Salaryman
A Salaryman is a salaried worker and, more a Japanese white-collar worker who shows overriding loyalty to the corporation where he works. Japan's society prepares its people to work for the good of the whole society rather than just the individual, the salaryman is a part of that. Salarymen are expected to work long hours, additional overtime, to participate in after-work leisure activities such as drinking, singing karaoke and visiting hostess bars with colleagues, to value work over all else; the salaryman enters a company after graduating college and stays with that corporation his whole career. Other popular notions surrounding salarymen include death from overwork. In conservative Japanese culture, becoming a salaryman is the expected career choice for young men and those who do not take this career path are regarded as living with a stigma and less prestige. On the other hand, the word salaryman is sometimes used with derogatory connotation for his total dependence on his employer and lack of individuality.
The word "salaryman" saw widespread use in Japan by 1930, "although the white-collar class remained small until the rapid expansion of government bureaucracies and war-related industry before and during World War II."The term does not include all workers who receive a set salary, but only "white-collar workers in the large bureaucracy of a business firm or government office." The term includes those. Workers in the mizu shōbai and entertainment industries are not included though their income may be salary based. Doctors, lawyers, musicians, politicians, the self-employed, corporate executives are excluded. A typical description of the salaryman is a male white-collar employee who earns his salary "based on individual abilities rather than on seniority." Salarymen are known for working many hours, sometimes up to sixty hours per week. Oftentimes, because of his busy work schedule, the salaryman does not have time to raise a family and his work becomes a lifelong commitment. Companies hire the salarymen straight after high school, they are expected to stay with the company until retirement, around the time they reach the age between 55 and 60.
As a reward for the demonstration of their loyalty, companies fire the salarymen unless it is under special "dire" circumstances. There is a belief that the "amount of time spent at the workplace correlates to the perceived efficiency of the employee." As a result of this intense work-driven lifestyle, salarymen may be more to suffer from mental or physical health problems, including heart failure or suicide. The media portray the salaryman in negative fashion for lack of initiative and originality; because of this portrayal, communities may be less willing to help the salaryman with his emotional problems, which leads to clinical depression or suicide. Corporations are more willing to fire salarymen to lower costs, many Japanese students are attempting to veer off the typical path of graduating from college to enter a corporation and become a salaryman; the act of escaping from the corporate lifestyle is known as datsusara. A vivid portrait of this can be found in Dolls; the prevalence of salarymen in Japanese society has given birth to many depictions by both the Japanese and American media.
Some films in Japan about salarymen include Mr. Salaryman, Japanese Salaryman NEO, a drama series entitled History of a Salaryman. There is a certain expectation among the middle and upper classes for Japanese men to become salarymen. For many young Japanese men, accepting anything less than becoming a salaryman and conforming to its ideal is considered a failure, not only of him, but of his parents; the life of a salaryman revolves around work. The activities that he does outside of work involve his coworkers, which lessens the distance between him and work. Due to this expectation, there have been a variety of derogatory names given to salarymen: shachiku meaning corporate livestock, kaisha no inu dog of the company, kigyou senshi corporate soldier, to ridicule salarymen. Changing social circumstances have diversified the life of the salaryman outside of work. Though the importance of social drinking has not declined, its image has changed over time from mass partying during the economic bubble to conservative consumption at home after the collapse of the economy during the 1990s.
Mahjong was an immensely popular game among the 1960s generation of salarymen, who brought the game into company circles directly from high school and college groups. The 1970s generation saw a gradual decrease in the number of avid mahjong players, by the 1980s, it became common to not show any interest at all; some current salarymen do not partake in the game. Golf became popular during the economic bubble, when golf club passes became useful tools for currying favor with corporate executives. Many mid-level salarymen were pressured into taking up golf to participate in golfing events with their superiors; the collapse of the economic bubble led to the closing of many golf courses, the ritual of playing golf with executives has become rare. However, some current salarymen may have golfing experience from their student days, golf is still acknowledged as an expensive hobby for salarymen. Extreme pressure on salarymen can lead to death by karōshi. Salarymen feel intense pressure to fulfill their duty to support their family because of the gendered expectations placed on men.
