reprinted with permission from the writer.