Does a Shame Culture Truly Exist in Japan? Its Impact on the Japanese People

In her book "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword," American cultural anthropologist Ruth Benedict defined Japan as a "shame culture," which acts based on external criticism and evaluation. This was contrasted with the "guilt cultures" of the West, which are guided by absolute moral standards and conscience.

Having read "The Chrysanthemum and the Sword" myself, I found that while some parts felt outdated and didn't quite align with the modern Japanese sensibility, the definition of a "shame culture" does effectively capture certain tendencies and characteristics of Japanese behavior. I believe that's why the book continues to be read by Japanese people for decades after its first publication.

It's true that Japanese people often make decisions based on shame. However, this isn't simply a reaction to the feeling of embarrassment. Behind it lies the reality that behaving shamefully can lead to actual social sanctions.

Let's explore the background of how this concept of shame influences not just the inner world of the Japanese people, but society as a whole.

When Do Japanese People Feel Shame?

First of all, in what situations are Japanese people most likely to feel shame? The answer is simple: they feel a strong sense of shame when they act differently from what their community considers to be the correct behavior.

While it varies slightly depending on the community, here are some examples of actions that typically make Japanese people feel ashamed:

• Wearing something completely different when everyone else is in uniform.
• Speaking loudly in a place where everyone else is quiet.
• Being the only one who can't solve a problem on a test that everyone else gets right.
• Being the only one who doesn't know something that everyone else knows.
• Not wearing a mask when everyone else is.
• Leaving work on time when everyone else is working late.

Basically, Japanese people first compare themselves to their surroundings. If you intentionally, or due to a lack of ability, fail to act in a way that is considered correct by the group, you are seen as having caused trouble for others. Then, through self-reflection, you come to feel that you, the one who caused trouble, are a shameful person.

But why is acting differently from the group defined as "causing trouble," and why does it result in shame? The education received from parents and schools in Japan has a significant influence here.

From a very young age, most Japanese people are repeatedly told by their parents and teachers, "Don't cause trouble for others." It's such a common phrase used when scolding a child that it's hard to imagine any Japanese person who hasn't heard it.

At the same time, Japanese people are taught that causing trouble for others is an emotionally shameful thing to do.

To instill this sense of shame, Japanese schools incorporate many group activities. For example, eating lunch together, cleaning up together after meals, competing in groups at cultural and sports festivals, and wearing the same school uniform.

If a student is unable to participate well in these group activities, the idea that this is indirectly a shameful thing becomes unconsciously embedded in their emotions.

That's why Japanese people will change their behavior to fit what is expected by the group, in order to avoid causing trouble and feeling ashamed.

Why Does Shame Restrict the Behavior of Japanese People?

But why does a personal feeling like shame have such a powerful influence that it can restrict the actions of Japanese people?

This is because, in reality, individuals who act shamefully are punished by being excluded from the group.

Historically, as a closed-off island nation, Japan has maintained its independence for a long time. This resulted in what is known as a "village society" (mura shakai), where human relationships within small, local communities remained largely unchanged, and life was lived within the confines of a limited, ancestral area and its social circles.

During the Edo period, from the 17th to the 19th century, there was a system called mura hachibu. This was a form of punishment inflicted upon those in the village who committed crimes like assault or theft, or who disrupted the order of the community.

A person subjected to mura hachibu faced severe sanctions, being banned from all social interaction within the community, with the exception of assistance during a funeral or a fire.

Through such social sanctions, the act of causing trouble for the community was no longer just a matter of personal shame; it became deeply rooted as a feeling accompanied by the fear of being banned from social activities within the group.

Of course, strict political systems like mura hachibu have been eliminated in modern times, and these fixed relationships have begun to change. In urban areas like Tokyo, the increase in foreigners and other factors are leading to the breakdown of traditional communities and the emergence of significant new changes.

Nevertheless, customs like mura hachibu still exist in modern Japan.

For example, one method of bullying among students in schools is to ostracize someone from a group of friends.

You go to school in the morning, and the friends you were happily talking to the day before no longer speak to you. When you try to talk to them, you're ignored, and you see others looking at you and snickering. Through either experiencing this kind of ostracism firsthand or seeing it happen to others, Japanese people gradually learn to associate the punishment of being excluded with the feeling of shame and fear.

In addition, in the Japanese countryside and small towns, people still live within limited social circles. I myself have moved and changed schools several times within Japan due to my parents' work, and I've seen that especially in rural areas, the same human relationships are deeply rooted in the land and remain strong and unchanged.

