Sophia Magazine vol.9 / SUMMER 2019
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American anthropologist Ruth Benedict’s influential book “The Chrysanthemum and the Sword” (1946) identified in Japanese society a “shame culture” that emphasizes external standards, or the assessments of others, and juxtaposed this with the “guilt culture” of Western societies that emphasizes internal standards based on the existence of ‘The Absolute’ (i.e. God). Ever since, Japanese behavioral patterns have often been discussed in a way that links them to feelings of shame. In response to Benedict’s hypothesis, noted thinkers have presented counterarguments and critiques from a range of perspectives. For example, Kunio Yanagita contended that the Japanese have a strong sense of guilt, and Keiichi Sakuta pointed out the one-sided nature of Benedict’s concept of shame while developing his own proposition. These argu-ments and criticisms, says Higuchi, are generally valid.“With regard to shame, there is no actual psychological data that shows a difference between Japanese and, for example, Westerners,” he asserts. “But there may be a noticeable pat-tern of Japanese interpreting shame in a more positive way. Certainly, in our country, the ‘shame culture’ identified by Benedict may be mistaken for the values of Confucianism or the concept of modesty, and some frequently lament that contemporary Japanese society has lost these unique virtues.” Higuchi uses an extreme ex-ample to illustrate his point: “Benedict’s proposition would hold that girls who enter the ‘JK business,’ a form of com-pensated dating with adoles-cent girls that is considered unique to Japan, are Japanese who have utterly forgotten about shame. “However,” he reasons, “the shame these girls carry is not especially different from that of others. These girls are simply becoming members of good standing in their group by align-ing with that group’s standards of ‘shame,’ which contradict those of general society. This phenomenon of different stan-dards existing for individual groups is not unique to Japan, but in this country, there is a strong tendency to categorize people according to generation, occupation, and taste, which means it is possible that this country’s standards of ‘shame’ are more diverse.” The central theme in the professor’s field of research is “bodily embarrassment,” which refers to the embarrassment one feels towards their body, particularly their sexual organs, and re-lated issues. By causing somebody to hesitate in purchasing condoms or in receiving gynecological examinations, for ex-ample this embarrassment can lead to serious health issues and even be a matter of life or death. “There are two clear and important aspects to controlling this embarrassment,” Higuchi explains. “The first is ‘experience.’ After buying a condom for the first time, the degree of embar-rassment one feels will lessen considerably the second time onward.“The other aspect is the imparting of what is referred to as ‘procedural knowledge.’” As the professor elaborates, rather A Peacebuilding Researcher Who Has Changed the Course of International PoliticsIs Japanese Culture a “Shame Culture?”Shedding Light on the Positive Aspects of Embarrassment12Research

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