Blog 1- Aimai, Uchi to Soto, Dayjyo Kankei

Aimai-

"Ambiguity, or aimai, is defined as a state in which there is more than one intended meaning, resulting in obscurity, indistinctness, and uncertainty" (p. 9).  From the reading, this root word, aimai, meaning basically ambiguity describes a fundamental part of the Japanese culture. To be ambiguous is a good thing in their minds, not that it's a bad thing in our culture, just more common and expected.  Stemming from ages ago when community was everything, people developed a sense of communal integrity; They developed ideals that one should go with the community and to disagree with the community was not a wise thing to do. So, as the years progressed, ambiguity became a prominent idea; people still had personal opinions, but were less inclined to share them, instead, opting for an ambiguous statement so as not to appear too proud or arrogant. This sometimes can lead to difficulties when non-Japanese try to interact with those from that culture. Westerners may be more confrontational, but still maintain a relationship, where as in the book it says, "In Japan, however, if you go against someone and create a bad atmosphere, your relations may break off completely. People tend to react emotionally, and most are afraid of being excluded from the group" (p. 13).

Uchi to Soto- 

"Uchi can be defined as (1) inside, (2) my house and home.. in contrast, soto means (1) the outside, (2) outdoors, (3) other groups.." (p. 217). This describes the separation between different people in the eyes of the Japanese, you have those in your family or close friends as the Uchi and those on the outside as soto.  It's not necessarily so black and white though, the concept of Uchi extends out to all Japanese people with all non-Japanese falling into soto.  I would say there are different levels at which Uchi applies, the closest knit would be your immediate family,  to your friends and coworkers, to a nationalist pride.  It's at this last level where I think the concept of soto becomes more discriminatory and prevalent with those who have lived in Japan all their life and speak fluently, but who aren't of Japanese decent are still considered outsiders and shunned.  "The ie (meaning 'house') system thus had an important influence on present-day Japanese society in many ways and was the foundation on which the dual concept of uchi/soto was built" (p. 218). 

Dayjyo Kankei-

"Historically, the relationship between men and women in Japan has changed in accordance with the dominant social system of the period and women's position within it" (p. 61).  Woman went from having power and basically equal say in the decisions to having almost none in the span of a few hundred years with fluctuation in between. This drastic fall is due mainly in part to the introduction and adaptation of Confucianism into the Japanese culture. Men became the prominent head of house hold who go do a hard days work while the woman cook and clean and handle the children. This was the dominant way of thinking too, up until post WWII when Japan had a new constitution forced upon them.  The process is a slow one, but women are gradually making there way more and higher up the ladder in social economics. This can sometimes come at a price when the lingering old ways of thinking are still widespread and accepted.  "Otoko-masari means a woman who is superior to men... However, despite this literal meaning... it often sounds negative in Japanese because it carries a connotation of lacking femininity, and such women are usually disliked" (p 63).

Japanese ideals and cultural norms are similar in a lot of ways to the rest of the world, women's equality, a sense of community, etc are seen in many different cultures and counties, but like others, including western cultures, they still have some work to do.