JAPAN IN BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
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after acquiring needed skill and knowledge by working for a large organiza-
tion, to become independent by setting up their own small shops. A similar
pattern is observable in other spheres of occupation, not necessarily in the
lower class. One may work for years as an employee of a large publishing
company, and acquire the knowledge and skills needed in the publishing
business. One may also make acquaintances among writers and scholars
who will serve as future suppliers of manuscripts when one quits the com-
pany and establishes one’s own publishing company, using one’s retirement
fund as capital investment. Often one person is the president-editor-proof-
reader-messengerboy. If he publishes two books every three months, his
net income will be more or less the same as the salary he would be receiving
from the large publishing company. These people do not want to belong to
an organization but want to be the boss of their own castle, no matter how
small the castle might be. They follow the ancient Chinese proverb, “Keiko
to narumo gyubi to narunakare (It is better to be the head of a cock than
the tail of a cow).” In Japan’s success in the competitive world market of
export, much depends on the activities of independent-minded, aggressive
salesmen, who often operate all alone in cities of every part of the world.
Collectivity orientation vs. independent entrepreneur spirit—how do
these two seemingly different types of achievement motivation come about?
Do the younger sons tend to be motivated to become the head of a cock,
while the eldest sons tend to identify with the large collectivity to which
they belong? My recent analysis of “phallic tendency” of the Japanese
male might be of some relevance (Wagatsuma MSb) for understanding
Japanese dependency and activeness.
3. Untranslatable Words
We are all familiar with Takeo Doi’s excellent analysis of the word “amae”
as the key concept for understanding Japanese personality structure (Doi
1962). DeVos and I (DeVos and Wagatsuma 1969) recently analyzed
another word, “sunao," which is closely related to the psychology of amae.
There are many other words related to these unique aspects of Japanese
psychology, and they await our analysis.
Doi, in another article (1956), made an interesting exploration of the
word “ki," the root that appears in a large number of Japanese adjectives
and verbs regarding human feelings, character, or behavior. Doi feels that
a peculiar emotional autonomy as well as isolation is indicated, inasmuch
as ukΓ is always treated as the subject. It may imply, Doi thinks, that the
Japanese are resigned to the fact that they always yield to their emotions and
find themselves quite at their mercy. I would like to indicate two more
series of expressions, one with the common word “hard" (abdomen) and
the other with the common word “mushi” (worm), both of which may also
be characterized as “impersonal ways of expressing emotions and feelings.”