The end of history? Or the beginning of the future?

My group all believes that Japanese culture is not disappearing but gradually changing. By studying family life and such we learned that it is modernizing due to the things found in the homes. A Japanese person lives in a western style home with tables and chairs but they also have traditional tatami rooms with a kotatsu. The kontatsu itself is somewhat modernized also. The two - traditional and western - are being mixed. By studying art we learned that "it's like railroad tracks, they are parallel - or closer - and they keep coming closer but they never actually cross." Arts are evolving. Traditional emari vases are being used to make western style lamps. Western and Japanese are sharing technology, causing access to the same mediums (mediums - art supplies such as canvases, paints, and clay). "The spring flows into the stream. The stream flows into river. The river flows into the ocean where everything else meets." By studying food we learned that Japanese have McDonald's but they have added their own munchies - such as their teriyaki burger. You could go into certain places and order rice and chicken. Chicken is western, rice is traditional, so mixed makes modern. Generalizations can not be made because there are so many different ways to look at 'change' so to generalize if the entire country is changing is too hard.

Our original idea about cultural change was that Japan is modernizing. These changes and continuities have taken place due to many things. Technology has been a big part of it. Western influence on the Japanese is overwhelming also. During the Meiji Restoration is when a lot of western things were introduced to Japan. Japanese still like the old stuff and it has been in their lives for many years so that is why it continues. Our group thinks that the modernization that has and is happening to Japan is both positive and negative. We think that the communication between nations brings out the good in modernization. The new are descendents of the old. The bad thing is that something that has been here for so long is no longer common and people are forgetting their historical things.

Dear Minister of Culture,
In response to your earlier inquiry as to whether or not Japanese culture is fading and what to do about it, our class has divided into groups, and then each group subdivided so that each person would research a single aspect of culture in the Traditional Japanese form, the Modern Japanese form, and the Western Form. My group was comprised of three people; one of us studied Food, another Family Life, and the third Visual Arts. We have researched this information in a variety of ways, including use of the internet, school library, and other resources. Finally, our group came to the conclusion that Japanese culture is evolving into Modern Japanese culture (with the help of western influence), but it will not be completely obliterated.

First of all, if what you want is to stop (or at least limit) western influence altogether, then you might create tariffs against goods from western cultures being imported. This would be an effective way, we believe, to discourage western interaction, as, if western goods can not be imported, they will not be bought in favor to Japanese goods. Furthermore, this will also probably influence a reduction of the number of foreigners in Japan, as now they would find it more difficult to obtain goods from their homeland (and their jobs would take them out of Japan due to the tariffs) . Unfortunately, if you were to do this, then Japan's commerce will take a horrendous fall. As was once said " The bigger they come, the harder they fall..." international commerce is vital to a country's economy ("the bigger they come..."), and so if it were to fall drastically, so would much of Japan's economy ("...the harder they fall..."), thus resulting in skyrocketing unemployment rates.

Secondly, one could single out the more important western food companies, like Coke and Mc'Donalds; the effect would be less, unfortunately, but the blow the economy would take would be less, as well. The main function of this political maneuver would be to encourage the consumption of Traditional and Modern Japanese Food by drastically reducing the consumption of Western food. This would also reduce the amount of influence the West has on Japan as far as food is concerned. Similar tariffs might be placed against some other major industries. However, the disadvantages with this are the same as with the first- the economy will not react well to such attacks on international commerce. The only difference is that, as not all industries and companies will be affected, international commerce will not suffer a complete blackout. (only a brownout)

Of course, both of these ideas are generally offense- oriented ("attacking" the source of the influence), and thus will probably not settle well with the people of either culture. On a lighter note, you could try to enhance the people's understanding of Japanese culture, hoping to keep the cultural "stream" constantly flushed with Japanese culture (both Traditional and Modern) so that western influence is so diluted by the Traditional and Modern influence that it is hardly noticed. One way you could do this is to influence public schools to teach students more about Traditional Japanese Arts and culture (Traditional, because the purpose of this is to drown out Western influence, and Modern Japanese culture has been receiving some Western influence). This way, with each new generation, it is insured that Traditional Japanese Culture will not be forgotten. Of course, a problem with this is the great amount of time involved- a lot can happen in a generation that can change the views of a society.

I support and agree with the ideas of my colleagues, however, I have a suggestion which may differ from theirs a slight bit: Let the people choose. This, I believe, is the most democratic way of settling this situation. Furthermore, I do not truly believe that this situation is actually a problem- definitely it is not a good thing when a culture is forgotten, but does the birth of a new culture necessarily mean the death of the old one? Back to my earlier point; I do not believe that the direction of the culture of a country should be under the control of the government. People that want to follow Modern Japanese trends should be allowed to, as long as they do not harm anyone. The same applies to Traditional and Western. However, I do believe that the government should be concerned with keeping the options of the people open; if Traditional Culture is no longer practiced, it should be persevered for future generations. If the West is mainly ignored, then there should be places where those that prefer western art and culture could go to observe it. Of course, modern Japanese culture should be preserved, as well, for the current is becoming history even as you read this report. A good way to do this, I believe, is to encourage the opening of museums. Not just museums for Traditional Japanese culture. Not just museums for Western culture. Not just museums for "Modern" Japanese Culture. No. To do so would be to deprive the people of their right to choose. True, one could argue that government encouragement of museums is rather expensive, however, money is a small price to pay for knowledge.

"The end of history? Or the beginning of the future?" Main Page

Prepared by Anna Clark, Nozomi Naoi, and Travis Tamura, from Mr. Hoover's 8th Grade social studies class on "April 13th, 1998".