5. Does
By SHIN-ICHI TERASHIMA
In English, the auxiliary verbs “will” and “shall” are a part of a future tense that Japanese grammar does not have. However, the use of “will” is destined to become very important for Japanese life in the coming century. God expressed his strong will as “Thou shall not commit adultery” in the Ten Commandments. The Western God is not now widely accepted by the Japanese because He shows his will. In this country, one’s will is usually neglected. By the same token, a candidate who speaks his own opinion is also resented. “Individual opinion is different” often means “self-interest is different from person to person.”
U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur expressed his strong will as “I shall
return” when he was ordered to leave
These apparent real and universal ideals are differentiated and expressed in different tense: present, past or future. When the Japanese meet this antagonism, they express both in the real tense. One is called “giri” (hierarchical consideration), another “ninjo” (natural human feeling and self-interest). More officially, both are “tatemae” (expressed sentiments) and “honne” (true sentiments) and are truth in the real world.
Usage of the auxiliary verbs “will” and “shall” seem to be very important in formulating one’s idea. Opinion is an expression of will power. The Japanese find it difficult to separate their own opinion from fact in their minds because both are stated together in real (present) sentences. In journalism, Japanese reporters manage to render fact and opinion in a news story almost indistinguishable. So, in our country few opinions are seen in newspapers and they seem all alike.
Western education emphasizes will power, while Japanese education emphasizes hierarchy. (The term “kaisho” is of Korean origin rather than Japanese grammar.) The consequence of no tense (“jisei”) (neither future nor past but real ? present ? tense) in Japanese grammar is that the Japanese neither learn from the past analytically, nor prepare for the future systematically. The press wants to show nonpersonal “yononaka wa ….” (It is the way of the world that ….), and people want to know nonpersonal “yononaka wa ….” (consensus).
In my view, leaders emerge in two forms: One is the Japanese version, and the other is the Western version. The Japanese version of a leader is one who is a superior, or a head, with the title of leader, but someone who is not required to apply his will, or determination. The Western version of a leader is one who has, or is expected to have, vision, but at the same time exercises his will. These two are deceptively similar, but basically, they are quite distinct. This kind of will has no necessary relationship in the Japanese mind with the concept of a superior. The Japanese understand “will” not as will power in the Western sense, but as a spirit (“yamato tamashii”).
Japanese has a grammatical hierarchy that English does no have.
Behavior with hierarchical considerations is stifling, but seems to be
universal as illustrated when we watch Japanese monkeys living their stressful
life on a monkey island. Yononaka wa …. hinted at this and the Japanese
understand that hierarchical considerations are universal. Even nowadays, giri
and ninjo give a basis for judgment by the Japanese. During the feudalistic
era, or the
After the war, the
Young Japanese were taught that there is no superior-inferior level in human relationships and learned to ridicule the old hierarchy, but they could find no new values. There once was a Southeast Asian country in which a leader believed that the existence of money made the difference between the rich and the poor, so he burned all of the money and all of the people became poor. By the same token, new Japanese were denied the traditional views of superior-inferior relationships, and as a result, all people become inferior in character. Only old ninjo remains available.
Prostitution cannot be curbed by judgment on the basis of giri and ninjo. An advisory panel reluctantly lent its support, with some members opposed, on grounds that sex decisions, even for minors, are personal and not limited by God’s strong will (prohibition of extramarital sex). “Baishun” (prostitution), “enjo-kosai” (school-giri prostitution), “furin” (literally immorality, euphemism for adultery) are all in the same category of Japanese problems.
Which is more important in this world, will or superiority? Will represents personal future plans, things that are intangible and unreliable. Superiority is real; it exists in the here and now and is therefore credible for the Japanese, yet it lacks any directive schema. The ill-fated Japanese once trusted implicitly in the superiority of their elite and proceeded to lose World War II.
Confucius said, “The superior man is friendly, but not obsequious; the inferior man is obsequious, but not friendly.” Studying “kotobazukai” (literally “how to use words”) tends to put the Japanese in an inferior attitude, so we have to be careful. To pay attention to personal opinions rather than yononaka might be the royal road to become a superior man. Grammatical specificity influences our mentality and “will” is worthy of our attention.
The Japan Times, Sunday, May 9, 1999