Today, whilst waiting for my flight to San Diego at Narita Airport, I decided to pen my thoughts on the culture of Japanese society.
I have always been intrigued with the Japanese and their lives. Added by the fact, the Look East Policy 1.0, which was aggressively activated and implemented in the civil service in the 1980s, had resulted in the civil servants being enculturated in the process, including yours truly. The famous Quality Control Circle or QCC rightly controlled our everyday lives, the civil servants, I mean.😍 With this concept, discipline, values and ethics are pivotal elements to be adopted and cultured by members of any organisations in Malaysia.
The few times that I was in Japan, I had the opportunity to meet interesting people. And, as always, my curiosity got the best of me and I managed to strike up conversations with the locals.
Pix 1: Mr Kamazawa with my dearest hubby
In June 2018, we had a tourist guide to bring us around in Japan by the name of Mr. Kamazawa. Interestingly, he had lived in the United States for 16 years and then decided to return to Japan. My conversation with Mr. Kamazawa was as follows:
Me: How did Japan succeed in producing disciplined people?
Mr. Kamazawa: I received my life lessons when I was very young indeed. In fact, even before I entered school. My parents taught me not to do the following: first, do not spit on the streets; and, second, do not litter on the streets.
I was totally impressed by Mr. Kamazawa’s statements. The world had witnessed on how the Japanese audiences displayed the aforementioned values during the World Cup 2018 games recently. They volunteered to clean up the football stadium after each game played by their team. Not only that, after losing their last game, the Japanese players even cleaned up their lockers. That’s discipline and values for the world!
The moral of the story: parents’ role is crucial and a determinant to the upbringing of future generations. This is what the Japanese has propagated in their society. An exemplary model to be emulated. The enculturation of Japanese upbringing of their children is being appreciated not only in the eastern but also the western world. The children are given responsibility since young, for example, to clean up their classrooms and canteens. Values and discipine are dominating their lives.
Smoking in Japan is a moral hazard, which yours truly can totally agree to. As such, people are not allowed to smoke in public places, but are instead confined to a closed room or location. I took the picture below at the bus stop in Hokkaido to depict the exact situation. Again, discipline and respect can give birth to a matured society.
Pix 2: Smokers room at the bus station in Hokkaido
In reality, the behaviours displayed by the Japanese people are basic and universal ones; maybe with some seriousness, these can be adopted and adapted by our mankind.
Pix 3: The clean streets of Chiba
Sojourner Noorul 