Strangeness and Charm

by cybersensei | September 8, 2021 | Blog, Culture, Shinto

Strangeness and Charm

One of Yakumo’s dearest friends said to him:

“When you find, in four or five years more, that you cannot understand the Japanese at all, then you will begin to know something about them.”

These astute words from a Meiji Era Japanese citizen to his Occidental friend, are as true today as they were back then, and these sentiments continues to ring in one’s own ears to this very day.

Yakumo Koizumi lived in Japan for 14 years until his death on September 26, 1904.

Here, he does a brilliant job with his, Attempt At Interpretation, allowing a glimpse into the society of Japan during the Meiji Restoration.

“At first perceived, the outward strangers of things in Japan produces a queer thrill impossible to describe, a feeling of weirdness which comes to us only with the perception of the totally unfamiliar.”

The Annotated Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan by Lafcadio ... The Annotated Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan by Lafcadio Hearn

Surely this feeling of weirdness also washes over and engulfs one after entering Japan for the first time, stepping into another dimension.

“You find yourself moving through queer small streets full of odd small people, wearing robes and sandals of extraordinary shapes, and you can scarcely distinguish the sexes at sight.”

Vintage- Japan in the late XIX Century - Meiji era

“Food-stuffs of unimaginable derivation; utensils of enigmatic forms; strange masks and toy that commemorate legends of gods or demons.”

日本仮面歴史館福福和神面

Thanks to the digital revolution, one can see Japan from the comfort of a favorite chair from anywhere in the world.

There one can enjoy the visual and audio aspects of Japanese cultural charm.

However, as charming and delightful as this may be, one can only truly understand the essence of Japan by coming here to bath in the Japanese “air” and feel Japan in one’s very own spirit and soul.

Japanese girls wearing kimono

“Everywhere on signs and hangings, on the backs of people passing by, you will observe wonderful Chinese characters, and the wizardry of all these texts makes the dominant tone of the spectacle.”

Japanese Street in the Meiji Era

Indeed, the complexity of Chinese ideograms permeating the country only adds to the otherworldliness charm one experiences here.

In fact, one of the most formidable life challenges was to address one’s own illiteracy in Japanese, and commit a lifetime to understand and absorb these complex and magnificent ideograms.

Daily Practice Example - Land Of The Rising Son

As Yakumo continued to contemplate the extraordinary surreal nature of Japan, he noted:

“The delicate perfection of workmanship, the light strength and grace of objects, the power manifest to obtain the best results with the least material, the achieving of mechanical ends by the simplest possible means, the comprehension of irregularities as aesthetic value, the shapeliness and perfect taste of everything, the sense displayed of harmony in tints or colours.”

Japanese Basket Merchant Meiji

“All this must convince you at once that our Occidental has much to learn from this remote civilization, not only in matters of art and taste, but it matters likewise of economy and utility.”

Japan in the late 19th Century Meiji

Indeed these sentiments still ring true today, as the Japanese have created a modern society to be looked upon a desirable model of civility and harmony, having evolved from this very culture.

Yakumo spoke English, Greek, and Japanese, and made the following observation about the difference between English and Japanese.

“Any one of their ordinary phrases, translated into Western speech, makes hopeless nonsense, and the literal rendering into Japanese of the simple English sentence would scarcely be comprehended by any Japanese who have never studied a European tongue.”

Miscommunication - A Case of Mistaken Identity

“Could you learn all the words in a Japanese dictionary, your acquisition would not help you in the least to make yourself understood in speaking, unless you had learned also to think like a Japanese.”

Find Your Ikigai

The secret to meaningful cultural understanding is in the language, when one can think and conceptualize in Japanese.

Then, and only then, can one start to read the “air” where the unspoken social conventions and protocols reside.

Hark Back to Meiji-Era Japan

The Japanese have evolved under strict laws and societal protocols which mandate harmony.

Life was particular rigid when the Japanese were isolated from the rest of the world for centuries during Tokugawa Bakufu, which preceded the Meiji Restoration.

Here these ingrained societal courtesies still continue to characterize the way the Japanese interact and behave among each other today.

“Everybody greets everybody with happy looks and pleasant words, faces are always smiling, the commonest incident of every day lives are transfigured by a courtesy at once so artless and so faultless that it appears to spring directly from the heart, without any teaching.”

Japanese Bowing To Each Other

Japan’s crime rate is the lowest in the industrial world (here), as when breaching the laws of our land, the accompanying punishment can be harsh.

Remember, Japan still has capital punishment, with the vast majority of the Japanese citizens in full support of this ultimate punishment.

