Kazakhs and Japanese. Fortitude and perfection

So, the emperor is a sacred figure. The Japanese, of course, first found spiritual reserves for the new government this is a distinctive feature of the spirited Japanese. After all, when necessary, they always find a way out. Also, the Japanese have never closed their doors to talented people. Power is of course important for everyone but not for the Japanese. Power itself was not an end in itself for the Japanese – thanks to the synthesis of Shintoism and Buddhism.

Thus ended the two-hundred-and-fifty-year era of the shoguns. The executive power was returned power to the son of the sun – Emperor Mutsuhito. An era called Meiji was born. So, the warriors were replaced by pundits. Isn’t this an indicator of Japanese adequacy and efficiency? In order for the government to be adequate to external and internal challenges, the level of traditional power is very important. The level of the elite is important, hence morality, what kind of people, and such is the power.

Chapter 7

Always on the right track

“Japanese morality does not encourage the appearance of outstanding personalities. She, like a hammer, immediately hits a nail, the head of which sticks out too much from the board. For all their apparent entrepreneurial spirit, the Japanese are weakly endowed with a sense of personal initiative. And this lack of creativity is largely due to their innate desire not to step over the boundaries of a proper place.”

“The concept of a proper place requires – don’t take for not your work. This deprives people of independence in many practical details.”

Sakura branch. Vsevolod Ovchinnikov

When I found out how disciplined the Japanese are in all matters, I immediately realized where this quality came from. For me, a Kazakh, the author of the theory of self-reflection, it was not difficult. I automatically attributed the reflection of warriors to the Japanese. Yes, the first stage of reflection -it is the self-reflection of Zerefs has no semitones. This is the lowest reflection when it is impossible for to warriors show pity to enemies. It is when you have to follow orders.

However, after a minute, all my logic came to a dead end because the simple Japanese immediately show outstanding qualities when they don’t do other people’s business. If talents do not allow, they do not try to take someone else’s place. Natural modesty is always too obvious in Japanese etiquette. If you are an aristocrat, if you are a well-deserved person, and finally, if you are a guest in the house of a Japanese, you are always in the first place, you should sit in the most honorable place. If you don’t, because of your shyness now, the Japanese don’t know what to do in their own home. What is it? After all, the Japanese automatically follow the main motto of the Revcon – give in, skip ahead of the best. Even if this outstanding quality is a manifestation of upbringing, that is, conditioned reflexes: the Japanese allegedly did not think of it himself, but he was inspired to respect his elders. Actually, in the East, old people are respected everywhere. What’s the matter here?

What is the uniqueness of Japanese intuition?

Since the Heiyang 794—1185, Japan has been structured into five hundred subclasses. There is no country in the world where people do not know someone else’s superiority, at least in something, in the smallest detail. Official status, noble origin, occupation, and even seniority are the most obvious things that every nation has. The Japanese can manage to distinguish not at the level of intuition, which of them is higher and which is lower even if someone was born a minute earlier, he deserves more respect. Such a dictatorship of an almost eternal hierarchy brought up the Japanese. The whole history of the Japanese was taught discipline.

So, why didn’t stagnation happen in Japan?

Why didn’t happen the triumph of stupidity? After all, the elder in any form of seniority, even in social status, even in the form of a stupid older brother, must dictate his will to submissive people.

The culture of etiquette is pressing on the Japanese – this is indisputable. This culture of respect is felt even in the XXI century, although Japan can be considered the most urbanized nation in Asia. The Japanese will always smile at you but it’s not exactly a Chinese smile absolutely. It also does not puzzle that a Japanese is obliged to smile at any stupidity and every ignoramus. The Japanese will start hinting from afar, so as not to offend. If he gets bored and sees who is in front of him, he will say goodbye culturally.

So who is a Japanese – a Zeref or a Zelot?

This question and the confusion in my theory of reflection is because the Japanese deny everything by their behavior my whole theory. Overly tactful and friendly Japanese tell you about the long historical compulsion to be like this. It really is. During the two hundred and fifty years of the Tokugawa dictatorship, the Japanese were taught not to even touch each other to avoid being insulted. Has anyone seen Japanese people holding out their hands for a handshake? No, the Japanese fold their palms and make bows. So, is it an innate affability then, or is it the fear of many generations hidden in this way?

And who said that children who love their father are friendly from fear?

