It is one thing to define oneself and cherish a spirit of harmony, and another to lose one’s identity and go with public opinion. However, the average Japanese who is mentally immature and afraid of solitude seems to find it important to sense this “kuki” (atmosphere). Such average Japanese does not seem to realize that almost unaware act hampers his/her mental development or even if he/she realizes it, he/she seems to prefer to stay the same due to a lack of courage.
Masatoshi Takeshita
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English translation of an excerpt from a
Japanese article: China Net (Japanese version) – October 5, 2012 –
Can you Read “Kuki”?
Strange Logic in Japanese Society
In 2007, the word “KY” (Kuki Yomenai - means "can't(NAI) read(YOME) air(KUKI)" - ) was awarded
as the grand prize in “Japan’s Keywords-of-the-Year-Contest for 2007.” I wonder what this word “kuki” means. This writer and many foreigners living in
Japan for many years and having no problem in speaking Japanese find it
difficult to grasp the meaning of this “kuki.”
In group living, the majority of people
tend to sense the “atmosphere” around them, judge the course of collective
action, and behave to the rhythm of all.
This ability “to sense atmosphere” is
cultivated from elementary school days.
Around a third or fourth grader starts to form a closed small
group. Once a group, which usually
consists of several classmates, is formed, the group members do not allow
others to join the group. If there is a
good leader within a small group, he gains respect from other members whom he
takes care of, and a unified group is organized. On the other hand, if a leader has a bad
personality, he shares bullying and abuse with his followers, which creates the
“atmosphere” of the group. Also he
himself is likely to be bullied. Under such circumstances, children learn to behave, paying
attention to the atmosphere around them even in a small group from an early
age. In Japan, when a husband is
order to get transferred, he is worried that his child, an elementary school
kid or a junior high school student, may not make friends with other classmates
and may be isolated at a new school.
This is why husbands tend to live apart from his family at the new
workplace.
It is true that every country has a
bullying problem for senior children at elementary school, but in most
countries there are “friends who stand for the weak.” As children have a high fluidity of
friendship, all a bellied child has to do is to go to other friends.
In Japan, however, there is not so clear
distinction between home education and school education and there is a tendency
to end safely and peacefully. People who
cannot be accepted by a small group are not good mixers, cannot sense the “atmosphere”
and cannot be treated properly by the group.
Therefore, many children within a small group tolerate bullying and
maintain a cautious distance from one another.
The only way to get away from such group is to transfer to another
school.
In Japanese society under such “atmosphere,”
whatever it may be, a small group or a whole society, sophisticated harmony and
stability is required. In Japan’s social life, we can hardly see frank discussion or
rational debate in public. Although this
writer has lived and worked for almost thirty years, I have never seen quarrels
in public places. Fistfight is, of
course, out of the question. Therefore,
a “hero of justice” never appears.
In an organization, it is
necessary to first obtain agreement in advance before introducing a new plan. After gaining the support of majority, the new
plan is officially proposed. Even if there are different opinions in a
meeting, they are not expressed frankly.
They are expressed in roundabout ways at the right time and in the
appropriate atmosphere. It is because
those who sense the atmosphere all know that this plan has already won their
agreement behind the scenes.
In Japan, they can speak
out over drinks.
There are no Japanese words describing “blunder due to alcohol” or “slip
of the tongue due to alcohol.” Generally, any act or remark is tolerated while drinking and
causes no quarrel except for male-female relations. This is the very reason why Japanese salaried
workers don’t go straight home after work and they want to drink alcohol at
Japanese-style pubs. Some
superiors want to quarrel with their subordinates because they think that
listening to candid opinions of their subordinates is useful to incorporate
their opinions in the work.