Kitabı oku: «Kazakhs and Japanese. Fortitude and perfection», sayfa 2

Chapter 5

The voice of blood

It is very far to Japan from Kazakhstan. Despite such a distance, the Kazakhs from the Union time were well aware of the Japanese. First of all, they knew according about the famous Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi cars, these cars began to arrive in Kazakhstan en masse from the beginning of the 90s, when the USSR collapsed. Before that, everyone knew Japan by its world-famous electronics. In the late 70s and early 80s, nothing better than Sony and Toshiba items were produced in the world, or so all Kazakhs thought.

For the mass of viewers, Japan was known for films such as “The Death of Japan”, “The Legend of the Dinosaur”, and “The Legend of Narayama”. If the film “Legend of Narayama” was a wonderful illustration of feudal Japan, then movies with the participation of Takeshi Kitano showed the Japanese character of all times.

In 2003, the Warner Bros company film “The Last Samurai” was released with the participation of Ken Watanabe and Tom Cruise. The last samurai, Moritsugu Katsumoto, was interested in the exploits of the Indians against the Americans from Captain Nathan Algren.

Despite all the pathos of the film, the Japanese could repeat the fate of the Indians. However, the samurai lost to the emperor’s forces in the Boshin War. Is it possible to say that modern Japan is a blessing than the folklore savagery of the past? All modern Kazakhs will say with one voice that modern Japan is cool; you can’t think of a better one. What happened in Japan that Kazakhs lack? Some Kazakh patriots would dream of a Japanese fate for the Kazakhs. Such Kazakhs are ready to blame Russia and the USSR for why Kazakhs did not become like the Japanese.

But is this really the case?

Could Kazakhs follow the path of Japanese Meiji and create a “Kazakh miracle” long before the world-famous economic miracle in Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong, or at least repeat the path of the “Southeastern tigers”?

Why did the people of pure blood lose to the people of pure reason?

The principle of pure blood is suitable in the fight against pure blood when a tribe opposes another tribe. If the people of blood do not have a seer to overcome the voice of kinship, the voice of blood is bad for folk. To do this, every person must have a monarch and undivided authority. If a person of blood has many littler leaders, these people will never break out of primitiveness. The Japanese had an emperor in 1867. Visionary officials gathered around the emperor. They went to Europe and the USA and returned to Japan, and the Japanese began to wildly copy everything European, all the creations of pure reason.

The Japanese have no less personal vanity than the Kazakhs. But the emperor’s power limited the personal anarchy of every Japanese, not so that each Japanese could show off an expensive dress or a katana from a famous master. The Japanese have turned into one samurai. The Japanese have become a nation in one generation. This incredible leap from savagery cost the Japanese many victims, but the Japanese turned into the Japanese that the world knows today. The Japanese have no problems with the language. No Japanese person would ever think of asking guests to speak Japanese. The Japanese know when to use the voice of blood and when to use the voice of reason. This balance is also familiar to Kazakhs, but the existing Kazakh inertia is not the merit of the Kazakhs; it’s as if we continue to roam like former nomads even living in cities today.

Moreover, there is a current of nationalists who want to put the voice of blood ahead of the voice of reason. In the 21st century, this means only one thing – the bad way of the Indians. This means control by the external Western mind of the Kazakh instincts of the voice of blood.

Chapter 6

Adequacy and efficiency of the Japanese elite

On July 8, 1853, the American squadron of Commodore Matthew Perry anchored in Uraga Bay near Edo. Japanese officials already knew about the approaching threat, but they did not have time to prepare. The bureaucratic apparatus of the Tokugawa Shogunate is mired in formalism and the inactivity of officials. The old shogun entrusted the affairs to his minister.

Why did a formidable military squadron land on the shores of Japan?

Japan continued its self-isolation regime. The closure of Japan – the Sakoku regime – happened because of aggressive, arrogant behavior – according to the shogun of the Portuguese Jesuits in the XVII century. Since then, foreign ships could not enter ports, replenish food and water supplies, whaling ships were shipwrecked, and the Japanese arrested the surviving sailors. Now, Commodore Matthew Parry had instructions from President Millard Fillmore to force the Japanese to trade by force.

