PRESENTATION IS EVERYTHING
One of the interesting things about culture is the way it permeates all aspects of society. It is an invisible force which controls virtually every facet of people's lives. While culture itself cannot be directly observed, its influences often can. Occasionally one can get a glimpse of one of the universal truths which directly influence people's behavior on a constant basis. The strongest influence on the Japanese person's behavior is this: presentation is everything. It controls all aspects of the life and environment of the people. It is the cause of all the nation's problems and the veneer that covers them up. It is, in fact, so deeply imbedded in the nation's psyche that its inhabitants can't even see it. It is an invisible seed which carries with it, the destruction of the society as a whole.
In order to understand how this destruction is possible, it is necessary to first look at what makes Japanese society. Japan is a highly collectivistic country which views itself as being uniquely unique in the world. As an island nation, it has spent long periods of its history cut off from the rest of the world. This has created the illusion that it is somehow unique in a way which no other country is. All things Japanese, even if imported from other countries, help shape this unique self-view. The food, environment, customs, politics and economy all make up the impression of Japanese culture and society. All of these are directly influenced by the notion that presentation is everything and all of them will inevitably fall like a deck of cards when it is revealed that there is no substance behind them.
Japanese cuisine is famous worldwide for its beauty. Chefs must be highly disciplined to prepare dishes to exacting standards, making them delicious to the eye. Food is to be appreciated for its aesthetic beauty and not its flavor. Because of this, it is not uncommon to present food for long periods of time before eating it as the pleasure is surely in the viewing. Japanese meetings may carry on for hours in front of a beautifully laid of spread of flavorless food. While people eagerly reach for their cameras in an attempt to save this visual delight for later, none will ask for a doggy bag. There is no substance to the sustenance; it is as superficial as my writing.
Contrary to popular opinion, Japanese food is not healthy. Actually, it is not anything. One may argue that Japanese women have the highest life expectancy on Earth and I will not disagree. What I will disagree on however is the reason for this extended lifespan. It is not the food they eat; rather, it is the food they don’t eat that gives them an unnaturally long life. Japanese women consume approximately the same number of calories per day as a jellyfish. This reduced caloric intake slows cell division to a snail’s pace and guarantees longevity at the cost of living life in a semi-comatose state. Unfortunately, this sloth-like stupor does little to elevate the low birth rate in the country. If Japanese women ate as much Japanese food as Japanese men, their reproductive rates may improve but their rates of stomach cancer would surely approach those of men, also.
Much of Japan’s presentation to the world is in it’s commitment to the environment. Japanese artwork typically shows a high appreciation for nature and the well known Kyoto Protocol strengthens the presentation. A closer inspection reveals that Japan’s commitment to the environment is only for show. It has as much substance as the food. Whether it’s damming the rivers, building nuclear reactors on the edges of tectonic plates, leading the world in garbage incinerators and energy consumption or simply pouring concrete over the nation’s mountains, Japan is being motivated by the philosophy that presentation is everything.
Tokyo wants to have the prettiest lights in the world. That’s fine but it takes energy. People want everything from cookies to staples to be individually wrapped to maximize presentation value – more energy and garbage produced. This is the problem with a simple underlying philosophy, which can have contradictory outcomes. Individually wrapped grapes and a public commitment to garbage reduction can not coexist. Japanese people are so confused by these contradictions that they have begun an aggressive campaign to convince the rest of the world that they are the only country with four different seasons.
Japanese people prefer the clean straight lines of cement to the unpredictability of nature. Fine. But it comes at a cost. When you dredge the rivers to make cement, you run into erosion problems which can only be remedied through the use of more cement. Eventually Japan will be able to present itself to the world as a clean grey nation but until that day, the landscape will be littered with cement making equipment and road crews.
Presentation is not always in material things. Work ethic, one of the cornerstones on which Japan places its reputation, is all for show. In the post World War II era, a guilty America, feeling a little shameful for testing its nuclear weapons in Japan, gave the country a hefty bundle of cash to help rebuild its industry. The shiny new factories were able to take American inventions and make them better. So better in fact, people forgot that Japanese didn’t actually invent cars or radios or video games. It no longer mattered. The presentation took off and Japanese convinced themselves and the world they were the hardest working people on the planet.
A closer look reveals a lot of rushing around and looking busy but nothing really gets done. All that paper shredding, stapling, stamping, opening and closing drawers, arranging stacks of papers and books is part of the presentation. Ironically, all of the platitudes about working hard and being otsukaresama deshita’ed also lack substance. People mumble these comments as if their original meaning has been completely stripped – which it has. Nothing is getting done and nobody cares because it looks good.
So, as Japan begins its slow steady slide deeper into recession and businesses and jobs keep moving to other harder working Asian nations, we must ask ourselves, “What will a 21st century Japan look like?” The answer is easy.
The future Japan will look pretty. People will look busy. Things will look prosperous. Everyone will look happy and everyone will be polite. How do I know all of this?
Presentation Is Everything...
Beyond that, you guess is as good as mine.