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Aging of Japan
The aging of Japan is thought to outweigh all other nations, with Japan being purported to have the highest proportion of elderly citizens. Japan is experiencing a "super-aging" society both in urban areas. According to 2014 estimates, 33.0% of the Japanese population is above the age of 60, 25.9% are aged 65 or above, 12.5% are aged 75 or above. People aged 65 and older in Japan make up a quarter of its total population, estimated to reach a third by 2050. Japan had a post war baby boom between 1947 and 1949; the law of 1948 led to easy access to abortions, followed by a prolonged period of low fertility, resulting in the aging population of Japan. The dramatic aging of Japanese society as a result of sub-replacement fertility rates and high life expectancy is expected to continue. Japan's population began to decline in 2011. In 2014, Japan's population was estimated at 127 million. Japanese citizens view Japan as comfortable and modern, resulting in no sense of a population crisis; the government of Japan has responded to concerns about the stress that demographic changes place on the economy and social services with policies intended to restore the fertility rate and make the elderly more active in society.
The number of Japanese people with ages 65 years or older nearly quadrupled in the last forty years, to 33 million in 2014, accounting for 26% of Japan's population. In the same period, the number of children decreased from 24.3% of the population in 1975 to 12.8% in 2014. The number of elderly people surpassed the number of children in 1997, sales of adult diapers surpassed diapers for babies in 2014; this change in the demographic makeup of Japanese society, referred to as population ageing, has taken place in a shorter span of time than in any other country. According to projections of the population with the current fertility rate, over 65s will account for 40% of the population by 2060, the total population will fall by a third from 128 million in 2010 to 87 million in 2060. Economists at Tohoku University established a countdown to national extinction, which estimates that Japan will have only one remaining child in 4205; these predictions prompted a pledge by Prime Minister Shinzō Abe to halt population decline at 100 million.
The aging of the Japanese population is a result of one of the world's lowest fertility rates combined with the highest life expectancy. The reason for Japan's growing aging population is because of high life expectancy. Japan's life expectancy in 2016 was 85 years; the life expectancy is 81.7 for 88.5 for females. Since Japan's overall population is shrinking due to low fertility rates, the aging population is increasing. Factors such as improved nutrition, advanced medical and pharmacological technologies reduced the prevalence of diseases, improving living conditions. Moreover and prosperity following World War II was integral to the massive economic growth of post-war Japan, leading to longer lifespans. Proportion of health care spending has increased as Japan's older population spends time in hospitals and visits physicians. 2.9% people aged 75–79 were in a hospital and 13.4% visited physicians on any given day in 2011. Life expectancy at birth has increased from the end of World War II, when the average was 54 years for women and 50 for men, as a result of improvements in medicine and nutrition, the percentage of the population aged 65 years and older has increased from the 1950s.
The advancement of life expectancy translated into a depressed mortality rate until the 1980s, but mortality has increased again to 10.1 per 1000 people in 2013, the highest since 1950. Japan's total fertility rate has been below the replacement threshold of 2.1 since 1974 and reached a historic low of 1.26 in 2005. Experts believe that signs of a slight recovery reflect the expiration of a "tempo effect," as fertility rates accommodate a major shift in the timing and number of children, rather than any positive change; as of 2016, the TFR was 1.41 children born/woman. A range of economic and cultural factors contributed to the decline in childbirth during the late 20th century: and fewer marriages, higher education, increase in nuclear family households, poor work–life balance, increased participation of women in the workforce, a decline in wages and lifetime employment along with a high gender pay gap, small living spaces, the high cost of raising a child. Many young people face economic insecurity due to a lack of regular employment.
