Outlaw — somewhere in the middle
In 1947, a judge of Tokyo District Court died because of malnutrition.
During the WWII everything was rationed, but this rationing system was no longer working after the war. Especially in metropolitan areas, Japanese citizens had hard time getting food and they were visiting black market where people illegally trade food and the other essentials.
A judge, Yamaguchi was in a position that he had to sue people against the Staple Food Control Act, but no one could survive during the period without illegally buying food in black market. He left a short note before he passed away.
“Even if it (the Staple Food Control Act) is an unjust law, I have to obey the law as a judge.”
Several authors including Ruth Benedict and the other journalists critically wrote about this news, but I found Isaiah Ben-Dasan, the author of “The Japanese and the Jews” captured the Japanese custom behind this case well.
日本人とユダヤ人
“The Japanese and the Jews” is a book published in 1971 and sold in total of 3 million. The author is Isaiah Ben-Dasan, who’s a Jew according to the author, but everyone thinks it’s Shichihei Yamamoto.
This book describes the uniqueness of Japanese customs including religion, language, literature, history or beliefs by comparing to beliefs among Jews while making fun and joking around the customs among Japanese.
Going back to the case of the judge at Tokyo District Court in 1947, the author of the book describes the beliefs behind it as follows.
“ An unanimous resolution cannot completely bound the voters in Japan. Although the (Staple Food Control) Act could potentially lead Japanese citizens to malnutrition, nobody disagrees with the law because everybody knows that all laws do not bound people 100%. ….. that doesn’t mean Japan is a lawless state, but there is a unique Japanese outlaw. …… the basics of the outlaw is “humanity”. The antonymous of humanity is “inhumanity” …… the contents and definition of “humanity” is the supreme law in Japan. “ (The Japanese and the Jews, p.108–109)
The author continues that “The fundamental philosophies of Japanese are outlaw and unspoken words.” (The Japanese and the Jews, p.125)
Yasunari Kawabata, one of the most famous novelists stated in the past that “はじめに言外あり、言外は言葉とともにあり、言葉は言外なりき (first of all we have unspoken words, the unspoken words exist with spoken words, and words are unspoken)”, which does not make sense in English.
This entire description does not offer people to ignore the laws in Japan, but the notable point is that 3 million people read this book in Japanese — probably because the contents was somewhat convincing. This book is not based on any logical or academic proof or record, but academically this entire discussion may conclude how Japanese culture uses high context with the common sense among Japanese people.
Language barrier
Isaiah states that learning Japanese is not only about acquiring Japanese language skills but also the unspoken words in order to understand the fundamental philosophies and the definition of “humanity” which is kept unspoken. That’s why foreigners experience such a hard time penetrating into Japanese culture. (The Japanese and the Jews, p.124)
The barrier does not come from the skills, but the thickest barrier exists in the unspoken space where people mutually agree without verbal communication.
他所（よそ / yoso）
Within Japan Kyoto is surrounded by the thickest barrier, and I say it because I am from Kyoto. Aside from Kyoto people born, raised and stayed in Kyoto during the childhood, everybody is considered “outsider” — in other words, yoso (他所 / よそ) .
They can easily tell who’s originally from Kyoto by listening to their accent, wording, and intonation of the full sentences. Some polite elderly people who came to Kyoto 50 years ago still say “I am not Kyotonian because I am not originally from here and I have not lived here enough.”
Many people visit Kyoto dreaming about living in the city — and the real Kyotonian keep whispering which neighborhood comes from which region in Japan. Even Japanese people from Kinki/Kansai region do not understand this complexity because they never notice it.
Living in unspoken words
Our identity hardly changes and our identity cannot be replaced, transformed or taken, so there is no need to make tremendous effort to completely understand the outlaw and unspoken words.
Many international business owners around me say Japanese market is too unique to get in, and language barrier makes it difficult for new comers to start a business unlike the other countries using English as a primary language. Both of these are true.
The thickest barrier, however, lays down somewhere deeper, and knowing this fact would help them to get prepared, set goals, create network with Japanese businesses and build a good relationship with clients.
“ the contents and definition of “humanity” is the supreme law in Japan. “
