Modern Japan: Origins of the Mind

The Japanese borrowed the tradition of placing stone pyramids on graves from the Indians, but, with time, that tradition was also simplified to merely vertical wooden plates. Currently, gravestones have regained their pyramidal shape but the strict and pure simplicity remains clear. Japanese monuments have no photos, sculptures or any other ornaments.

fill in the background in theatrical performances. The music supplements the text read by the actors and their body language which is the main medium of expression. The contextual nature of the musical accompaniment and the fact that the music itself is devoid of any significance make it difficult for foreigners to understand its meaning. The notion of “program music,” well known to Western culture, was introduced to the Japanese relatively late. Traditional Japanese composers were not aware of complicated orchestral polyphony.
Japanese vocal performance is rather specific as well. It is based on the mid-range of the voice and is distinguished by the absence of lower and higher sounds; there is no soprano or bass. Such a manner of singing is democratic and therefore accessible to the common people. It is mass entertainment rather than a refined art. Japanese singers do not aspire to demonstrate the

The constant craving for differentiating between trusted friends and outsiders inevitably generates several schools of thought, with each denying recognition of others. Similar conflicts can be observed in any sphere of activity, whether it be Buddhism or Confucianism, sumo or martial arts, a tea ceremony or ikebana.

with philosophical meaning, the slightest deviation can be viewed as impertinence and the violator can be shunned.
This is true not only for the tea ceremony, but for other aspects of Japanese life and culture. In 1967, when Nihonjinron (Japanism) was at the peak of its popularity, the 13th symposium of the All-Japanese Scientific Society for Psychological Analysis (Nihon seishin bunseki gakkai) was held in Tokyo. The only topic of discussion was the meaning of the idea of amae (dependence upon and presumption of another’s benevolence), an abstraction lacking any deep philosophical meaning and not exclusively attributed to Japan. Nevertheless, a pitched argument raged at the symposium where opponents irrationally confronted and blamed one another of complete ignorance of the meaning of amae (Doi, 2001).

considerable manipulations, if treated in the right way. One expert said: “For the uninitiated…cup worship seems to be exaggerated and bordering upon archaic fetishism. A cup is treated like a living person. It is given a name, its biography is traced and recorded on the walls of the cases in which it is kept, and it is wrapped in silk of special grade... Before use, a cup is bathed in hot water (a bit longer in winter) to let it ‘revive’, then it is wiped with a linen napkin. On a hot day the napkin is brought in a cup, but it should not be wringed and folded. Instead it should be floating free in cool water, triangle-shaped. Having put a cup on the tatami, one’s hand must not proceed to the next movement; it must bid good-bye slowly to the cup in a ‘maintained perception’ mode, as if two friends were parting unwillingly” (Mazurik, 2003).
With such attention to ceremonial details and a desire to fill each detail

he tea ceremony, as borrowed from China and quite simple in nature, became a profound ritual in Japan. Moreover, tea houses and all of the items used during the ceremony were miniaturized. The Japanese extended the ceremony and divided it into phases. They set a strict time limit and attached special meanings to the details such as: how to enter (to creep in, to be exact) the tea house, how to move while preparing tea, how to hold a cup, how long to look and what to look at. These were repeatedly deliberated upon, tested and improved upon. Just a tea cup, let alone other items, could be subject to many

According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2005), Japan comes last of the 30 countries for which statistics on obesity-related problems are available. Overweight people in Japan make up one-fourth (25 percent) of the population, while South Korea is next (31 percent). The United States leads with 66 percent of its population being overweight. As for obesity, of the 59 nations tallied Japan stands in 55th place with 4 percent of its population being obese. (For reference, 29 percent of the people in the United States are obese; Russia, 19 percent) (WHO, 2005).

ccording to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD, 2005), Japan comes last of the 30 countries for which statistics on obesity-related problems are available. Overweight people in Japan make up one-fourth (25 percent) of the population, while South Korea is next (31 percent). The United States leads with 66 percent of its population being overweight. As for obesity, of the 59 nations tallied Japan stands in 55th place with 4 percent of its population being obese. (For reference, 29 percent of the people in the United States are obese; Russia, 19 percent) (WHO, 2005).

The reaction of the Japanese to foreign ideas and technology can be seen as a “three-cycle response” of imitation, adaptation and improvement

he warriors serving the court aristocracy named the future caste of leaders from the verb samurau which means “to serve” and gave us the well-known word, “samurai”.