About 40 % of Japan's labor force is non-regular, including temporary workers. Non-regular employees earn about 53 percent less than regular ones on a comparable monthly basis, according to the Labor Ministry. Young men in this group are less to consider marriage or to be married. Although most married couples have two or more children, a growing number of young people postpone or reject marriage and parenthood. Conservative gender roles mean that women are expected to stay home with the children, rather than work. Between 1980 and 2010, the percentage of the population who had never married increased from 22% to 30% as the population continued to age, by 2035 one in four men will not marry during their childbearing years; the Japanese sociologist Masahiro Yamada coined the term parasite singles for unmarried men in their late 20s and 30s who continue to live with their parents. Demographic trends are altering relations within and across generations, creating new government respo
Miai
Miai or omiai is a Japanese traditional custom in which a woman and a man are introduced to each other to consider the possibility of marriage. "Omiai" is sometimes mistranslated as an "arranged marriage" but it can be described as a meeting opportunity with more serious considerations for the future as a process of courtship. According to the National Institute of Population and Social Security Research, in 2005 it was estimated that around 6.2% of marriages in Japan are arranged via omiai. The practice of miai emerged in 16th century Japan among the samurai class to form and protect strong military alliances among warlords to ensure mutual support. During the Tokugawa period the practice of miai spread to other urban classes trying to emulate samurai customs. Miai was a solemn practice and involved considerations that aren't given as much weight by most modern Japanese people, such as family bloodlines and class; this type of miai is seen portrayed in films and television dramas. After the Pacific War, the trend was to abandon the restrictive arranged-meetings system.
Modern forms of miai are still practiced in Japan today, although they are no longer as prevalent as they were in the pre-Meiji era. The participants in a miai process include the candidates who are to be married and the families of these candidates. However, miai can take place without any involvement of the prospective couple's families. A nakōdo serves the role of a go-between for families in the miai process. A nakōdo is not necessary for all miai; the nakōdo can be friend, or matchmaking company. Professional organizations have begun to provide go-between services for inquiring candidates; these professional nakōdo are known as puro nakōdo. The general purpose of the nakōdo the traditional way of miai, is to provide introductions for people entering a new arrangement and to assist shy candidates; the nakōdo is expected to play a variety of roles throughout the miai process. The first is the bridging role, hashikake, in which the nakōdo introduces potential candidates and families to each other.
The second role is as a liaison for the families to avoid direct confrontation and differences in opinions between them by serving as an intermediary for working out the details of the marriage. Though miai marriages are not as common as they once were, they still hold a place in popular media. One example is Wedding Bells, a game show that substitutes for the role of the nakōdo in which contestants are introduced and screened for marriage possibility; the initiative for the miai introductions comes from the parents who may feel that their son or daughter is of a marriageable age in the range of 22 to 30, but has shown little or no sign of seeking a partner on their own. Other times, the individual may ask friends or acquaintances to introduce potential mates in a similar way. Parents subtly interject the phrase “onegai shimasu” into casual conversation, which implies that both parents have consented for their daughter to meet eligible men; the daughter may be unaware that her parents have suggested her availability though the use of "onegai shimasu."
Moreover, some parents send a candidacy picture to a future husband or go-between without their daughter's knowledge or consent. Parents may enlist the aid of a nakōdo or ask a third party with a wide range of social contacts to act as a go-between; the word "miai" describes both the entire process as well as the first meeting between the couple and the nakōdo. Miai signifies that the parties were brought together expressly for the purpose of marriage on the initiative of the parents, a friend of the family or a go-between, it means that the initial criteria of selection were objective ones. The potential mate and their family examine all eligible persons; the nakōdo has photographs of candidates and a “rirekisho”, a small personal history. The rirekisho includes the name, health, education and marital status of all members of the candidate's family; the families sit down with the nakōdo and screen the portfolios to eliminate any inappropriate candidates. The photographs and rirekisho may be brought to the home of the potential mate's family for the son or daughter to scrutinize.
The participant and their family examine the photos and short personal histories based on an investigation of social consideration. The education level and occupations of the potential candidate's family are the first aspects taken into consideration at this meeting; the potential mate and their mother create a list of primary choices and ask the nakōdo to investigate the first choice. In more selective miai, the candidates and their families are judged on a large set of criteria aimed at determining the suitability and the balance of the marriage; this criteria is formally known in Japan as iegara. It includes level of education, occupation, physical attractiveness, social standing, hobbies. Many modern women are stereotyped as looking for three attributes: height, high salary, high education; this is known as the "Three Hs.” The participant's bloodline plays a large role. Many fear that a candidate's blood is contaminated with diseases such as epilepsy, neurosis, or mental illness; the fear is so prevalent that the Eugenic Protection Law of 1948 was passed to legalize sterilization and abortion for people with a history of mental defects and other hereditary diseases.