Historically the Japanese view death very differently than Occidentals, and this form of punishment remains here to reminder wayward Japanese citizens, when one disrupts harmony and breaches social conventions, you will be punished.

“I have lived in districts were no case of theft occurred for hundreds of years.”

“Where newly-built prisons of Meiji remain empty and useless.”

“Where people left their doors unfastened by night as well by day.”

“In such a district, you might recognize that kindness shown to you, as a stranger, is the consequence of official command.”

“But how explain the goodness of these people to each other?”

“When you discover no harshness, no rudeness, no dishonesty, no breaking of law, and learning that this social conditions have been the same for centuries, you’re tempted to believe that you have entered into the domain of a morally superior humanity.”

“You cannot help being delighted by such conditions, or feel indignant and hearing them denounced as ‘heathens’.”

Maikos in the Meiji era, Japan 1868-1912

Why was Yakumo able to experience Japan in such a profound way, where he was able to feel the multilayered society of Japan and recognizing the concept of life as being ephemeral?

Moreover, he deeply felt the presence of the ghosts as ancestors turn into deities, and regarded all thing as instilled with life.

Life in all things ~ ban butsu (万物).

“Really you are happy because you have entered bodily into Fairyland, into a world that is not, and never could be your own.”

“You have been transported out of your own century, over spaces enormous of perished times, into an era forgotten, into a vanished age.”

“This much more archaic civilization of Old Japan attained an average of aesthetic and moral culture well worthy of our wonder and praise.”

“Only a shallow mind, a very shallow mind will pronounce the best of that culture inferior.”

“But Japanese civilization is peculiar to a degree for which there is perhaps no Western parallel, since it offers as a spectacle of many successive layers of alien culture superimposed above the simple indigenous basis, and forming a very bewilderment of complexity.”

Layer upon layer upon an ancient civilization from an ancient time, continuing to add layer upon layer still now in these modern times.

Based Upon
Japan, An Attempt At Interpretation
Published 1904
Patrick Lafcadio Hearn
STRANGENESS AND CHARM

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn

by cybersensei | September 1, 2021 | Blog, Culture, Inspiration

Patrick Lafcadio Hearn

Unless digging deeply into the annals of Japan, the name Lafcadio Hearn is probably unfamiliar.

However, Lafcadio Hearn can be considered a paramount historic figure of Meiji-era Japan, where he lived until the end of his days.

Lafcadio HearnPortrait 1889

He is considered an early pioneer who introduced Japanese culture to the West with his intriguing observations and stories embedded throughout his body of work about Japan.

After arriving in 1890, he became a teacher in Matsue, Shimane Prefecture thanks to Basil Hall Chamberlain, another important figure of the Meiji period.

島根県の地図

島根県松江市

It was here where Yakumo submerged himself into the Japanese culture.

Remember, Japan had just been forced to open after 250 years of isolation under the strict rule of the Tokugawa Shogunate ending in 1868.

Here, Yakumo exposed to the West another word in a different dimension having evolved for over two centuries absent of influence from foreigns.

This is also where in 1896 Lafcadio Hearn married Koizumi Setsuko, the daughter of local samurai family, took the name Koizumi Yakumo (小泉八雲), and became a citizen of Japan.

Lafcadio Hearn with Setsu

Traveling the world in the 1800s was difficult, so it was rare to find someone so deeply engrossed in Japanese culture as Yakumo, who also wrote with depth and clarity about this new and intriguing world now surrounding him.

Indeed, Yakumo works on Japan allows one to gain a deeper understanding of the extraordinary society of Japan, as described over 100 years ago.

In 1894 Yakumo published “Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan” his first book about Japan.

Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan Volumes I and II Lafcadio ... Glimpses of Unfamiliar Japan Volumes I and II Lafcadio Hearn

Among his other books written about topics pertaining Japanese culture were “Kokoro: Hints and Echoes of Japanese Inner Life”, published in 1896, “Japanese Fairy Tales” released 1899, and the fascinating and entertaining “Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things”, which was published in 1903, and subsequently turned into a film.

Kwaidan- Stories and Studies of Strange Things by Lafcadio

One of the most important works of Yakumo is his deeply insightful book Japan: An Attempt At Interpretation.

Published in 1904, it is truly amazing to reach deep into the past to see the Japan of old through the eyes of this incredible storyteller.

In this book, one gets an vivid sense of the Japanese society during the Meiji Restoration, and gains a deeper awareness and sensitivity to the Way of the Japanese.

Japan: An Attempt at Interpretation is free to read here.

Japan, an attempt at interpretation

Make sure to visit the Koizumi Yakumo Commemorative Park while visiting Shinjuku, it has a wonderful garden garden with a bust of Lafcadio Hearn and an plaque describing his talents and achievements.

