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And one more for the reading list.
Dec. 7th, 2006 07:18 amAlternet's got an interesting article up about Shutting Out the Sun, a new book which apparently argues that Japan's inability to embrace Christianity is at the heart of its societal woes.
Which sounds utterly ridiculous to me, especially as he reportedly holds Korea up to Japan as a spotlight of successful westernization. Based both on my studies and personal experiences with the two countries, this theory doesn't hold water. Koreans are equally (if not more) held in thrall to brand name consumerism, place insane emphasis on plastic surgery as a key to emotional health (in stark albeit lessening contrast to Japan), and have an equally hellacious (if not worse) school/examination system, which leads to the same sorts of problems with teen suicides that Japan faces in particular, and an emphasis on conformity and intellectual incuriosity in general. And what to make of Korean society's lingering emphasis on Confucianism? Or the fact that aside from those norms, Japan seems to have retained more of its indegenous culture during day-to-day existence than has Korea? Indeed, I would argue that it is both countries' attempts to hold on to outdated norms of social hierarchy that lead to the problems they face, not the presence or absence of Christianity as Zielenziger argues. Especially given the fact that Buddhism seems at least as popular in Korea as is Christianity. And that's just a quick comparison between Japan and the other Asian country Zielenziger uses as an example; many of the Alternet commentators have already pointed out pertinent comparisons between Japan and the west.
Anyway, I get the feeling that the reviewer didn't quite know what to make of the book, but from the review, I also get the feeling that Zielenziger doesn't quite know what to make of Japan. He supposedly lived there for almost a decade, but does he speak any Japanese? Have any familiarity with the country and its history, or culture?
If nothing else, I've got one more for ye olde reading list.
That will be all.
Which sounds utterly ridiculous to me, especially as he reportedly holds Korea up to Japan as a spotlight of successful westernization. Based both on my studies and personal experiences with the two countries, this theory doesn't hold water. Koreans are equally (if not more) held in thrall to brand name consumerism, place insane emphasis on plastic surgery as a key to emotional health (in stark albeit lessening contrast to Japan), and have an equally hellacious (if not worse) school/examination system, which leads to the same sorts of problems with teen suicides that Japan faces in particular, and an emphasis on conformity and intellectual incuriosity in general. And what to make of Korean society's lingering emphasis on Confucianism? Or the fact that aside from those norms, Japan seems to have retained more of its indegenous culture during day-to-day existence than has Korea? Indeed, I would argue that it is both countries' attempts to hold on to outdated norms of social hierarchy that lead to the problems they face, not the presence or absence of Christianity as Zielenziger argues. Especially given the fact that Buddhism seems at least as popular in Korea as is Christianity. And that's just a quick comparison between Japan and the other Asian country Zielenziger uses as an example; many of the Alternet commentators have already pointed out pertinent comparisons between Japan and the west.
Anyway, I get the feeling that the reviewer didn't quite know what to make of the book, but from the review, I also get the feeling that Zielenziger doesn't quite know what to make of Japan. He supposedly lived there for almost a decade, but does he speak any Japanese? Have any familiarity with the country and its history, or culture?
If nothing else, I've got one more for ye olde reading list.
That will be all.