The friendliness of the nation is just an indicator of its high self-reflection. They sort of say why should we waste time on trifles? What needs to be realized does not always come from the heart. High self-reflection manifests itself precisely in the search and finding of the best option, this is the search for Zen, that is, the best way. In the VI century, Buddhism penetrated Japan. The Japanese liked it so much that they always make the right choice. The Japanese have very few fools in the administrative apparatus so far. A fool would not dare to take the place of a talented person, so as not to look like a laughingstock. They always make the right choice, and always find the right path. With all the dictatorship of the shogun’s administrators, they would not be able to influence the freedom of choice. Yes, the Shoguns have accustomed the Japanese to over-discipline. They brought the intuition of the Japanese to cosmic heights, but few of the Japanese turned into holy prophets, of which there are many in the West. The dictatorship of the shoguns influenced the growth of reflection. Even the most recent Japanese tries not to do stupid things, so as not to have clowned over him. In this regard, the Japanese are very dependent on the opinions of others. But it is dependence on the opinions of others that is the first step to perfection.

Chapter 8

When everything is simple and when everything looks like a show-off

When there is a lot of beauty, it is not beauty.

Japanese proverb

As all fans have noticed, all Japanese cars are very ergonomic. Not only Toyotas and Nissans are ergonomic, but also Japanese high-speed trains. All Japanese homes and rooms in general are ergonomic without a single superfluous detail, not a single superfluous object. There is no satiety and pretentiousness in architecture anywhere. The Japanese don’t like everything big and colorful except for street advertising. But all trade is subject to other laws.

If in Japanese reality everything is as restrained as all Japanese, then this is Japanese culture. The first Europeans who visited Japan noted the small stature of the Japanese, the absence of overweight people, and the miniaturization of Japanese things. They said that the Japanese served treats in toy dishes. All the Japanese things reminded them of children’s toys. That the Japanese, like children, bow to each other all the time.

(The Japanese, for their part, also did not remain in debt. These red-haired Portuguese and Dutch seemed to them disgusting demons from the world of demons – so huge and with the same big noses as Tengu (Tengu is a Japanese demon with fiery hair). They called “nanbandies” actually Chinese, but the Europeans also came from the side of China – what’s the difference? So, the Europeans also turned into barbarians because the Europeans had a bad smell. Where were they supposed to take a bath? How can this be done on a ship?)

Of course, the Europeans were surprised by the absolute Japanese purity. The Japanese were clean and tidy, even simple peasants and porters. They wore robes in which they wrapped their body, even the socks of the Japanese were white. There was not a single extra thing in Japanese homes. Entering their house, the Japanese took off their shoes and put on slippers, even for the toilet, the Japanese had separate slippers. All the household members, after greeting and curiosity, disappeared somewhere. Everyone, including the head, behaved towards the guest as if the Japanese emperor had come in. The guest was necessarily seated in the most honorable place. If the guest showed shyness and did not sit there, the host and wife fell into a stupor – they did not know what to do, so the Japanese have everything painted according to the age-old etiquette. Before serving the most exquisite treats, all the housewives said the same words: “I’m sorry that we have almost nothing on the table.” It’s good that the guests did not understand anything, they themselves would have fallen into a stupor from such words, because all the delicacies were put in front of them. During the meal, the host and hostess would not have said a word, except for toasts, pronounced in honor of the guest several times, and the absorption of Japanese rice vodka “sake”. In other cases, including semi-official ones, the Japanese behave as if they have a desire to disappear, to evaporate. Absolute modesty and tact. Buttoned-up jackets and a look at the floor. Thus, the Japanese not only have all the rooms ergonomic. The Japanese themselves are ergonomic in their own body, if I may say so.

Someone may suspect that this behavior is also the result of the age-old administrative dictatorship of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Maybe, everything can be. I think this is the result that almost 70% of Japan is occupied by mountains. Japanese rice fields are so tiny that willy-nilly one might think that they could all disappear. And these miniature areas would really like to disappear because cyclones are real Japanese disasters.

In this respect, the nomads have a great expanse to ride over the endless distance. Who’s going to stop him? There is no one a thousand kilometers ahead. Ride as much as you want, no one will limit you. The nomad must move as far as possible, and use the entire territory to be overcome. Maybe that’s why even a modern Kazakh boss seems to be alone in his office, there is no one else around, but they are. Kazakhs need to designate their territory by themselves, by their presence, by their importance, so to speak. The Arab Abu Ziad was asked jokingly how the Kazakhs walk. He must have seen them when they made the Hajj to Mecca. The observant Abu Ziyad laughed and walked forward, waving his arms and spreading his legs apart, as if not one, but two people were walking to show their territory – he it show joking. Meanwhile, this does not do anything dignity to anyone, as the Prophet said, may Allah bless him and grant him: “Do not walk the earth proudly.” And in general, there are 128 million Japanese in Japan and 9 thousand officials. In Kazakhstan, 82 thousand civil servants account for 19 million people in the country. There are obvious shortcomings with the ergonomics of power.

