Debashis Basu
President, JU Alumni
Association, Hyderabad
I had been to Japan a few weeks back. The duration of stay was only one week. This was my first ever trip to Japan. The experience was fascinating, both as a professional as well as a tourist. Our workplace was Nagoya & Toyota City and for sightseeing, we went to Nara (the first capital of Japan) and Kyoto (the second capital, the word "Kyoto" means capital). The present capital "Tokyo" means "east of Kyoto", we skipped Tokyo due to rainy weather conditions.
The reason of our visit (me and a few of my colleagues) was to learn more about Toyota Production System (TPS), which has been acclaimed as the most efficient production system worldwide. Apart from attending theoretical & practical classes, we also visited a few production facilities including "Takayoka" plant of Toyota Motor Corporation, where they assemble Corolla & other models of passenger cars. "Seeing was believing" - the efficiency to produce "just in time" (JIT) using automation with a human touch (JIDOKA) and pursuing continuous improvement systems (KAIZEN) were amazing. The one most important takeaway for us was "respect for people" which is practiced in Japanese industries. Chairman of one company we visited told us that he does never target "profitability" of his company, what he targets is satisfaction & motivation of his employees - profitability follows. The respect for people in life can also be noticed from the fact that throughout Japan, there are special walking tracks laid down for blind people. However let me not get into any more of this and write about what I mainly wanted to share with the readers.
During the trip, I spoke to several Japanese people and came to know some interesting aspects of Japanese life & society. Let me start with one that will make our housewives happy.
Traditionally in a Japanese family, the housewife is responsible for handling the monetary affairs of the family, NOT the husband. The job of the husband is to earn money and hand over to his wife. The husband receives a fixed amount of pocket money from his wife and has to manage his expenses with that. The lady of the family decides how much to spend and how much to save. It is considered to be an impolite practice for the husband to ask his wife what she did with the money. Often the lady will open bank accounts without the knowledge of anyone else in the family to protect misuse and safeguarding the family interests. This practice is followed irrespective of whether the lady is employed or is just a housewife. One employed lady told me that "her money is her money" and "her husband's money is also her money"! Over 60% of Japanese families still today follow this practice. If we can introduce this system here with limited pocket money for men, we can probably protect many low middle class families from being ruined by drunkard husbands. Sounds absurd of course!
Now about "Shintoism". Shintoism probably originated during the early years of the emperor's rule. No one knows when was this exactly started and by whom (The current emperor of Japan is the 46th. one without any break in the chain of descendency, Japan can boast of the oldest uninterrupted monarchy of the world). Is Shintoism a religion? probably yes, but it is more of a faith and has become a way oflife for Japanese people. Although over 80% of Japanese people are Buddhists by religion (Japanese people are not very religious in nature), nearly 100% of them follow Shintoism. Japanese say that they are born as Shintos, married as Christians (Japanese like the Christian way of dressing up during marriages) and die as Buddhists. There are over 80,000 Shinto shrines across Japan and there are Shinto priests & priestesses practicing Shinto rituals. The emperor & his family follow only Shintoism.
There are similarities between Shintoism & Hinduism in several aspects. Shintoism has over 8 million deities, however unlike in Hinduism, most of them do not have any form or image, although all of them have names. It is believed that Shinto Gods exist everywhere - in the trees, mountains, earth, air etc. The shrines in Shinto temples are empty. Devotees have to imagine Gods/Goddesses in the shrine and perform prayer in a specified manner (with folded hands, by clapping etc.). Japanese take new born babies to Shinto temples, get married there and also visit the temples many times in their lives to pray for fulfillment of wishes (to get admission in good institutions, pass exams, get jobs, get good boy/girl friend etc.). Such wishes are also sometimes written and hung in the temple premises. Japanese people also do "car puja" almost without exception. One gentleman told me that after a new car is purchased, the drivers' hands shake while driving until the "car puja" has been completed in a Shinto temple. I was told that almost every Japanese train driver or a pilot hangs a "charm" in the driver's cabin to ensure safety during driving (a "charm" is a small piece of document with symbols of blessings which can be attached to thread for hanging). There are specified locations in a Shinto temple for car puja.
There is one special room in a Shinto temple where the priests will perform special rites on devotees who will come with a complaint of passing through a bad time. These practices are very similar to what we find happening in villages or small towns even today in India, ousting the ill spirit out of a human being by beating him with sticks, brooms etc. Amazingly it is written on a board outside this room that all human beings should undergo this practice three times in their life, men at the ages of 25,42 & 61 and women at the ages of 19,33 & 37. All these practices can of course be performed only by paying high fees. All or most of the people practicing these rituals are also Buddhists by religion. Shintoism however does not recognize "death" and so Japanese Buddhists must take resort to Buddhist ways of cremation.
Of course there are also many Buddhist temples in Japan and the largest statue of sitting Buddha exists in Nara. A lot of Japanese people visit these temples to offer prayers. Strikingly, a large percentage of visitors are young people starting from school level. In one temple in Kyoto, devotees queue up to drink holy water flowing from the mountain, We did not want to deprive ourselves and joined the queue of devotees.
A few words on cultivation. Japan has at present only 3% of their population engaged in farming. This will further get worse over time since very few from the young generation in farming community are interested to continue in that profession.
Drinking holy water in one temple in Kyoto
Japanese people eat rice three times a day and therefore must grow a lot of rice. Govt. of Japan are not interested to import rice in order to protect the domestic farming community. However under international pressure and according to agreed protocols, they had to open up the market for imports. But they imposed 800% import duty on rice and thus standard quality imported rice is more expensive than high quality Japanese rice. However Japanese Govt. realizes that they cannot protect the farmers for long in this way and so have introduced corporate farming after a lot of internal debates and protests. This will on one hand protect farming from dwindling interest level of the farming community and will also make it competitive. The corporate farmhouses are not allowed to use this land for any purpose other than farming. Though debatable, probably for developed countries like Japan, this is unavoidable in long run unless they would decide to depend on imported food grains.
Finally I want to mention a very interesting story (hopefully true) I heard about "Kobe beef". "Kobe beef" is very famous worldwide for its tenderness and fetches premium price. The reasons of the tenderness are amazing:
- The animals are not allowed to graze in fields. Most of the time they are kept indoors in controlled climatic conditions.
- Everyday at a specified time, the animals are offered a bottle of beer to drink
- Thereafter they are given a massage
- Then classical music is turned on to send the drowsy animals to sleep
- A very special diet is offered to the animals everyday (the diet is a closely guarded secret)
When these animals finally leave their owners for getting exported, the owners cry in separation. It is said that the animals also cry, tears actually roll down their cheeks. If true, those must be very emotional moments.
Japan is a very expensive country and so common people are always careful in their spending habits. They are always looking for the best value for money. Japan has an excellent network of railways throughout the country and most people always make use of it. One can very safely adjust his/her watch at the sight of the trains entering platforms, so punctual the system is. At present the country is passing through a difficult economic situation and people & Govt. are working very hard to come out of it. I am sure that people of a highly determined &disciplined nation like Japan will make it happen.
I will long cherish the fond memories of this great country in my mind.
Largest Buddha Statue
Track for blind all over in Japan