The costly fallout of tatemae and Japan's culture of deceit

Japan Times ^ | 11/01/11 | DEBITO ARUDOU

[TigerLikesRooster]

The costly fallout of tatemae and Japan's culture of deceit

By DEBITO ARUDOU

There is an axiom in Japanese: uso mo hōben — "lying is also a means to an end." It sums up the general attitude in Japan of tolerance of — even justification for — not telling the truth.

First — defining "telling the truth" as divulging the truth (not a lie), the whole truth (full disclosure) and nothing but the truth (uncompounded with lies) — consider how lies are deployed in everyday personal interactions.

Let's start with good old tatemae (charitably translated as "pretense"). By basically saying something you think the listener wants to hear, tatemae is, essentially, lying. That becomes clearer when the term is contrasted with its antonym, honne, one's "true feelings and intentions."

Tatemae, however, goes beyond the "little white lie," as it is often justified less by the fact you have avoided hurting your listener's feelings, more by what you have gained from the nondisclosure.

[TigerLikesRooster]

P!

[Doctor 2Brains]

for later

[fso301]

Linkey no workey.

[Pontiac]

This link works.

The costly fallout of tatemae and Japan's culture of deceit

[TheOldLady]

Boop His Nose

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[Jack Hammer]

The Tatemae/Honne system has worked pretty well in Japan for better than two thousand years, helping maintain order in a society with half the population of the United States living on land with the area of California.

If it works, don’t “fix” it.