If it ain't broke...

I have become a semi-willing cog in the machinations of the laws to teach patriotism in Japanese schools. The new drive is to be incorporated into the current “moral education” classes. At the school I’ve been to this week, “moral education” is taught by Sakuta sensei, a woman for whom I have tremendous respect, who mostly teaches English. On the first of July, she will teach in an “open class”, observed by dignitaries from the Board of Education, sundry local schools and some of the students parents.

Considering my status as “resident foreigner who came to Japan because he’s interested in the culture”, and in the wake of the 3rd graders trip to that colossal museum/amusement park which is Kyoto, it’s been decided (in the event of my absence) to present video footage of me being interviewed.

She is of a similar opinion to me on the issue (namely that teaching somebody to love their country is akin to teaching them how to love their mother), but she has a job to do, and she’s nothing if not a dedicated teacher. For this reason, I have been holding back some of my more unrefined thoughts as to the line of her questioning and what she is expected to achieve as an end result. The interview was built off the back of an English lesson we taught earlier.

Some of her questions were undoubtedly pitched to lead me to a certain answer, namely that Japanese culture is special in some way. I’ve stopped short of doing that, instead focusing on what I find appealing and interesting about it. I was also given the opportunity to say what I liked or didn’t like about Japan. Bearing in mind that I want to help Sakuta sensei, that I like the students and don’t want to subject them to the brunt of shortsighted ranting about how infuriating I find this country sometimes, I didn’t say everything that was on my mind. One angry foreigner isn’t going to change the attitudes of a civilization older than his ancestors, and can only shoot himself in the foot by using the classroom as a podium to disagree with authority.

That understanding of Japan’s “uniqueness” is the goal of this class is irrelevant – I think it’s fair to say that most Japanese people are born with that sense, whether they realize it or not. To teach it is to define it further, to focus on what Japan has to be proud of. I talked about little things in day-to-day life that I’ll miss when I go back to England, but also the historical trappings, the Tea Ceremony, the legendary sword making, bushido, the concise elegance of haiku.

As for what I don’t like about Japan, complaints of rudeness are a little churlish – human beings are without a doubt the rudest creatures on the planet. Yes, Japan has it’s fair share of imbeciles, ignoramuses, perverts, liars and gits, but there’s just as many in England. I said that what angered me most about Japan was the reduction of the rest of the world into “Gaikoku,” or “foreign country.”

Most importantly, I was asked to give a message to the students. I suggested they imagine everything they loved and hated about their country being taken away, and then replaced with another way of life, different attitudes and people and the necessity to adapt to these things. I said that living in a foreign country will teach you not only about that one, but also your own, and urged them to try it.

There is a wider debate to all of this, not one that’s going to be resolved any time soon and one in which I have little room to comment, primarily because Japan isn’t going to be my permanent home.

Many of Japan’s Asian neighbours (and quite possibly some of her foreign residents) see this as a gradual return to her nationalistic past. On the other hand, maybe Japan feels swamped by Western influences, and needs to re-assert her national identity. Certainly, the main focus of this lesson seems to be instilling an awareness and a sense of pride in Japans cultural heritage.

In England however, ministers have proposed a Britain Day, which Minister of Immigration Liam Byrne describes as a chance "to stand up for the values that we've got in common" in the face of "a new extremism." It's interesting that both the leaders of a near mono-cultural and a multi-cultural society are considering the need to rally around common principles.

With the far right seeming to grow stronger, and the organs of multi-cultural Britain feeling persecuted, a unifying drive is undoubtedly what we need, but looking away from the obvious "them & us" stance, could it be that British citizens have lost sight of their own cultural heritage? Surrounded as we are by what we have achieved, it's easy not to notice it and understand how we've ended up here. Perhaps the fog of the modern world needs clearing, and we need to have a re-appraisal of who and what we are, and what we are capable of, warts and all.