Kazakhs and Japanese. Fortitude and perfection

Kazakhs and Japanese. Fortitude and perfection
Almaz Braev

The cheapest pride is national pride. It discovers in the subject infected by her a lack of individual qualities that he could be proud of; otherwise, he would not have turned to what is shared by millions. Whoever possesses great personal virtues, constantly observing his nation, will, foremost, notice its shortcomings. But man, who has nothing to be proud of, grabs the only thing possible and is proud of the nation to which he belongs; he is ready to defend all its shortcomings and stupidities

Kazakhs and Japanese

Fortitude and perfection

Almaz Braev

The cheapest pride is national pride. It discovers in the subject infected by her a lack of individual qualities that he could be proud of; otherwise, he would not have turned to what is shared by many millions of people besides him. Whoever possesses great personal virtues, constantly observing his nation, will, first of all, notice its shortcomings. But a poor man, who has nothing to be proud of, grabs the only thing possible and is proud of the nation to which he belongs; he is ready to defend all its shortcomings and stupidities with a feeling of tenderness

© Almaz Braev, 2023

ISBN 978-5-0059-7060-2

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

– Arthur Schopenhauer

Chapter 1

Kazakhs and Japanese

What can unite such different and to the same extent very similar folks?

There is a gap of distance between us (eight thousand kilometers) The Japanese live on islands. Modern Kazakhs live in cities. The ancestors of the Kazakhs traveled thousands of kilometers because they were nomads. The Japanese have never in their history been able to have such luxury, they did not have such unbridled space. After all, islanders live differently than on the mainland. This greatly affects behavior.

Despite such a remote residence, Kazakhs and Japanese are somewhat similar (in what? – an explanation will be given in the course of the book). Even outwardly, Kazakhs and Japanese are more similar than Kazakhs and Chinese, for example. Our common ancestor lived a very long time ago, ten thousand years in caves near Beijing. Then our paths diverged altogether.

Japan was settled three times. The first settlement occurred 23,000 years ago during the Ice Age. But these “Buryats” were not modern Buryats at all, although their remains were found at the sites of ancient hunters in Buryatia. The common ancestor of the Japanese and Kazakhs settled on the islands ten thousand years ago and he came from China. It is because of this ancestor that we are so similar in appearance. Then the Japanese accepted Buddhism and stopped eating meat, and we Kazakhs ate meat non-stop – which Kazakh does not eat meat? (Only Kazakh from the community of Krishna, probably. This is his personal business). That’s why the Japanese stopped eating meat and switched to rice, they became so miniature. But still, you can notice something Kazakh in this miniature … (There will be even more of this Kazakh if you read to the end). But in general, there are a lot of differences between Kazakhs and Japanese. It is not necessary to look for something in common in one Shintoism. Shintoism influenced Japanese spontaneity. And so the Japanese are very disciplined and hidden. Kazakhs in this sense are always clumsy gaper and “ashik auzdar”.

So.

Everyone who visited Japan at different times noticed that there seemed to be no place on the islands where the hands of the Japanese would not reach. This does not mean that the Japanese have dug down all the mountains and fenced off with buried stones from the continuous Pacific typhoons. No, the Japanese did not touch the mountains. (As, however, the Kazakhs did not touch their steppes). All foreigners note the Japanese participation in all inhabited places, they say, every pebble, every meter of land, every bush, and even every leaf from the bush was processed by a Japanese for contemplation, so that it was harmonious, and then practical.

Kazakhs, on the contrary, did not touch anything along the way of nomads. Unless cattle eat grass – this is a natural “creativity”, but it is not the fruit of aesthetic Kazakh desires. Kazakhs did not touch the natural landscape. They hid in tents and yurts from rain, wind, blizzard, cold, and snow. Somehow it would be absurd to interfere with the misfortunes of continental nature. Thus, we discover the first factor – landscape, which not only determined the type of economy but also determined the character of the locals living in such a climate. (The influence of landscape on the character of peoples has been known for a long time but we should be interested not only in the influence of nature and the influence of a person on himself, and on his people. The workaholism of the Japanese, as everyone understands, was forced. To survive, the Japanese had to work hard. Every year they had to wait for typhoons and prepare a sowing campaign).