Japanese were surprised for the first time and saw innovative American ships releasing black smoke. For the Japanese to understand everything, the Americans made an empty hall of guns "for suggestions". Of course, after such a show, the Japanese accepted Perry’s delimitation – according to all the canons of Japanese diplomacy. However, they first played the game “Who are you?”When minor officials talked to Perry, Perry realized this, so he ordered the Peisan cannons to be uncovered.

What to do? The Japanese tried to save face – they referred to the shogun’s illness. Perry agreed to wait one year.

But the natural death of the elderly shogun hastened the events. Perry sailed back to Uraga Bay exactly six months later. What for the Japanese to do again?

The head of the Bakufu, Abe Masahiro, did not dare to assume a responsible role and called an All-Japanese Meeting. Abe Masahiro soberly assessed the situation – resistance was impossible. On the contrary, representatives of the emperor, Bakufu, and regional nobility, Daimyo, were conservative. The agreement with the Americans, then with the Russians, was, of course, signed. With the help of the Dutch, Abe Masahiro immediately began to modernize the fleet, cast new guns, and even founded an intelligence agency to study new technologies and information from abroad. But Abe Masahiro didn’t have enough time. His compromise with the Americans, Russians, and British was a signal for other representatives of the opposition nobility. They accused him of cowardice and betrayal.“He signed a humiliating contract!” After the British shelled Kagoshima with cannons in 1863, everything became evident to everyone. Because the British were usually not enough for one trade agreement, they needed a bonded contract of the same type as the Chinese one, which they signed with the conquered China in 1860.

If the samurai power could not protect the homeland, this meant the shogun and his people had lost divine mercy.

That’s how the salvo of Matthew Perry’s squadron became the signal for a new era in the history of Japan. Those samurai and daimyo who felt humiliated did agree to change the old course of self-isolation. Everyone already knew what had happened to China, that China had lost its independence, and something had to be done. The invaders will soon come to Japan.

Who will save? Of course, the emperor.

The emperor is the son of the sun, which means hope, so in the spirituality of  emperor, there was a new way out for the new Japan. A group formed around the emperor against the shogun and Bakufu. It took another thirteen years for the shogun to agree and proclaim the power transfer to the emperor.

So, the emperor is a sacred figure. The Japanese, of course, first found spiritual reserves for the new government; this is a distinctive feature of the spirited Japanese. After all, when necessary, they always find a way out. Also, the Japanese have never closed their doors to talented people. Power is, of course, important for everyone, but not for the Japanese. Power itself was not an end for the Japanese – thanks to the soul synthesis of Shintoism and Buddhism.

Thus ended the two-hundred-and-fifty-year era of the shoguns. The executive power was returned to the son of the sun, Emperor Mutsuhito. An era called Meiji was born. So, the warriors were replaced by pundits. Isn’t this an indicator of Japanese adequacy and efficiency? The traditional power level is very important for the government to be adequate to external and internal challenges. The level of the elite is important, hence morality, what kind of people, and such is the power.

Chapter 7

Always on the right track

“Japanese morality does not encourage the appearance of outstanding personalities. Like a hammer, it immediately hits a nail, the head of which sticks out too much from the board. For all their apparent entrepreneurial spirit, the Japanese are weakly endowed with a sense of personal initiative. And this lack of creativity is largely due to their innate desire not to step over the boundaries of a proper place.”

“The concept of a proper place requires – don’t take for not your work. This deprives people of independence in many practical details.”

Sakura branch. Vsevolod Ovchinnikov

When I discovered how disciplined the Japanese are in all matters, I immediately realized where this quality came from. For me, a Kazakh, the author of the theory of self-reflection, it was not difficult. I automatically attributed the reflection of warriors to the Japanese. Yes, the first stage of reflection -it is the self-reflection of Zerefs has no semitones. This is the lowest reflection when warriors can’t show pity to enemies. It is when you have to follow orders.

However, after a minute, all my logic ended because the simple Japanese immediately show outstanding qualities when they don’t do other people’s business. If talents do not allow, they do not try to take someone else’s place. Natural modesty is always too obvious in Japanese etiquette. If you are an aristocrat, if you are a well-deserved person, and finally, if you are a guest in the house of a Japanese, you are always in the first place, you should sit in the most honorable place. If you don’t, because of your shyness now, the Japanese don’t know what to do in their own home. What is it? After all, the Japanese automatically follow the main motto of the Revcon – give in, skip ahead of the best. Even if this outstanding quality is a manifestation of upbringing, that is conditioned reflexes, the Japanese allegedly did not think of it himself, but he was inspired to respect his elders. Actually, in the East, old people are respected everywhere. What’s the matter here?