Social status plays a large role in selecting a candidate. Ideally, paired candidates and their families should be of equal social status. A candidate has a hard time finding a mate if hi
Giri choco
Giri choco is chocolate given by women to men on Valentine's Day in Japan. It is a inexpensive type of chocolate women give to male co-workers, casual acquaintances, others to whom they have no romantic attachment. Men reciprocate by giving women cookies and other gifts on White Day, celebrated on March 14. Giri Honmei choco
Senpai and kōhai
Senpai and kōhai are a pair of Japanese words which describe an informal hierarchical interpersonal relationship found in organizations, clubs and schools in Japan. The concept has its roots in Confucian teaching, has developed a distinguished Japanese style becoming part of Japanese culture; the relationship is an interdependent one, as a senpai requires a kōhai and vice versa, establishes a bond determined by the date of entry to an organization. Senpai refers to the member of higher experience, level, or age in the organization who offers assistance and counsel to a new or inexperienced member, known as the kōhai, who must demonstrate gratitude and personal loyalty; the kōhai defers to the senpai's seniority and experience, speaks to the senpai using honorific language. The Senpai acts at the same time as a friend; this relation is similar to the interpersonal relation between tutor and tutored in Eastern culture, but differs in that the senpai and kōhai must work in the same organization.
The relation originates in Confucian teaching, as well as the morals and ethics that have arrived in Japan from ancient China and have spread throughout various aspects of Japanese philosophy. The senpai–kōhai relation is a vertical hierarchy that emphasizes respect for authority, for the chain of command, for one's elders, eliminating all forms of internal competition and reinforcing the unity of the organization. Over time this mechanism has allowed the transfer of experience and knowledge, as well as the expansion of acquaintances, to maintaining the art of teaching alive, it allows the development of beneficial experiences between both, as the kōhai benefits from the senpai's knowledge and the senpai learns new experiences from the kōhai by way of developing a sense of responsibility. This comradeship does not imply friendship; the Korean terms seonbae and hubae are written with the same Chinese characters and indicate a similar senior–junior relationship. Both the Japanese terms and the Korean terms are based on the Chinese terms qianbei and houbei, all written in the same Hanzi.
The senpai–kōhai system has existed since the beginning of Japanese history. Three elements have had a significant impact on its development: Confucianism, the traditional Japanese family system, the Civil Code of 1898. Confucianism arrived from China between the 6th and 9th centuries, but the derived line of thought that brought about deep social changes in Japan was Neo-Confucianism, which became the official doctrine of the Tokugawa shogunate; the precepts of loyalty and filial piety as tribute dominated the Japanese at the time, as respect for elders and ancestor worship that Chinese Confucianism taught were well accepted by the Japanese, these influences have spread throughout daily life. Like other Chinese influences, the Japanese adopted these ideas selectively and in their own manner, so that the "loyalty" in Confucianism was taken as loyalty to a feudal lord or the Emperor; the Japanese family system was regulated by Confucian codes of conduct and had an influence on the establishment of the senpai–kōhai relation.
In this family system the father, as male head, had absolute power over the family and the eldest son inherited the family property. The father had power because he was the one to receive an education and was seen to have superior ethical knowledge. Since reverence for superiors was considered a virtue in Japanese society, the wife and children had to obey it. In addition to the hereditary system, only the eldest son could receive his father's possessions, neither the eldest daughter nor the younger children received anything from him; the last factor influencing the senpai–kōhai system was the Civil Code of 1898, which strengthened the rules of privilege of seniority and reinforced the traditional family system, giving clear definitions of hierarchical values within the family. This was called koshusei, in which the head of the household had the right to command his family and the eldest son inherited that position; these statutes were abolished in 1947, after the surrender of Japan at the end of World War II.
These ideals remained during the following years as a psychological influence in Japanese society. The seniority rules are reflected in various grammatical rules in the Japanese language. A person who speaks respectfully to a superior uses honorific language, divided into three categories: Sonkeigo: used to denote respect towards a superior with or of whom one speaks, including the actions, objects and people related to this person. Kenjōgo: in contrast to sonkeigo, with kenjōgo the speaker shows respect to a superior by lowering or deprecating him or herself. Teineigo: differs from the other two in that the speaker shows only to the speaker rather than those being spoken about. Use of the verb desu and the verb ending -masu are examples of teineigo. Sonkeigo and kenjōgo have expressions particular to the type of language. Another rule in the hierarchical relation is the use of honorific suffixes of address. A senpai addresses a kōhai with the suffix -kun after the kōhai's given name or surname, regardless if the kōhai is male or female.