In this respect, the Kazakhs trusted nature more, and again they did nothing… The climate in the Kazakh steppe is not a typhoon, this is even worse. These are more powerful forces. Therefore, the Kazakhs looked philosophically at all such events outside the yurt. Well, a blizzard will blow, it will blow and it will pass by itself. Is it snowing? So what? The same thing – will pass. And the cold will pass. For almost eight months a year, Kazakhs had to sit in a yurt, drink mare’s milk (tea) and listen to each other under the motto “everything is past and this too pass”. Therefore, Kazakhs are great masters of oral creativity and dreamers. Every Kazakh wants to surprise first with an outfit, then with conversations.

The Japanese are great conservatives in this sense. When they eat, it’s indecent to talk. And drinking tea with them is a whole exercise, this is a world known -famous tea ceremony. Only in the third phase, when sake is served – Japanese vodka (or beer- whoever likes it, because sake has a weak strength), when the host makes a welcoming speech (that is, at the third hour of gatherings!) and serves the guest to drink sake first, mutual relaxation begins. This is, of course, if the guest is a stranger, the first time he comes to the house. And how can there be strangers among Kazakhs? Who wants to wander around in such a cold winter, for example? Only relatives live everywhere. Therefore, everything was happening faster. When a “stranger” from distant relatives appeared, it was a great joy – he could tell a fresh story. And so it’s everything that happens sedately. During the absorption of meat, you can talk about anything. (This is what Kazakh journalists like to do today. And corrupt officials eat a lot of meat, as if they hadn’t eaten for a long time, and got lost in the steppe for years …)

Yes, under the influence of climate, the behavior of Kazakhs and Japanese is sometimes diametrically opposed. However, this bad weather has affected the powerful forces of nature, therefore the Japanese are Shintoists. Shinto is one of the main religions of Japan. There are Kazakhs who see this as the prerequisite for the same success. If the Japanese could, why can’t we? We can! This gives hope for some kinship. In fact, there are moments when the Japanese and Kazakhs are very similar. And there is a lot that distinguishes us.

Chapter 2

Meeting at Stalin’s station

How did you see the meeting of Kazakh and Japanese Soviet writers of the bestseller “Golden Calf” of the 20s of the 20th century – Ilf and Petrov.

Let’s start, perhaps, with the scene at the train station.

The scene of the Kazakh and Japanese meeting took place during the construction of the TURKSIB in the 30s of the last century according to the novel.

“A wide field of activity opened immediately outside Orenburg when passengers saw the first camel, the first yurt, and the first Kazakh in a pointed fur hat and with a whip in his hand. At the stop where the train was accidentally delayed, at least twenty cameras aimed at the camel’s muzzle.

The exoticism began, the ships of the desert, the freedom-loving sons of the steppes, and other romantic burdens.

The Japanese diplomat was standing two steps away from the Kazakh. Both looked at each other in silence. They had exactly the same slightly flattened faces, stiff mustaches, yellow patent leather, and eyes that were swollen and narrow. They would have passed for twins if the Kazakh had not been in a sheepskin coat belted with a calico sash, and the Japanese in a gray London suit, and if the Kazakh had not started reading only last year, and the Japanese had not graduated from two universities twenty years ago – in Tokyo and Paris. The diplomat took a step back, bent his head to the mirror, and clicked the shutter. The Kazakh laughed, sat down on his rough horse, and moved into the steppe.”

The authors of the Golden Calf knew for sure that the Japanese graduated from two universities, and the Kazakh himself probably told that he learned to read last year. The cultural revolution came to the steppe with the construction of the railway by Stalin. The Bolsheviks needed literate Kazakhs. I don’t know why the shepherds need a letter in the bare steppe, probably so that they understand what is happening. But the Bolsheviks are the Bolsheviks. They said that they had come to enlighten the people, so they began to build schools and teach everyone to read and write.

However, if you put a Kazakh in front of a Japanese again, after fifty years, everyone would indicate who is who even in the 80s of the last century. First of all, by the Panasonic camera and other things and clothes. And an experienced person would hardly be mistaken who eats who even now. The Japanese are more experienced in urbanization. When the Kazakhs began to receive only with the collapse of the USSR, it was just that everyone received this highest education. And besides, the Japanese are more petite in terms of figures. It is unlikely that the Japanese would have so many sumo wrestlers. After all, these wrestlers were specially fattened in the Middle Ages to entertain samurai. The urban environment strongly influences the inner world of people. Makes them tolerant, and democratic. But it can not get rid of the “ghosts of the past” in the apt expression of Karl Marx.

