JAPAN IN BEHAVIORAL SCIENCES
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students (DeVos 1959), discovered that the Japanese wives of the soldiers
his research team interviewed were far from being graceful, quiet, and
subservient, but rather were masculine and even aggressive. They had re-
jected the idea of serving as a wife to a despotic Japanese husband, and
had been attracted by the stereotype of a strong, masculine, and yet very
chivalrous American male. The outcome of the discrepancy in expectations
in such marriages was often unfortunate; the American man, having looked
for an Oriental doll, found himself married to a tough cookie whose sheer
presence became an added threat to his already shaky masculine ego; and
the Japanese woman, having looked for a Western knight, found herself
tied to a weakling whose dependent need often bothered her.
As we reported elsewhere (DeVosand Wagatsuma 1969, MS; Wagatsuma
MSa), we discovered among husbands of the lower class in Arakawa Ward
the prevalence of a basic sense of inadequacy, feeling of inferiority, shaky
masculine identity, and passivity, whereas most of their wives were socially
active, outgoing, self-assured, self-assertive, strong willed, and/or even
aggressive. Generally, many lower-class families in Japan may very well be
characterized as “kaka denka" or “petticoat government”; questioning
Whetherthey can also be called “matri-focal” will lead us to a reexamination
of this concept. Comparative studies of lower-class families in different
cultures in terms of intra-family role interaction patterns should be of great
theoretical significance.
5. National Character and Cultural Identity
It is important to discover if the Japanese are changing and, if they are,
in what ways. Now is the time for such studies, because the young adult
members of Japanese society are those who were born in the postwar “baby
boom” and grew up, it seems, with no knowledge of Confucian ethics, of
Greater East Asian Co-Prosperity Sphere, and no trauma of air raid, defeat,
and starvation. They grew up in relative affluence, in which even for their
parents the image of “old Japan” with all its implications began to seem
vague and psychologically remote. If postwar change in Japanese culture
and society exists, it must be evident in this new generation; in many ways
these younger people are different from those who have been so far described
as “Japanese” — for instance, we no longer seem to find that old role dedi-
cation and sense of responsibility.
To see if the Japanese are changing, on what level and in what sphere of
their personality, it is helpful to follow and compare carefully the results of
the extensive opinion and attitude survey repeated every five years by
the Research Committee of Japanese National Character at the Institute
of Statistical Mathematics (Tokei Suri Kenkyu Jo, Kokuminsei Chosa
Iinkai 1961; Hayashi, Nishihira, and Suzuki 1965; Hayashi and Suzuki
1967; Nishihira 1963). Equally significant will be the study of Zen Gaku