Here's Another Thing About Japan...
Things we don't even know we're missing.
From my old blog, in 2019:
We went out to dinner with my parents and my sister and her family, and when I was in the restroom, I saw this sign. It’s a variation of the same sign you see in all restrooms in all restaurants in this country. It said “state law requires you to wash your hands before leaving the restroom.” It didn’t say so explicitly, but I knew that it was meant for restaurant employees, not me (although for reasons that are incomprehensible to anyone but myself, I did wash my hands anyway). There wasn’t an exclamation mark, but an exclamation mark was implied.
And tonight, there was something jarring to me about that sign. It just brought home to me just how much our society is based on commands and laws - on force. And it’s not only the laws themselves, but in the way people interact with each other, the way many people parent their children. It’s as if, collectively, as a society, we don’t believe anything will ever happen if it is not forced to happen. By law. By threats of violence.
Meanwhile, in Japan, everyone knows that you need to bathe yourself BEFORE you get in the lovely steaming hot public bath. Everyone goes and showers themselves, for a LONG time, getting every last spot, and then finally, when there’s no skin left to scrub, you go and get in the tub. Everyone KNOWS that. And as far as I know, there is no law requiring it. Why would you need one? It would be like having a law telling people they had to wash their hands after using the restroom.
And that’s just a glimpse of what is missing here. A cultural intelligence, a reliance on each other as individuals, rather than a reliance on the force of law. I feel that America really is spiralling into a kind of insanity, where the only solution that can ever be implemented is one that brings more laws, more force, more state power over people’s lives, and that alongside that is an increasing fear people have of each other, and a need to control each other, based on this fear. It is a cultural disconnection that is palpable to me, there is something that is badly missing here, and I fear very few of us have ever experienced it personally. So very few of us even recognize that it isn’t here.
"...an increasing fear people have of each other, and a need to control each other, based on this fear. It is a cultural disconnection that is palpable to me, there is something that is badly missing here, and I fear very few of us have ever experienced it personally. So very few of us even recognize that it isn’t here."
Interesting observations about Japanese cultural behaviors.
If there are no laws requiring hand-washing in Japan, but people do it any way, why do you think that might be?
Here's a thought: It's because Japan is a homogenous culture, with cultural training and requirements pounded into each member from birth. In families, in school, in organizations, at work, constantly, Japanese are taught, demonstrated, reinforced, reminded of their place in the society, their obligations and requirements to perform this or that duty or function, or action, and then they face the consequences if they do not perform as required.
There may not be a law requiring hand washing, but the requirement has been pounded into each Japanese since they were born, and their society is ruthless in enforcing such requirements.
Is that better than a law? I don't know, probably.