Chapter 3

In what Kazakhs and Japanese are similar

This book will mainly show the difference between us. But this distinction will be shown for the learning. So that we can see the shortcomings. Moreover, there are some shortcomings among the Japanese who are successful in everything today. It’s never a shame to make mistakes, the main thing is not to repeat someone else’s. And it’s even better to learn from others in order to be proud of yourself later.

Despite the many differences between peoples so far apart, despite the fact that we are separated by many thousands of kilometers, there is a lot in common between Kazakhs and Japanese.

We are very similar in some manners. We are so similar that even a subtle connoisseur of people can get confused. Only the Kazakh himself or the Japanese himself will immediately tell who is who by the face and facial expressions. An ethnographer of another nation will have difficulties.

So, the first similar feature of the Japanese and Kazakhs is the Asian art of diplomacy.

Japanese are taught from childhood not to lose face. Therefore, the Japanese always retain dignity.

What does it mean?

This means never committing such an act that will cause the condemnation of others. Therefore, all life the Japanese follow this rule. They not only preserve their honor but also take care of someone else’s honor in every possible way. This does not apply to the fact that the Japanese do not shake hands with each other in a European manner. They try not to even touch each other because it’s an insult (for a samurai. Here it is a legacy from the past. And samurai are not to be trifled with. In 1963, for example, a world-famous wrestler, Japanese celebrity Rikidozan, and Yakuza member Katsushi Murata quarreled with each other in a nightclub with a tragic outcome for the wrestler. Murata stepped on Rikidozan’s foot. It was a great insult)

A Japanese person will never tell you the word “no”. Although, even if a Japanese person says “yes” to you, it doesn’t mean anything either. If a Japanese person says “hai” to you, it looks like “yes”, in fact, it rather means “I understand”. If a Japanese person answered “hai” to an appeal, this does not mean at all that he will fulfill your request. To answer you no, the Japanese will turn the situation so that you will never be able to do what he asks you. You need to know this when you sign a contract with them. Thus, the Japanese do not say “no” to you. It saves your face. He protects your self-esteem. First, the Japanese think about you.

Although we live far from each other, Kazakhs speak in such patterns that sometimes a non-Kazakh will never understand what the Kazakh said to him. What can I say, even a Kazakh needs to guess a crossword puzzle in his mind, which his interlocutor hinted at. It’s good that we have lived next to the Russians for so many centuries, so, there are Kazakhs who speak directly and not so colorful. In the yard, after all, market relations. Time is money. But tradition is tradition.

This is a tradition -ymdau. When a Kazakh speaks by hints, he first wants to find out who he is talking to and in what manner to communicate with the interlocutor further.

If a person does not understand the hints, then he is either not a Kazakh, or a city Kazakh. Kazakhs have excellent, very accurate proverbs on this score. I sometimes wonder who came up with such proverbs. If we could implement these proverbs and follow them to life, then we would overtake even the Japanese. The Kazakh tradition of ymdau resembles the Kazakh game of cat and mouse, who is more cunning, who has a rich imagination. No one will lose face here, but everyone will remain with their conclusions.

(The way of allegory also arose for a reason. To inform Genghis Khan about the death of his son, the great akyn Ketbuga took a dombra and played the kui “Aksak Kulan” (Lame Kulan) and Genghis Khan began to cry).

The second similar feature between Kazakhs and Japanese.

Japanese cities today are all beautiful: they glow with neon advertising, which takes millions of money. The streets are clean, all the sidewalks are clean, well – groomed green spaces grow all around – it’s nice to the eyes. But not everywhere and not always. You can make up legends about Japanese home cleanliness. Even for the toilet, they keep a separate pair of slippers, not to mention slippers for the house.

The whole problem

That the Japanese can’t keep clean everywhere. They can’t walk in subway slippers, either. It comes out of their understanding of the world. In the subway, Japanese people walk in large shoes and white socks in order to quickly take off their shoes and put on their slippers again at home. Hence, the phenomenon of alienation: if it’s not his house, then he can throw a beer can everywhere.