Koizumi Yakumo (Lafcadio Hearn) died on September 26, 1904, and is interned at the Zoshiyaga Cemetery, located in Toshima, Tokyo.

Lafcadio Hearn Bust

Right-Brain Left-Brain – Part 6

by cybersensei | August 25, 2021 | Blog, Inspiration

Right-Brain Left-Brain – Part 6

Americans are the most obvious example of a left-brain dominated people as exhibited by their behaviour, action, and words.

For it can be said, the Japanese regard Americans as the most unpredictable people on Earth, due to the absence of any precisely defined societal form, order, or process.

The Japanese have traditionally behaved according to strictly prescribed and uniform etiquette, which was equated with morality and being civilized, and this is the essence of the Japanese Way.

The Japanese Way Land Of The Rising Son

This is in stark contrast to the American rugged individualistic way of talking, behaving, and acting.

Naturally, this particular way of talking and behaviour is looked upon as boorish and crass by the Japanese, regardless of nationality or ethnicity.

Perhaps a measure of social harmony could be the fewer encounters with unpleasant and formless individuals every day, the higher the social harmony indicator rises for one’s own community, wherever that may be.

Harmony 和

It is important to understand Japanese etiquette evolved to ensure harmony between not only themselves and the many gods inhabiting Japan, but among the Japanese themselves.

This etiquette-harmony societal evolution came about based upon respect for parents, seniors, teachers, and those in positions of power.

Perhaps the evolution of the Japanese was influenced in a very specific and potent ways by the right brain characteristics of the Japanese people.

Indeed, the Japanese are truly nature-oriented and emotionally-compulsive about doing things in an orderly and ritualistic way.

As from early in Japanese social evolution, there was always a prescribed ways of doing things, and over time, this respect-etiquette system was no longer regarded as merely an arbitrary form of etiquette, but became an integral part of the Japanese identity.

Ceremony 儀式 Land Of The Rising Son

One can surely observe the characteristics of traditional Japanese etiquette today in the way our society functions in a (relatively) smooth, holistic, and harmonious way, regardless of an enormous population (126 million) on a series of small Pacific Islands.

Perhaps the evolution of the Japanese, along with their right brain orientation can be credited with a particular level of style and etiquette which has distinguish them since ancient times, and which continues to contribute enormously to the very essence of the Japanese people today.

The Ancient Cultures of Japan

From earliest times, the Japanese have been formulated by adherence to fundamental humanist tenets, the core principles common to all connected humans, to which is now referred to as Shinto (神道).

Like so many mysteries, some languages demand an explanation about everything, yet verbal language is not capable of explaining what is in the “air”, and this is where the spirit of the word has been recognized to reside.

For what has been labeled “religion” is not.

Emphatically, Shinto is not a religion.

Shintoism is the evolving codification of moral and etiquette protocols, which are unique to the archipelagos of Yamato.

Japanese Way
万物

The Japanese Way is appealing as the foundation to live one’s own moral and humanistic code in accordance with uniquely Japanese style inclusiveness:

gods in nature
gods in ancestor
gods in all

For certain, the Japanese do not view “god” as an omnipresence being shepherding the morals of a society, but as a natural reflection of the human condition to which all homo-sapiens are prisoners.

The aesthetic side of the Japanese character embodies a deep-seated sense of harmony in all things, particularly interpersonal relationships.

May this not be something for deeper consideration?

Particular for left-brain thinkers who are still wondering what that missing “something” is, if having ever stopped to wonder about anything at all.

To be sure, the emotional right-brain nature of the Japanese will continue to permeate all aspects of Japanese culture as long as the sun continues to rise.

There, one can find “intuition” in the “air” and in the wabi-sabi, ephemeral nature of one’s own life, on this short journey, under our shared Sun.

What's Missing From Your Life

Right-Brain Left-Brain – Part 5

by cybersensei | August 18, 2021 | Blog, Culture

Right-Brain Left-Brain – Part 5

An important cultural trait of the Japanese is the practice of giving intuition presidents over reason.

Stories from the annals of the Japanese are replete with incidents where the fate of individuals, groups, and even the entire nation hung in the balance, and these critical decisions were based upon intuition, rather than reason.

intuition versus logic

In fact, the higher placed and more powerful the individual concerned in such sticky situations, the more likely they were to rely upon innate intuition.

A case in point would be the visionaries Masaru Ibuka and Akio Morita of Sony fame seeing the future of consumer electronics.

Although invented in the U$A, this is where the innate ability of the Japanese to take imported technology and intuitively reimagine it into the future kicks in.