What is the uniqueness of Japanese intuition?

Since the Heiyang 794—1185, Japan has been structured into five hundred subclasses. There is no country in the world where people do not know someone else’s superiority, at least in something, in the smallest detail. Official status, noble origin, occupation, and even seniority are the most obvious things every nation has. At the level of intuition, the Japanese can distinguish which of them is higher and which is lower. Even if someone was born a minute earlier, he deserves more respect. Such a dictatorship of an almost eternal hierarchy brought up the Japanese. The whole history of the Japanese was taught discipline.

So, why didn’t stagnation happen in Japan?

Why didn’t the triumph of stupidity happen? After all, the elder in any form of seniority, even in social status, even in the form of a stupid older brother, must dictate his will to submissive people.

The culture of etiquette is pressing on the Japanese – this is indisputable. This culture of respect is felt even in the XXI century, although Japan can be considered the most urbanized nation in Asia. The Japanese will always smile at you, but it’s not exactly a Chinese smile absolutely. It also does not puzzle that a Japanese is obliged to smile at any stupidity and every ignoramus. The Japanese will start hinting from afar so as not to offend. He will say goodbye culturally if he gets bored and sees who is before him.

So, who is a Japanese – a Zeref or a Zelot?

This question and the confusion in my theory of reflection is because the Japanese deny everything by their behavior my whole theory. Overly tactful and friendly Japanese tell you about the long historical compulsion to be like this. It really is. During the two hundred and fifty years of the Tokugawa dictatorship, the Japanese were taught not even to touch each other to avoid being insulted. Has anyone seen Japanese people holding out their hands for a handshake? No, the Japanese fold their palms and make bows. So, is it an innate affability then, or is it the fear of many generations hidden in this way?

And who said that children who love their father are friendly from fear?

The friendliness of the nation is just an indicator of its high self-reflection. They sort of say why should we waste time on trifles? What needs to be realized does not always come from the heart. High self-reflection manifests itself precisely in the search for and finding the best option, which is the search for Zen, which is the best way. In the VI century, Buddhism penetrated Japan. The Japanese liked it so much that they always made the right choice. The Japanese have very few fools in the administrative apparatus so far. A fool would not dare to replace a talented person so as not to look like a laughingstock. They always make the right choice and always find the right path. With all the shogun administrators’ dictatorship, they could not influence the freedom of choice. Yes, the Shoguns have accustomed the Japanese to over-discipline. They brought the intuition of the Japanese to cosmic heights, but few of the Japanese turned into holy prophets, of which there are many in the West. The dictatorship of the shoguns influenced the growth of reflection. Even the most recent Japanese try not to do stupid things so as not to have clowned over him. In this regard, the Japanese are very dependent on the opinions of others. But it is dependence on the opinions of others that is the first step to perfection.

Chapter 8

When everything is simple and when everything looks like a show-off

When there is a lot of beauty, it is not beauty.

Japanese proverb

As all fans have noticed, all Japanese cars are very ergonomic. Not only Toyotas and Nissans are ergonomic, but also Japanese high-speed trains. All Japanese homes and rooms, in general, are ergonomic without a single superfluous detail, not a single superfluous object. There is no satiety and pretentiousness in architecture anywhere. The Japanese don’t like everything big and colorful except for street advertising. But all trade is subject to other laws.

If, in Japanese reality, everything is as restrained as all Japanese, then this is Japanese culture. The first Europeans who visited Japan noted the small stature of the Japanese, the absence of overweight people, and the miniaturization of Japanese things. They said that the Japanese served treats in toy dishes. All the Japanese things reminded them of children’s toys. The Japanese, like children, always bow to each other.

(The Japanese, for their part, also did not remain in debt. These red-haired Portuguese and Dutch seemed to them disgusting demons from the world of demons – so huge and with the same big noses as Tengu (Tengu is a Japanese demon with fiery hair). They called “nanbandies” actually Chinese, but the Europeans also came from the side of China – what’s the difference? So, the Europeans also turned into barbarians because the Europeans had a bad smell. Where were they supposed to take a bath? How can this be done on a ship?)

