The Japanese culture has allowed for very little diversity. This started very early in their history. The social controls used to eliminate diversity are the family, the power of gender, the poor treatment of minority groups, the corporate Japanese mentality, and the respect required by the people in authority. However, due to the globalization and the shrinking of the world, Japanese society is starting to make the change to diversity. The individualistic mentality shared by the new technology driven younger generation is putting pressure on the old Japanese system.
The transformation is happening very slow, but as the population ages and the old conservatives are being replaced by the new liberals, the old way of thinking is also being replaced by the new. The traditional family system known as the ie is used as a model for the large Japanese corporations. The family is very important to the Japanese. Japan has seen the nuclear family replace the extended family as the dominant form of family life. In premodern Japan, the extended family was not a large kinship group consisting of all or most family members living together.
Rather, the Japanese extended family consisted of the main family and separate branch families. Nowadays, the nuclear family, consisting of the parents and their children with, on occasion, one or two grandparents is the most common type in Japan. As it applies to the Japanese extended family, the ie system refers to a lineal up and down structure, with the main family at the top and the various branch families arranged downward. In the ie, continuity of the main family is very important. Special privilege is given to the eldest son so that one day he would become successor of the family.
Also, just as in the rest of Japanese culture and other cultures, the elderly are respected by the younger. The ie system fostered sexual discrimination and status distinctions both within and between families. The highest status went to males of the main family, while the branch families and especially females were considered less important. Although there was no reason to suppose that daughters and younger sons were loved any less by their parents, the ie system was normative, requiring them to leave and form their own branch families.
In the same sense, the Japanese corporation serves in the same tradition of the ie. Just as parents expect respect and loyalty from their children, company authorities expect the same loyalty from their workers. Males are given privileges over females in the companies. Most young male workers once entering a company stay with it for their entire life. These workers come to view their company as almost a benevolent parent. A worker’s identity is shaped not by their individual title but by the company they belong to. Female workers are not treated with the same consideration.
Since female workers usually become housewives later on in their life, it is hard for them to fill a long-term position, especially since they are usually the first to go if a company needs to cut back. In addition, outsiders are rarely welcomed into the company, adhering to the ie and keeping the business within the corporate family. However as the newer generation comes into the corporate world, the tradition of this ie system could possibly be fading, thus making room for more diversity. Old conservatives that have become powerful businessmen control most of the industry in Japan.
They are sort of like the modern equivalent of the samurai in many ways. They instill the sense of honor and loyalty in the people that work for them. The business leaders today lead by example. The only way to reach their level someday is to adapt to their ideals and goals. Lifetime employment is almost guaranteed to those who adapt the goals and ideals of the company. However the tide is changing in the country today. The globalization of industry around the world has necessitated a change in Japanese diversity.
In order to be successful in the new global marketplace, the old conservative views are starting to be shed for new liberal ones. An area of the economy that is changing much faster than the rest is the computer and internet technology companies. The young leaders of these new companies are enjoying unmatched success in the Japanese market. This success has instilled a sense of respect by these younger industrial warriors. These new era samurai are helping to change the tide for all of the younger generation. The system in place represses the desire for freedom and diversity in these younger generations.
Finally they are seeing successful self-starters that are turning away from the traditional conformist mentality. They are heroes and icons of a new culture to the youth of Japan. The new champions of industry would never have come into power under the old system, but with new technology comes new cultural influences. People today enjoy more personal freedom than past generations, but the tide is changing remarkably slow. The balance between the old and the new will definitely happen over a long period of time.
Perhaps generations will pass before the country’s views of diversity and conformity will change. Perhaps after the revolution underway presently, the country will accept diversity as a necessity of the new world economy, but still hold onto some conventional views of the ie system in the companies it has had throughout its’ modern history. The movement has been started by the younger generation and the successful technology based companies they have founded. Only time will tell whether the Japanese society is ready to accept these changes.
