Fiction is the reflection of a culture’s aspirations. In America, many
stories focus on a single individual, the main character. Sometimes he is
supported by others, but, by and large, the Hero of these stories is an island.
Often, he is wholly formed, meaning that he has very little internal
impediments to overcome. Perhaps he lacks a certain piece of information or a
special object, but the Hero usually finds out that all he needed was always
inside of him.
This speaks of the view of life the West holds, the view that a man is by
himself, even when surrounded by friends. He is independent, self-sufficient,
and is only found lacking because of an external situation. In his heart, he
has all he needs.
The Japanese Hero is rather different. He tends to be the leader of the
group, but dependent upon that group. Sometimes he is an outsider and soon discovers
a group that he can belong to. When he wins, it is usually because someone
helped him or showed him how. There are few times, if any, where the Hero wins
by himself. He often faces his own short-comings, often leading to a tragedy,
and must learn how to overcome them. His journey is often blocked by opponents
stronger than he is. He succumbs to defeat before learning how to succeed.
Take for example a classic match-up that often pits comic book fans
against manga (Japanese comic book) fans.
Superman is the last son of Krypton. When he came to Earth and was exposed
to the light of our yellow sun, he began to develop amazing super powers;
flight, heat vision, super speed, increased intelligence and strength, and
last, but far beyond least, invulnerability. I say begins, because his powers
only increase, as in the comics he lives for thousands of years and eventually becomes
almost god-like. His only weakness is kypronite, a green rock from his home
planet that strips him of his powers and could eventually kill him.
One of the interesting things to note is that Superman never had to train
to develop his powers. They grew with him. They were innate and unbidden. He
discovered his powers like a boy discovers his first chest hair.
He is also entirely complete. The one thing that holds him back is his fear
of destroying Earth, so he developed certain psychological blocks in his mind
that suppress his powers, but get him away from innocent lives and he feels
safe using his abilities to their fullest. He has no need of a mentor, no one
to show him how to use his powers. He can defeat any enemy that arises and
needs no one’s help.
This is a very Western, especially American, way of thinking. Our Heroes,
the ones we look up to, seem like supermen. As children, we don’t see our
sports heroes grow from amateurs to professionals who dominate their fields. We
don’t see Hollywood stars start on their high school stages before seeing them
rise to the big screen. They appear, fully-formed and awe-inspiring. And that’s
how we see ourselves, complete individuals, needing nothing and no one, but
taking friends and possessions merely because we want them. In her book
“Anthem,” Ayn Rand lays out a world in which collectivism is taken to the
extreme. In this world, names have been replaced with numbers, the government
tells people what jobs they will have, and friendships are discouraged since it
is wrong to treat one person better than another. Their life is controlled,
from birth to death, by the government. In this story, the main character
refers to himself as “we,” until he finds a book that uses the word “I.” He
learns from this book that he does not need anyone, he does not need to rely on
a group. His life is for himself only and he only adds to it as he sees fit. He
is fine by himself, whole and complete. Just like Superman.
On the other side of the ocean lives another alien. He also hails from a
planet that was destroyed when he was a baby. He also came to Earth and was
raised by a human. As he grew, he also discovered that he was faster and
stronger than others. But, then he learned that there were normal humans who
possessed abilities and executed feats he found impossible. His trademark
attack, the Kamehameha Wave, was taught to him by his mentor, Master Roshi, his
martial arts teacher and a human. In fact, anyone with sufficient training
could do it. It only took time. Eventually, he surrounded himself with friends,
some of them being his defeated enemies. He was often defeated by his
opponents, before finding a place to train or a master who could instruct him
how to grow stronger. He even died three or four times, and was resurrected by
his friends using the wish-granting Dragonballs. He loved fighting and although
he often did it to protect his friends and the Earth, he sometimes allowed an
enemy to gain power so that he could fight them at their strongest. He even
once stopped a fight just so that his son could learn what it was like to fight
for Earth. He usually defeated his enemy, but it was almost always a group
effort. Even his greatest enemy, the demon Majin Buu, was only defeated because
his friend bought him enough time to charge his ultimate attack. Victories in
Dragonball are shared within the group.
This is because, in Japan, the group is the most important thing, even
beyond the individual. In Japanese schools, if a student is asked a question,
he is often reluctant to answer, even if he knows it, for fear of sticking out.
In fact, the saying “the nail that sticks out gets hammered down” has a
completely different meaning here. When an American hears that phrase, he
instantly thinks it means that if something is wrong, you fix it. But, in
Japan, it conjures the image of a person rising above the group. The student
who raises his hand to answer is raising himself above the group, and that
makes him wrong. Another example from years ago involves students in certain
smaller towns that were made to die their hair blacker if it was a lighter
color than everyone else’s. In Japan, the group is everything.
On the other hand, Japanese people take care of one another. Teachers will
often bring little pieces of candy or snacks for everyone to share. Students
develop incredibly close ties with one another. They are eager to help those
within their own circle, simply because that is the expectation. Crime is
generally low here because of their insistences that anything that disturbs the
group is wrong. But, that has been achieved by sacrificing the individual to
the group.
The American individual, while being free to express himself, has done
away with any obligations to the group, which has created a society in which no
one is beholden to another and selfishness abounds. On other hand, the Japanese
individual is often crushed beneath the feet of the group, leading to high
suicide rates and burn-outs in certain professions, but has also helped to keep
crime down and relationships strong.
The answer to the social problems that arise in both countries is neither
more freedom nor less freedom, but a recognition that the individual is part of
the group, and that the actions of the individual can affect the group, which
affects the individual. It is actually in the individual’s best interest to
treat others well, so that they may also be treated well. It was called “The
Golden Rule” for a very good reason.
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