We were stationed in Tokyo ‘69 to ‘74. A little boy, I was sent to the American School in Japan. I only saw the surface in any event.
The more you know about the Japanese the gladder you are not to be one of them.
It was a revelation to read that out of the mashup of native shintoism, imported confucianism and buddhism there really is no religion to speak of in Japan.
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“In my somewhat conventional coverage of the political and economic character of these two competing societies while working as a journalist, it had never dawned on me that the role religion played could prove so decisive in altering a people’s attitudes toward self-esteem, individuation, or communal responsibility. Nothing in my background or disposition as an American Jew prepared me to accept that the rise of Western religion—and especially the Protestant Church—had served as a vital force crucial in transforming South Korean society. It may be too simple to argue that exposure to Christianity alone has changed Korean consciousness. Yet the churches have coached the Korean people in forming social networks, building trust among strangers, and accepting universal ethics and individualism in ways that served as powerful antidotes to the autocratic worldview their grandparents—and, indeed, the Japanese—had been taught.”
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I was very surprised to read just how terribly isolated Japanese have become and how few opportunities for young men and women to interact socially. How frigid and sexless their marriages and how insane their cult of consumerism has grown.
I haven’t had a look at Dinesh’s latest.