Chapter 9

The quality of bureaucracy

Amakudari (literally “descent from heaven”)

“Officials are people who want to surround themselves with as many subordinates as possible. The more subordinates there are, the more stable the official’s position is and the more opportunities he has for further advancement to the top.”

Hiroshi Fujiwara

In 1945, Japan lay in ruins. Everyone knows about the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In fact, the damage from the nuclear bomb was only a tenth of the carpet bombing by the American Air Force. Squadrons of 500 B-29 bombers burned down all Japanese cities in two years. When the emperor addressed the nation, all the Japanese could stand at the radios. Young Akio Morita, the future founder of the legendary Sony company, stood at attention in the uniform of an officer of the Imperial Navy with a sword. Yes, the Japanese bureaucracy itself was one of the ingredients of success (the other most important factor of the Japanese miracle was the highest discipline and diligence of the Japanese people. The unwritten and little-understood by others the strict practice of amakudari (“descended from heaven”), of course, requires clarification.

What is amakudari?

This is a lifetime contract of an official with the state. There are a lot of applicants, but there are few high government posts. So that officials of that age did not stay too long in office, thus they could find work in commercial firms. The pension was good because the work in a commercial company will also be recorded in the work experience. At the age of 50—53, high officials leave for business structures, that is, long before retirement age. They go to private companies, where they are invited as top managers. Although they have modest salaries in the ministries, they, as a rule, do not steal – they know that then they will honestly take their own in the private sector. There is, of course, an opportunity for patronage and corruption because the “favorite” company, for example, will not check enough. But this does not greatly affect Japanese corruption in general. Corruption in Japan is very low. Suspicion of corruption for a modern Japanese official is the same indelible shame as for a Japanese during the shogunate. The Japanese just mortally do not want to be a laughing stock in front of society. That’s the positive legacy the Japanese received from the shoguns.

In Kazakhstan, they try not to check the company in which relatives of big officials work. This is not accepted. Any inspection of a large firm or a large bank is authorized only from above, any errors are excluded. Basically, inspectors check small businesses and everything is already possible there. Small businessmen are better off not contradicting and agreeing with everything with small officials, otherwise, it will be more expensive.

Thus, all power is tied to big business. To have an unsinkable business, you need to have large relatives in the executive branch. The higher the position in which an official sits, the bigger his business affairs are, and this is almost a rule.

If the government changes, then, of course, the whole pyramid changes. They select “their own people”, their own team. There is also a redistribution of assets of large businesses. Therefore, power cannot be lost in any way. Every official knows this. Therefore, no one wants to leave voluntarily. Disloyalty to the regime can serve as a reason for dismissal, so no one wants to get involved with the opposition. No one wants to be overly active, say, in work, but everyone tries to praise the course of the current president, and the president himself should always be praised (for example, give to streets, parks, and squares the name of the president). If an extraordinary event occurs in the controlled territory of a big official, enemies and competitors for a lucrative place immediately take advantage of it, and they quickly inform the leader. The official is first checked for loyalty, and then everything else is checked.

The culture of power is always linked to culture in general. The desire of a nomad to occupy more space around himself is quite understandable this is an eternal desire almost. Even minor officials from the former nomads do not tolerate objections. In Japan, for example, no one takes a step without instructions, Japan is generally a country of instructions. In Kazakhstan, almost no instructions are needed. The officials do this under the motto I am the boss – you are a subordinate, so complete subordination. If an official has a relative, a “roof” on top, he does not care who is sitting in front of him. He knows he has protection. The pathetic babble of a journalist is pathetic because there is no free press, although everywhere they talk about some kind of commitment to democracy. Well, it’s true, if there is a market around, then there should be a free press. Not with us. Everything is decided by the authorities. Therefore, everyone wants, especially the extremely conservative Kazakhs, to get into power. But the government has its own selection. And this selection is far from meritocratic principles in general. And the whole press is under control almost like in Japan (with one difference, that the Amakudari principle helps the Japanese). That is, a Kazakh with a reliable roof is not afraid of anything.