Of course, the Europeans were surprised by the absolute purity of the Japanese. The Japanese were clean and tidy, even simple peasants and porters. They wore robes in which they wrapped their body; even the Japanese socks were white. There was not a single extra thing in Japanese homes. Entering their house, the Japanese took off their shoes and put on slippers; even for the toilet, they had separate slippers. All the household members, after greeting and curiosity, disappeared somewhere. Everyone, including the head, behaved towards the guest like the Japanese emperor had come in. The guest was necessarily seated in the most honorable place. If the guest showed shyness and did not sit there, the host and wife fell into a stupor – they did not know what to do, so the Japanese had everything painted according to the age-old etiquette.

Before serving the most exquisite treats, all the housewives said the same words: “I’m sorry that we have almost nothing on the table.” It’s good that the guests did not understand anything; they themselves would have fallen into a stupor from such words because all the delicacies were put in front of them. During the meal, the host and hostess would not have said a word, except for toasts, pronounced in honor of the guest several times, and the absorption of Japanese rice vodka “sake”. In other cases, including semi-official ones, the Japanese behave as if they desire to disappear, to evaporate. Absolute modesty and tact. Buttoned-up jackets and a look at the floor. Thus, the Japanese not only have all the rooms ergonomic, but the Japanese themselves are ergonomic in their own body, if I may say so.

Someone may suspect that this behavior is also the result of the age-old administrative dictatorship of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Maybe everything can be. I think this is because almost 70% of Japan is occupied by mountains. Japanese rice fields are so tiny that willy-nilly, one might think they could all disappear. And these miniature areas would really like to disappear because cyclones are real Japanese disasters.

In this respect, the nomads have a great expanse to ride over the endless distance. Who’s going to stop him? There is no one a thousand kilometers ahead. Ride as much as you want, and no one will limit you. The nomad must move as far as possible and use the entire territory to be overcome. Maybe that’s why even a modern Kazakh boss seems to be alone in his office; no one else is around, but they are. Kazakhs need to designate their territory by themselves, by their presence, by their importance, so to speak. The Arab Abu Ziad was asked jokingly how the Kazakhs walk. He must have seen them when they made the Hajj to Mecca. The observant Abu Ziyad laughed and walked forward, waving his arms and spreading his legs apart as if not one but two people were walking to show their territory – he was joking.

Meanwhile, this does not give anyone dignity. As the Prophet said, may Allah bless him and grant him: “Do not walk the earth proudly.” In general, there are 128 million Japanese in Japan and 9 thousand officials. In Kazakhstan, 82 thousand civil servants account for 19 million people. There are obvious shortcomings with the ergonomics of power.

Chapter 9

The quality of bureaucracy

Amakudari (literally “descent from heaven”)

“Officials are people who want to surround themselves with as many subordinates as possible. The more subordinates there are, the more stable the official’s position is and the more opportunities he has for further advancement to the top.”

Hiroshi Fujiwara

In 1945, Japan lay in ruins. Everyone knows about the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In fact, the damage from the nuclear bomb was only a tenth of the carpet bombing by the American Air Force. Squadrons of 500 B-29 bombers burned down all Japanese cities in two years. When the emperor addressed the nation, all the Japanese could stand at the radios. Young Akio Morita, the future founder of the legendary Sony company, stood at attention in the uniform of an officer of the Imperial Navy with a sword. Yes, the Japanese bureaucracy itself was one of the ingredients of success (the other most important factor of the Japanese miracle was the highest discipline and diligence of the Japanese people. The unwritten and little understood by others, the strict practice of amakudari (“descended from heaven”), of course, requires clarification.

What is amakudari?

This is a lifetime contract of an official with the state. There are a lot of applicants, but there are few high government posts. So, officials of that age did not stay too long in office; thus, they could find work in commercial firms. The pension was good because the work in a commercial company will also be recorded in the work experience. At the age of 50—53, high officials leave for business structures, that is, long before retirement age. They go to private companies, where they are invited as top managers. Although they have modest salaries in the ministries, they, as a rule, do not steal – they know that they will honestly take their own in the private sector. There is, of course, an opportunity for patronage and corruption because the “favorite” company, for example, will not check enough. But this does not greatly affect Japanese corruption in general. Corruption in Japan is very low. Suspicion of corruption for a modern Japanese official is the same indelible shame as for a Japanese during the shogunate. The Japanese just mortally do not want to be a laughing stock in front of society. That’s the positive legacy the Japanese received from the shoguns.