A kōhai addresses a senpai with the suffix -senpai or -san.
Japanese aesthetics
The modern study of Japanese aesthetics only started a little over two hundred years ago in the West. The Japanese aesthetic is a set of ancient ideals that include wabi, yūgen; these ideals, others, underpin much of Japanese cultural and aesthetic norms on what is considered tasteful or beautiful. Thus, while seen as a philosophy in Western societies, the concept of aesthetics in Japan is seen as an integral part of daily life. Japanese aesthetics now encompass a variety of ideals. Shinto is considered to be at the fountain-head of Japanese culture. With its emphasis on the wholeness of nature and character in ethics, its celebration of the landscape, it sets the tone for Japanese aesthetics. Japanese aesthetic ideals are most influenced by Japanese Buddhism. In the Buddhist tradition, all things are considered as either evolving from or dissolving into nothingness; this "nothingness" is not empty space. It is rather a space of potentiality. If the seas represent potential each thing is like a wave arising from it and returning to it.
There are no permanent waves. At no point is a wave complete at its peak. Nature is seen as a dynamic whole, to be admired and appreciated; this appreciation of nature has been fundamental to many Japanese aesthetic ideals, "arts," and other cultural elements. In this respect, the notion of "art" is quite different from Western traditions. Wabi and sabi refers to a mindful approach to everyday life. Over time their meanings overlapped and converged until they are unified into Wabi-sabi, the aesthetic defined as the beauty of things "imperfect and incomplete". Things in bud, or things in decay, as it were, are more evocative of wabi-sabi than things in full bloom because they suggest the transience of things; as things come and go, they show signs of their coming or going, these signs are considered to be beautiful. In this, beauty can be seen in the mundane and simple; the signatures of nature can be so subtle that it takes a quiet mind and a cultivated eye to discern them. In Zen philosophy there are seven aesthetic principles for achieving Wabi-Sabi.
Fukinsei: asymmetry, irregularity. Each of these things are found in nature but can suggest virtues of human character and appropriateness of behaviour. This, in turn suggests that virtue and civility can be instilled through an appreciation of, practice in, the arts. Hence, aesthetic ideals pervades much of the Japanese culture. Miyabi is one of the oldest of the traditional Japanese aesthetic ideals, though not as prevalent as Iki or Wabi-sabi. In modern Japanese, the word is translated as "elegance," "refinement," or "courtliness" and sometimes referred to as "heart-breaker"; the aristocratic ideal of Miyabi demanded the elimination of anything, absurd or vulgar and the "polishing of manners and feelings to eliminate all roughness and crudity so as to achieve the highest grace." It expressed that sensitivity to beauty, the hallmark of the Heian era. Miyabi is closely connected to the notion of Mono no aware, a bittersweet awareness of the transience of things, thus it was thought that things in decline showed a great sense of miyabi.
Shibui, shibumi, or shibusa are Japanese words which refer to a particular aesthetic or beauty of simple and unobtrusive beauty. Originating in the Muromachi period as shibushi, the term referred to a sour or astringent taste, such as that of an unripe persimmon. Shibui maintains that literal meaning still, remains the antonym of amai, meaning'sweet'. Like other Japanese aesthetic terms, such as iki and wabi-sabi, shibui can apply to a wide variety of subjects, not just art or fashion. Shibusa includes the following essential qualities. Shibui objects appear to be simple overall but they include subtle details, such as textures, that balance simplicity with complexity; this balance of simplicity and complexity ensures that one does not tire of a shibui object but finds new meanings and enriched beauty that cause its aesthetic value to grow over the years. Shibusa is not to be confused with sabi. Though many wabi or sabi objects are shibui, not all shibui objects are sabi. Wabi or sabi objects can be more severe and sometimes exaggerate intentional imperfections to such an extent that they can appear to be artificial.
