How Can We Prevent Violence by Studying Japan’s CultureReturn to Essay List

It has been more than seven years since one of the most horrific events in the United States of America occurred.  In Littleton, Colorado at a school named Columbine High School, two students showed up and opened fire killing 12 students and 2 teachers. They then proceeded to commit suicide.  This was one of the most shocking events, not because of the volume of deaths but because of who caused it.  Two teenagers were single-handedly responsible for the death of 14 people.  The country was in an uproar trying to find out what the cause behind this attack was.  Their final conclusion was that video games and other mass media such as television and movies were among the root causes of this horrible act.

Video games have been violent since their creation, but it seems that the violence has been getting increasingly worse.  Games started out killing imaginary things such as spaceships and monsters and have moved up to killing terrorists and counter terrorists.  It is no surprise that people are blaming video games and television as the cause for violence in our schools and streets, but I believe that the answers to solving some of our problems lies in the study of another culture.

Japan is one of the cleanest, most technologically advanced countries in the world.  In 2005 Japan had a total of 2,269,293 reported crimes (violent crimes are included but not represented alone in this statistic) compared to America’s 11,556,854 violent crimes.  Although there is a significant difference between the two countries’ population (Japan: 127 million, the U.S.: 300 million), it is evident that America has a significantly higher violent crime rate.  The interesting thing about this statistic is that Japanese mass media contains much more violence than that in the United States.  How is it that the Japanese, even with violence in mass media, are able to control the violence in Japan better than the Americans do in the United States?  I believe that Japan succeeds in controlling violence through its rich history and their modern teaching.

A modern depiction of a samurai: the picture from movies.yahoo.com.

Japan’s history is embedded with deep cultural beliefs and teachings.  The two most important teachings that the Japanese carried with them generation after generation was honor and discipline.  Honor and discipline were taught throughout Japan but their greatest impact was through their teachings in martial arts and bushidō (code of samurai). Through the centuries, the Japanese have been perfecting martial arts.  The main fighting style of Japan is karate.  Karate dates back to 1806.  It was brought over from China by Sakukawa Tode.  Karate required great discipline and focus.  Masters of karate are taught a certain kokoro, otherwise known as attitude, such as perseverance, virtue, and leadership.  They apply this attitude or kokoro to their everyday lives.  One must practice karate everyday in order to succeed in mastering it.  Without great discipline, it is impossible to master karate, because rigorous practice and dedication are required. Discipline is what helps the children in the modern era discern between what is right and what is wrong.  Discipline also helps the Japanese children tell how much is too much.  Without discipline the children would have a harder time figuring out the difference between reality and virtual reality. 

Martial arts taught the Japanese about discipline but it was the samurai that instilled honor among the people.  The Samurai originated in Japan during the Heian period (794-1192).  The Samurai were fierce warriors, but believed that knowledge was more important than violence.  The Japanese expected their samurai to be cultured and literate.  These expectations helped the samurai achieve great knowledge and understanding.  Most samurai followed Bushidō.  Bushidō expanded and formalized the earlier code of the samurai, and stressed frugality, loyalty, mastery of martial arts, and honor to the death.  The samurai followed bushidō very closely.  Bushido became more than just a code; it became a philosophy.  Bushidō taught the samurai the difference between right and wrong and it instilled great honor and dignity in them.  In turn the samurai have passed down that honor through the generations.  The era of the samurai have long since past, but the Japanese still live their every day with honor.

Historical influences aren't the only things helping keep violence down in Japan. Modern influences have helped keep a sense of hope and balance in their lives. As Timothy Craig notes, modern Japanese pop culture ".. .wholeheartedly embraces life in all its dimensions, with relatively little in the way of efforts to shield its audience from unpleasant aspects of life..." ( Japan Pop! New York: M. E. Sharpe Inc., 2000, p.12). Americans often try to shield their kids from the harsh realities of life, but that often has an adverse affect on children. After being cuddled in such happiness, children are often unable to cope with hardships. Since the Japanese children are not shielded from these hardships, they have an easier time learning and coping with real life hardships. Even though the Japanese show more violence on television and in video games they tend to use that violence in order to teach morals or values. One Prime example of this is Power Rangers. In Japan Power Rangers was one of the most successful shows for children, but in other parts of the world it was not seen that way. "A 1995 New York Times poll ranked it the show second most disapproved of by U.S. parents, next only to Beavis and Butthead. It has been banned in some countries..." (Craig 267-268). Every episode the Power Rangers go through a journey in order to better them and defeat their enemies. The journey is the key point to the show, but other people tend to focus on the violence. If adults believe that the show is all about violence then the kids will too.

This picture depicts some of the violence seen by kids.
Photo from http://agdb.net.ru/images/mortal_kombat_2_2.jpg