Order in Japanese Society: Attachment, Authority, and Routine

要旨

ion, is difficult to fine-tune, but it certainly carries rather profound implications for Western social science theory as applied to Japan. As already mentioned, the assumption of individual independence is central to such things as the expectation of rational choice and the instinct for freedom. evidence of differences along these lines has slowly been piling up. Studies of infants indicate that Japanese mothers provide more physical contact and are relatively less inclined to stimulate their offspring, preferring them to be calm rather than active, in comparison to mothers in the United States. Earlier observations that Japanese mothers verbalize with their children much less than their American counterparts have been confirmed by the recent work as well.33 In fact, a review of the child-rearing literature from the Tokugawa period on by Kojima Hideo reveals a persistent emphasis on providing the before age five or six with sleep and physical satisfaction, without particular concern for developing much in the way of independent self-control or verbal skills.34 Whereas American mothers of elementary school children rate verbal assertiveness and social skills very high among the goals of child-rearing, the Japanese mothers tend to focus more on emotional maturity, compliance to adult authority, and courtesy in social exchange. Americans, for example, tended to focus more on talking with their children about the content of problems, whereas the Japanese tended to pay attention to the situation (i.e., social relations) surrounding a problem.35 A separate analysis of the Japanese image of the good child indicates an emphasis on openness and receptivity.36 key term is sunao, meaning a natural positiveness and acceptance of things, especially adult guidance. Other studies reveal the Japanese mother's approach to control to be 32. Kimura Bin, Hito to hito no aida (Tokyo: Kobundo, 1972) and Hamaguchi Esyun, Nihon-rashisa no sai hakken (Tokyo: Nihon Keizai Shimbunsha, 1977). 33. Summarized in Miyake Kazuo et al., Issues in Socioemotional in Harold Stevenson, Hiroshi Azuma, and Kenji Hakuta, eds., Child Development and Education in Japan (New York: W. H. Freeman & Co., 1986). 34. Kojima Hideo, Childrearing Concepts as a Belief-Value System of the Individual and Society, in Stevenson et al., eds., Child Development, pp. 39-54. 35. Robert Hess et al., Family Influences on School Readiness and Achievement in Japan and the United States: An Overview of a Longitudinal Study, in Stevenson et al., eds., Child Development, pp. 147-66. 36. Merry I. White and Robert A. Levine, What is an ii ko (Good Child)? in Stevenson et al., eds., Child Development, pp. 55-62. 19 This content downloaded from 157.55.39.144 on Wed, 07 Sep 2016 05:34:38 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms Journal of Japanese Studies quite different from the American.37 She is inclined to regulate behavior through appeals to feelings and to the unwanted consequences of the act, while American mothers tend to assert their authority as parents. Japanese mother seeks to avoid confrontation with the child's will and much less frequently expresses her anger directly. She seeks instead to create and then utilize a close emotional bond with her as her central means of control. Anger and the assertion of authority are avoided because they will alienate the from its bond with the mother. In this approach, patience and forbearing become parental means of regulation based on the assumption that the natural effects of the bonding involved are to sensitize the to the parent's feelings and wishes. goal patiently sought is the child's understanding of what is proper behavior. To this end the mother will often speak to the in the guise of the injured third person or thing, as in saying The table says 'ouch' when the pounds the table.38 Presumably, the sunao is one who has not come to separate its will from its mother's, who has not been alienated from its initial identification w

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