Shibui objects are not imperfect or asymmetrical, though they can include these qualities. Shibusa walks a fine line between contrasting aesthetic concepts such as elegant and rough or spontaneous and restrained. Iki is a traditional aesthetic ideal in Japan; the basis of iki is thought to have formed among urbane mercantile class in Edo in the Tokugawa period. Iki is an expression of simplicity, sophistication and originality, it is ephemeral, straightforward and unselfconscious. Iki is not overly refined, complicated. Iki may signify a personal trait. Iki is not used to describe natural phenomena, but may be expressed in human appreciation of natural beauty, or in the nature of human beings; the phras
Ensō
In Zen, ensō is a circle, hand-drawn in one or two uninhibited brushstrokes to express a moment when the mind is free to let the body create. The ensō symbolizes absolute enlightenment, elegance, the universe, mu, it is characterised by a minimalism born of Japanese aesthetics. Drawing ensō is a disciplined-creative practice of Japanese ink painting—sumi-e; the tools and mechanics of drawing the ensō are the same as those used in traditional Japanese calligraphy: One uses a brush to apply ink to washi. The circle may be closed. In the former case, the circle is incomplete, allowing for movement and development as well as the perfection of all things. Zen practitioners relate the idea to the beauty of imperfection; when the circle is closed, it represents perfection, akin to Plato's perfect form, the reason why the circle was used for centuries in the construction of cosmological models, see Ptolemy. A person draws the ensō in one fluid, expressive stroke; when drawn according to the sōsho style of Japanese calligraphy, the brushstroke is swift.
Once the ensō is drawn, one does not change it. It evidences the character of its creator and the context of its creation in a brief, continuous period of time. Drawing ensō is a spiritual practice that one might perform as as once per day; this spiritual practice of drawing ensō or writing Japanese calligraphy for self-realization is called hitsuzendō. Ensō exemplifies the various dimensions of the Japanese wabi-sabi perspective and aesthetic: Fukinsei, koko, yugen and seijaku. Tyler Barnett is an American Enso artist. In 1995, Lucent Technologies hired the San Francisco office of Landor Associates, a transnational brand consultancy, to design their brand image. In the design of the logo, Landor colored an image of an ensō red; the designer intended the brushstroke to imply human creativity, the red to convey urgency. They named it the "Innovation Ring". "Our name and symbol represent the new entrepreneurial spirit and vision of our company" reads a public relations statement from Lucent. In North America, the logo was misunderstood.
After years of staying-power and familiarity, the logo became more accepted by industry people in the West, although it was still not well understood. Nonetheless, soon other logo designers began to be influenced by the work. Lucent stopped using the logo after merging with Alcatel of France to form Alcatel-Lucent. A variation of the symbol was used as a logo by Obaku Ltd.. They continue to use an ensō shape as a wristwatch brand. Thinking, an international design and consulting house centred in London, uses an ensō meaning "Expression" as one of their four icons, along with icons for science and vision. Philosopher Joseph Campbell's book, The Hero with a Thousand Faces, bears this symbol on its cover representing creativity and uninhibited freedom of expression within art/literature; the book The Lean Startup uses an enso on the cover. One of the concepts in the approach includes a learning cycle'Build - Measure - Learn"; the design of Apple Campus 2, Apple Inc.'s ring-shaped corporate headquarters, might have been inspired by the ensō.
AMD uses an ensō in the marketing of its Ryzen processors with the Zen microarchitecture. MINDBODY prominently features an ensō in its company logo. HSBC bank released a card named zero using as logo an ensō. KOAN Sound uses an open ensō in their logo as the'O' character; the Ensō bootloader vulnerability that allows the HENkaku exploit in PlayStation Vita consoles to run permanently uses an ensō as its logo. Abstract expressionism, a 20th-century American art movement Buddhism in Japan Dhyāna in Buddhism, a meditation practice in which the observer detaches from several qualities of the mind Ink wash painting, an East Asian style of brush painting that uses black ink Ouroboros, an ancient symbol depicting a serpent or dragon eating its own tail Seo, Audrey Yoshiko; the Art of Twentieth-century Zen: Paintings and Calligraphy by Japanese Masters. Boston: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 9781570623585. OCLC 39108653
