It' s not been a long time since I live in Japan and I don't how much longer I will be here either.
Every morning I take the 8 am train to Kyoto from the place I live. As every morning all platforms are full of people waiting for the train. As every morning all faces look just like the same as some other morning.
Ordered people, in ordered suits. Standing one next to the other.
With the same posture, office men and office ladies holding their bags.
All of them dressed in gray, black and white, but no one differs very much from another.
All of them apply to a uniform code, so true that you can find uniformed shirts in any 24 hours shop on the way.
All uniforms apply to a structural scheme.
Students, boys and girls of different schools, wear all different uniforms according to their grade.
Kids of 4 years old wear visible uncomfortable hats, all girls skirts, all guys pants.
Even the schoolbag is the same for everybody.
For anybody waiting for that train their uniform is their identity: it tells people around what's your role within the society.
Uniforms are not just about a dress code. Uniformed ways and manners are part of our social behavior. In Japan there are structured ways of doing things. When buying something you will assist to the same procedure of packaging, taking money, counting money. Also you will be asked the same questions with the exact same words you would have heard in a different shop or with a different costumer, any time you will enter a shop. You can try 10 thousands times per day.
There is no active communication. When The guy behind the counter is not actually talking to you, you start not listening to him either. There's no exchange. The only thing I see here is about accomplishing the procedure.
When waiting for the train every morning, I wander in which way I am starting conforming myself too. We can think of ourselves as much free as we like. By time it's a reality and passes for everybody.
The world around affects you, whoever you are.
And when thinking about how long I will be here still, I think it should not be too long...
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There is an old adage here in Japan,
ReplyDeleteThe nail that sticks up will get pounded down....
There is more than one way to look at things. Don't stand out, don't be visible or you will be dealt with. I think that is the way that most foreigners take that expression.
But have you ever slid down a board with a nail sticking up? People that stand out as an expression of individuality are quite often detriments to the organization that they serve. We have forgotten that when we take a position we are taking a place of service. Not to our selves but to that organization. To stand out for the sake of standing out is not an act of service but of selfishness. Service has rewards... far more than being a lone ranger.
I come from America, the land where being an individual is king. 55 of every 100 marriages fail... drug use is rampant... child abuse is out of control... gangs are destroying even mid size cities... 30 thousand die from gunshots each year... Would I say that America has any social superiority over Japan? Not in the least. It is just different and quite inferior in many aspects.
The other side to the coin is that children wearing uniforms don' t have to worry about fashion and being hassled because their economic standing is visible from their clothing. Workers wearing uniforms help build a sense of team.... there are plenty of positives that come from uniforms.
Quite often, looking thru the lens of ones own culture, one misses the value at hand : )
First of all, thank you... that was a beautiful comment...
ReplyDeleteBut let's come to the point: anybody looks through the lens of his own cultural and personal experience, so let's not get stocked on that point. Let's instead say that the best we can do is becoming aware of this possibility and recognize that our interpretation of things might not be definitive!
...Because our point of view is not the only one in the world, and even if it was it would change with the time...
I appreciate you use the word "organization" other than "system".
I have to admit It made me consider the thing differently, but it the end it's about the same thing still we talk about.
Conforming people to wear uniforms may have a
positive effects as for the aspect you're bringing up, but the thing is that, we who have been raced up in a "non-uniformed" country can say: " I'd given it a try when I used to be a student, maybe life for a kid whose family couldn't afford expensive clothes, would have been easier".
If you have been raced up in a system where since the beginning you had to conform to uniform instead, you will never learn how to relate to differences!
Multitude in the world is a fact, rich and poor, black and white, people with different thoughts...
Of course here I am not talking about the fashion aspect of wearing uniform but if this can have any influence on one's own personal expression as a individual who is and will always be different.
The world needs people standing out, that's also part of learning about differences. I think.
If we could accept our differences and welcome multitude there would be no one standing out of the core, because there would be no uniformed ways of looking at things!
However yours was a valid comment.