Learning about Japanese culture has
been a very interesting an eye-opening experience. What shapes Japanese culture
is very unique, quite different when compared to American beliefs. The ie
family system used in Japan was the topic I wanted to look at and compare the positives
and negatives to American culture. Growing up in the US made it hard to wrap my
head around the idea that one individual wants and desires where set aside to
be able to accommodate the needs of the structure as a whole. The way the ie
system is very different in how it focuses on continuity of a lineage and its
associated business. This structure promotes the need to use ones family to
uphold a business, especially with a male leader, has had a large impact on the
culture. With only males being the head of the families, this essentially lead
to only men being allowed to be in charge of businesses. Family and children
were seen more as parts of a whole instead of individuals. This also lead to
things such as arranged marriages since family’s wanted to strengthen their family
and their business by becoming connected with families of the same class in
that business. The marriages became more of a business deal, again less focused
on the individual’s desire to marry and more on concentrating on strengthening
the family as a whole. This concept of arranged marriages does not, for the
most part, exist in the US. The family structure isn’t based on upholding the
family name and business, but promoting each individual to follow their own aspirations.
Since arranged marriages are still happening occasionally in Japan, it shows
the ie system has not gone away completely. Though the ie system may be efficient
way of business, it stifles individuals chances to find what they truly want to
do and limits them to only the family business or to only be able to do things
that will uphold the family name.
Do you think the focus on the whole
over the individual is a bad thing?
Or is the focus on individual
damaging the whole?
I think that a balance between the individual and the whole is to prefer as most of the major work and changes in the world is done by people putting aside themselves as they work together with others while bringing their own experience and ideas into the mix.
ReplyDeleteI think there might be families in America and Sweden where there is individuals which tend to think of their family’s needs first and themselves second, and I know that there is arranged marriage in both of our countries. There is a lot of cultures out there, where arranged marriage is only natural, and that belief stays with them even after moving to another country.
My sincerest apologizes for the low-level English.
I agree that it is important to work together to accomplish much, but I also believe it's important to keep your individual self. I believe a lot of Japanese cultural things drown out the individual through forcing importance of the whole in a way.
ReplyDeleteI agree, but because of the nature of our culture, I place a lot of value on individualism.
ReplyDelete