Are you KY

In this pioneering case, the transistorized broadcast radio receiver was the object of the Japanese intuition toward the nascent consumer electronic industry.

This seminal work served to make the broader consumer electronic industry aware of the potentialities of the transistor, thanks to Sony.

As the greatest hockey player of all time Wayne Gretzky (also an example of extraordinary deep intuition) said:

I skate to where the puck is going to be, not to where it has been

Always keep these immortal words of wisdom close to the heart, and one can also now see the future via intuition.

There was a crucial word learned from very early in one’s journey in the Land Of The Rising Son.

haragei

Where the literal translation is the art (芸げい) of the stomach (腹はら) .

Alas, when referencing haragei in conversation with the younger generation, it feels as though this culturally important communication tool is being serially diluted in large part due to the Micky Mousification of Japan.

Ever had a “gut feeling?”

There, one has experienced haragei, and would do well to consciously obverse and note the haragei for future reference.

One can then tune into this curious Japanese communication protocol and relate to them at a much higher level than one could have ever imagined without understanding the importance of intuition in Japanese communication.

Think of haragei as cultural telepathy, which is being able to communicate among people on the basis of common knowledge and experience.

Interesting Facts About The Land Of The Rising Son

This has been described in an article entitled: “Japanese Telepathy: I Shin Den Shin“

Another significant term is chokkan, meaning intuition.

However, this word holds much deeper significance to the Japanese as opposed to the Occidentals.

The Japanese are still homogenized to a considerable degree by strict cultural programming.

They are instilled with the same beliefs and forms of behaviour, which results in the Japanese thinking and act very much alike.

Indeed, even now the power of traditional Japanese culture is still very much evident in the attitudes and behaviour of the Japanese, and it’s still possible to assume that in group situation they react in the “Japanese Way.”

In this, the Japanese can intuit what others are thinking and what type of action to be undertaken in most circumstances, according to identifiable traditional Japanese values.

This is where intuition continues to play a critical role in non-verbal Japanese communication which resides in the “air”, or what the Japanese refer to as kuki.

One of the challenges facing those unfamiliar with these peculiar Japanese communication protocols is being able to determine whether a reaction is based on intuition or reason.

Generally speaking, reactions based on intuition reflect the traditional Japanese mindset as a whole and can be observed in the group consensus nature of Japanese society.

On the other hand, reactions based on pure reason will reflect the personal opinions or positions of the individuals, which may or may not be representative of the group consensus.

Keep in mind, group consensus still is paramount to the smooth functioning of Japanese society.

Geisha among the Cherry Blossoms

Personal opinions are accepted in informal gatherings, or in unofficial business setting like the ubiquitious drinking session, however, one ignores the importance of group consensus at one’s own peril.

There is a great deal of innate wisdom in Japanese intuition, and when marrying it with reason, it often results in a more comprehensive answer or solution to whatever discussion or problem is at hand.

How about adding the intuition element into ones own reasoned thinking for a higher level of awareness to assist when navigating this multifaceted and rapidly changing world.

The power of one's own intuition

Bonus: Continue exploring the unique Japanese regard toward the stomach (腹はら) in the podcast entitled: A Worm Told Me

Right-Brain Left-Brain – Part 4

by cybersensei | August 11, 2021 | Blog, Culture

Right-Brain Left-Brain – Part 4

Ever thought to think about fuzzy thinking versus linear thinking?

The core principal which can be considered the Japanese way of thinking can be though of as fuzzy thinking, or better still, holistic thinking.

Fuzzy thinking

If this concept has not became apparent yet, this “way of thinking” contrasts sharply with the linear way of thinking in which most of the rest of the world operates.

Despite the Japanese cultural kinship and similarities with the Koreans and Chinese, these similarities only came about due to primitive Koreans and then primitive Japanese adopting many facets of Chinese culture at a very early stage in Japanese cultural and societal development.

For certain, Japan retain its own native cultural essence and this makes the Japanese conspicuously different from the Chinese and Koreans.

Here one submits:

Often the world is divided between East and West, Oriental and Occidental.

One could almost say…black and white.

But where are the rainbow and divine shades of gray?

Grayscale Paper

The third, and paramount to the delicate balance of the rapidly changing world is the holistic right brain thinking of the Japanese.

Japanese Civilization

Eastern Civilization

Western Civilization

Despite the debacle of the Japanese attempt to create a Greater East Asia Co-propriety Sphere once upon a time, the ability of the Japanese to absorb, improve on, and innovate technology undoubtedly played a key role in the meteoric rise of Japan as the second largest economy in the world up until the early part of the 21st century.

