Honor in Defeat: Japanese vs. Western Perceptions

1157 Words3 Pages

Normally a defeat would produce shame but there are some ways in which defeat can be converted into an honorable end that redefines a personal failure into an overcoming of the circumstances, usually through honorable death. Defining what constitutes shame is a difficult task, primarily due to the fact that different countries have different ideas about what constitutes shame and how to face it.
For most societies the basic definition of shame can be broken down into categories, for example: shame could be the loss of face, meaning somebody causes another person to feel embarrassment or to have their reputation tarnished in some way. Shame can also be related to loss of personal honor or degrading of a person’s social status. Shame is often times revealed in times of disaster or in the face of some form of catastrophe.
A failure to properly handle a negative situation such as a disaster, or receiving blame for one’s role in a situation [in which the majority of public opinion indicates that disaster might have been preventable if only X solution had been implemented earlier] causes a loss of face which in turn is an example of shame.
One example of a disaster situation in which the blame was placed on persons who had a public role in the disaster was the recent incident in Fukushima, Japan. This incident was followed by resignations and a loss of face on the part of the Japanese government due to the Japanese people’s perceptions of who was at fault in the management of the disaster and its consequences.
The Japanese reaction to the shame [in this case the negative publicity attached to the handling of the situation] is somewhat different from the western perceptions and reactions. Especially in relation to war and warriors,...

... middle of paper ...

...tion is brought into question, the chances of losing face are multiplied (Nitobe, 38). The most important thing about shame, is how it is handled with in the context of the country in which it is experienced and therefore within which it is judged.

Works Cited

1. Dilworth, David and J. Thomas Rimer, eds. The Historical
Fiction of Mori Ogai. Honolulu: U of Hawai’i P, 1991
Print. Rpt. of The incident at Sakai and Other Stories
And Saiki Koi and Other Stories. 1977

2. Watson, Burton Trans. and Haruo Shirane Ed. The Tails of the Heike. New York:
Columbia University Press, 2006. Print.

3.Morris, Ivan I. The Nobility of Failure: Tragic Heroes in the History of Japan. New York:
Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1975. Print.

4. Nitobe Inazo, and William Elliot Griffis. Bushido: The Soul or Japan:
An Exposition of Japanese Thought. Rutland:
Charles E. Tuttle, 1994. Print

Open Document