In these slow-to-change social environments, being ostracized is a powerful punishment. For a child, it means being excluded from their group at school and having no one to talk to. For an adult, being excluded from workplace relationships can have a serious negative impact on their job and career advancement.

In other words, Japanese people are not just concerned with their own internal feeling of shame. This feeling is combined with the real-life sanction of being excluded from the social group for shameful behavior. This leads them to perceive shame as a feeling of fear, which in turn causes them to change their behavior.

Is the Japanese Feeling of Shame a Negative Thing?

So, is the feeling of "shame" that Japanese people experience entirely negative?

I believe that the feeling of shame often contributes to the Japanese people's consideration for others and their dedication to working hard so as not to lose to others.

For example, if someone gives up their seat for you on a train and you forget to say thank you, you feel that your own action was shameful.

This feeling of shame doesn't come from the fear of being ostracized by your community. Rather, it's a spontaneous emotion that arises from frankly feeling ashamed of your own lack of consideration—the failure to turn your thoughtful feelings for the other person into a concrete action.

I believe there is still a power within the Japanese feeling of shame—a power to deeply reflect on whether one's actions toward others are morally and ethically right by comparing them with the actions of others, and as a result, to strive for better behavior.

The Expansion of Shame Culture's Downsides Through Social Media

However, it's also true that with the advent of social media, Japan's shame culture has started to produce strong negative effects.

Japan's shame culture has persisted as a powerful social force because of its connection to the sanction of ostracism, but until now, this was limited to a small circle of people within a close-knit community.

In modern times, however, with the development of social media, shame can now spread instantly not just among friends, but to society as a whole.

If you were ostracized within a local community, you could leave that area, and no one would know of your shame, allowing you to start a new life elsewhere. But now, with shameful acts spreading across all of Japanese society through social media, a fear of being ostracized by society as a whole is unconsciously taking root among the Japanese people.

Of course, for an ordinary person, it's highly unlikely that their shame would spread throughout society via social media; this is generally limited to celebrities and influential figures. However, by seeing these celebrities being punished, people indirectly feel fear, and I believe the feeling of shame, which is an excessive concern for the evaluation of others, is growing stronger in the hearts of individual Japanese people.

Perhaps the reason why the "X" platform, which is declining in popularity globally, still has many users and a strong influence in Japan is tied to this shame culture.

Rapid Globalization and the Escape from Shame Culture

However, there is a movement from within Japan to change this social system of shame and ostracism. There are several factors contributing to this new movement, but I believe the biggest one is that the feeling of shame severely restricts people from acting differently from others, which in turn makes it difficult for new innovation to occur.

In a previous era, Japan had already established a solid business foundation, primarily in the automotive industry. In order to maximize efficiency within that defined framework, there was no need to act differently from others.

But in today's world of rapid change, driven by globalization and the IT and AI industries, actively taking new and different actions, without regard for the feeling of shame and the punishment of ostracism, is becoming a condition for business growth.

If the culture of shame and punishment remains rooted in Japan as it has been, the country will fall into a negative spiral where it cannot create new industries, and the economic stagnation and decline will be unstoppable, leaving it with only its past glory.

That's why the current culture of shame and punishment should not be strengthened. Instead, a new, Japanese-style individualism that encourages taking new and different actions is gradually emerging through education and business.

In Conclusion

As I mentioned earlier, I believe that the feeling of shame is not just a negative thing; it is one of the important emotions that is directly linked to the serious nature of the Japanese people and their considerate actions toward others. Still, the feeling of shame that excessively binds the behavior of the Japanese people needs to change.

A long time ago, while traveling alone, I fell in love with India. I'm not exactly sure what made me like India so much, but I heard there's a proverb there that says, "It's okay to bother people. In return, you should help them when they are bothered." (I don't know if this is actually true. It might be a proverb created by a Japanese person who wanted a new perspective.)

This way of thinking is the complete opposite of what Japanese people are taught from a young age: "Don't cause trouble for others." Perhaps this difference in mindset is part of why I grew to love India.

The Japanese advantage of being able to see oneself from an outsider's perspective and regulate one's own behavior through the feeling of shame should be preserved. However, reducing the excessive fear of causing trouble, and the punishment of ostracism that creates that fear—this may be a great force that will save the Japanese people themselves.

And for such a strong social system to change, it will likely require not just the efforts of the Japanese people, but also the influence of external forces. For that reason, I hope that Japan will become a society that is even more open to the world than it is now.

Thank you for reading.