In Kazakhstan, they try not to check the companies in which relatives of big officials work. This is not accepted. Any inspection of a large firm or a large bank is authorized only from above, and any errors are excluded. Basically, inspectors check small businesses, and everything is already possible there. Small businessmen are better off not contradicting and agreeing with everything with small officials; otherwise, it will be more expensive.

Thus, all power is tied to big business. You need to have large relatives in the executive branch to have an unsinkable business. The higher the position in which an official sits, the bigger his business affairs are, and this is almost a rule.

If the government changes, then, of course, the whole pyramid changes. They select “their own people”, their own team. There is also a redistribution of large businesses’ assets. Therefore, power cannot be lost in any way. Every official knows this. Therefore, no one wants to leave voluntarily. Disloyalty to the regime can serve as a reason for dismissal, so no one wants to get involved with the opposition. No one wants to be overly active, say, in work, but everyone tries to praise the course of the current president, and the president himself should always be praised (for example, give to streets, parks, and squares the president’s name). If an extraordinary event occurs in the controlled territory of a big official, enemies and competitors for a lucrative place immediately take advantage of it, and they quickly inform the leader. The official is first checked for loyalty, and then everything else is checked.

The culture of power is always linked to culture in general. The desire of a nomad to occupy more space around himself is quite understandable. This is an eternal desire. Even minor officials from the former nomads do not tolerate objections. In Japan, for example, no one takes a step without instructions; Japan is generally a country of instructions. In Kazakhstan, almost no instructions are needed. The officials do this under the motto I am the boss – you are a subordinate, so complete subordination. If an official has a relative, a “roof” on top, he does not care who is sitting in front of him. He knows he has protection. The pathetic babble of a journalist is pathetic because there is no free press, although everywhere, they talk about some kind of commitment to democracy. Well, it’s true; if there is a market around, then there should be a free press. Not with us. The authorities decide everything. Therefore, everyone wants, especially the extremely conservative Kazakhs, to get into power. But the government has its own selection. And this selection is far from meritocratic principles in general. The whole press is under control almost like in Japan (with one difference: the Amakudari principle helps the Japanese). That is, a Kazakh with a reliable roof is not afraid of anything.

Japanese are big reinsurers in this sense.

To avoid violating discipline at the firm, the president of the firm will not keep a relative of a slacker. An exception is possible only for the mafia. But to do this, you need to be at least the son of a Yakuza.

The Japanese are also very fond of different instructions.

They have instructions for all their deeds and actions; even in everyday life, they, as it were, act according to the instructions – organized and according to tradition.

Therefore, there are a lot of bureaucratic delays.

The Japanese bureaucracy is honest and loyal, almost like samurai, but at the same time, it is very clumsy and, as it were, cowardly, afraid of responsibility (because there have been no samurai for a long time, they were brought out as a class). Therefore, there is a lot of paper, a lot of documents, and a lot of bureaucratic delays.

These instructions confirm that the Japanese do not like initiative, and the instructions help to refer to them so that no one would suspect a violation of the order. This is also, by the way, an inheritance from the shogunate. At the height of the economic boom – in the mid-1950s, researchers cited the following fact: to obtain the signature of the Prime Minister of Japan, more than 50 officials had to sign the document. On average, every official puts his seal on 250 documents every day (in Japan, all documents are stamped with a personal seal, not a signature). Of course, it was physically impossible to check or even read these papers in full, which led to a simple stamping of documents and their transfer further to the authorities.

So,

The institutions of control have a deep history associated with the ideology of Japanese neo-Confucianism. Japan, already 15 years after the carpet bombing of the United States, which burned the whole of Japan to the ground, reached the pre-war level and second place after the United States in GDP – in just one generation. Strange as it may sound, Japan owes its economic triumph in the 70s to hierarchical relations – feudal discipline, mass subordination to power, faithful service of the elite, and fulfillment of duties and duties by all the people.

In this respect, Kazakhs are, as it were, more freedom-loving (undisciplined). We have not had a shogunate nor a despotic government for two and a half centuries (there was Genghis Khan once upon a time, and all conservatives, especially liberal Kazakhs, scolded the dictatorship of the Bolsheviks). At this time, the Japanese were formed as we know them. As the whole world knows them.