The Greater East Asian Co-prosparity Sphere - when total empire met total war

The natural tendency of the Japanese is to look at all things from a holistic viewpoint, a valuable asset for sure, especially when applied to the use of technology and associated aesthetic factors.

Indeed, the mystical ability of the Japanese is their innate capacity to understand, duplicate, and improve on imported technology, whether synthetic paper, passenger cars, or the arquebus, is unparalleled.

The right brain influence has truly manifested itself in the Japanese as one can observe in their systematic approach to arts and crafts, architecture, garden design, and the continuing emphasis on aesthetic practices weaved into the daily routine of ordinary Japanese life.

Japanese Woman Bowing to the Land Of The Rising Son

The dominance of the right side of the brain remains so powerful the Japanese still have somewhat of an aversion to thinking based solely on facts and logic.

Unequivocally, the Japanese regard the linear, purely logical way of thinking to be somewhat callous, cruel, and anti-human.

To be sure, the attribute most admire by the Japanese in people is humanism.

What Is Secular Humanism

Now if one’s world could only find a little more humanism around the globe, the future for descendants would becoming a much better place.

Stay tuned for next week installment as we continue our right-brain left-brain journey in the Land Of The Rising Son.

Right-Brain Left-Brain – Part 3

by cybersensei | August 4, 2021 | Blog, Culture

Right-Brain Left-Brain – Part 3

Right Brain Left Brain – Part 3

The profound influence of right-brain dominance in Japanese culture reaches into their deepest values, motivation, and behaviour while encompasses all aspect of Japanese life.

One can see the influence of the right-brain thinking in Japanese arts and crafts, in the meticulous attention to detail when creating new and innovative products, and in the general aura throughout the nation of Japan.

Circular Rainbow Sun Halo

Truly, this even includes the way the Japanese go about doing some of the most mundane tasks, such as arranging food into a well thought-out presentation.

Indeed, anyone having experienced a Japanese banquet with the meticulously prepared and arranged food, of which can only be considered a form of high art, can bear witness to this reality.

washoku example

Fundamentally, the influence of the physical manifestations of the right brain dominance in Japanese culture are positive, and account for virtually all things both Japanese and non-Japanese find so emotionally and spiritually satisfying about Japan and the Japanese Way.

Interestingly enough, when the Japanese interact with each other, they exist in the same cultural realm, and the aspects of the right brain orientation that conflicts with the left brain attitudes and behaviour are controlled by established communication, tolerance, and cooperation protocols.

By the same token, when the Japanese are dealing with people whose left-brains are dominant and not culturally program to accommodate right brain thinking and behaviour, misunderstandings and friction are inevitable.

This is particularly prevalent when the left brain people concerned are not sensitive to cultural differences or choose to ignore them, which is often the case, and at one’s own peril when dealing with the Japanese.

Commander Perry Black Ship - ペリーの黒船

Let’s examine one of the earliest Japan pioneer, William Elliot Griffis, who first arrived in Japan on December 29, 1870.

After living and teaching in the hinterlands of Japan (Fukui), he began to question the ways he’d been taught from an early age.

Here he wrote the following in 1871:

“Why is it that we do things contrariwise to the Japanese?

Are we upside down, or they?

The Japanese say that we are reversed.

They call our penmanship “crab-writing,” because, say they, “it goes backward.”

The lines in our books cross the page like a craw-fish, instead of going downward “properly.”

In a Japanese stable we find the horse’s flank where we look for his head.

Japanese screws screw the opposite way.

Their locks turn to the left, ours to the right…

An occidental, to injure his enemy, kills him; A Japanese kills himself to spite his foe.

Which race is left-handed?

Which has the negative, which the positive of truth?

What is truth?”

William Elliot Griffis

Shortly after Japan opened up to the world after 250 years of peaceful isolation, Mr. Griffis, the puritanical occidental was fully exposed to the right-side-of-the-brain thinking Japanese.

One can also see similar observations reflected in the writing of Patrick Lafcadio Hearn (Koizumi Yakumo), in particular, in the very important book entitled, Japan, an attempt at interpretation, which was published in 1904.

Patrick Lafcadio H - 小泉八雲

One can read this important historical interpretation of Japan during the Meiji Restoration for free here.

Japan, an attempt at interpretation

Based upon the above historical passage by William Elliot Griffis, reading Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, and first-hand experience from over 3 decades of living in the countryside of Japan, one can confirm the validity of the right-brain left-brain thesis.

As one journeys along and when interacting with, and living among the Japanese, it is always a very good idea to keep in mind what side of the brain one is dealing with.

Stay tuned next week for a deep dive into the right-brain left-brain contrasting in the way of thinking, and the way of life.

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