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Oliver is joined by Professor David Rear of ChuĆ University to discuss the once-dominant discourse of nihonjinron, or âJapanese-nessâ, which has shaped many aspects of Japanese society over the last century through its ideas of Japanese uniqueness and group-consciousness. David gives us a brief history of the discourse, how a discourse can shape society and new discourses of internationalisation and individuality which he argues have seen the decline, if not the end, of nihonjinron as the dominant narrative. As there are quite a few Japanese terms thrown around in this weekâs episode, a brief glossary has been included below.
Glossary (in order of appearance):
Nihonjinron (æ„æŹäșșè«) â literally “theories/discussions about the Japanese”. A genre of texts that focus on issues of Japanese national and cultural identity and how Japan and the Japanese should be understood.
Kokoro (ćż) â âHeartâ or âsoulâ. Within nihonjinron, it refers to Japanese-ness as being something Japanese are born with. As such, nihonjinron argues that Japan and Japanese people cannot be fully understood by non-Japanese.
Kokusaika (ćœéć) â âInternationalisationâ. Originated in the â80s during Japanâs economic boom period to attract foreign investment, divided between âoutward kokusaikaâ, where Japanese learn English and go abroad to promote Japan, and âinward kokusaikaâ, which created a discursive barrier between Japanese and foreigners arriving in Japan who need to adapt to Japanese culture. More recently it has sought to encourage diversity and almost directly opposes nihonjinron arguments of homogeneity (see tayĆsei).
Kosei (ćæ§) â âIndividualityâ, not necessarily in terms of independence but as skill or talent that can be learned and put to use for the nation when referred to politically.
Jibunrashisa (èȘćăăă) â âBeing true to yourselfâ. Can be found in commercial advertising with kosei to refer to putting yourself before societyâs demands.
TayĆsei (〿§æ§) â âDiversityâ. Used today with kokusaika to encourage assimilation of foreigners into society in the context of depopulation and labour shortages.
Orientalism â Coined by Edward Said in 1978, orientalism refers to the othering and stereotyping of Eastern nations with Western nations as Occident vs Orient, “Us and Them”.
Image credits:
[L] DĂĄndole forma a mi artĂculo sobre la teorĂa nihonjinron (me tiene enganchada ^^) by Lau_chan is licensed under CC BY-NC 2.0
[R] Tokyo subway at rush hour by transitpeople is licensed under CC BY 2.0
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