Shijo-Tsushin #13 November, 1997

Think, People, Think!

by Yumi KOIZUMI

Dai-ichi Kangyo Bank sokaiya payoff scandal was a big news a while ago, but it has finally settled down without disclosing true reasons as to why it happened. I closely followed each outcome because I had worked in DKB for nearly 7 years. I knew for a long time that some day things like this would happen in the organization where you have to obey your superiors no matter what and voicing your own opinions is exceptionally hard.

More than anything else, I was appalled by the reactions of people currently working in DKB. They remarked,
" Things are back to normal now. I think the customers have forgiven us already."
" My job has nothing to do with the scandal, so I don't have any comments on it."
" The scandal has not influenced my life at all, nor do I feel any differently toward the bank."
Why do they sound so innocent and airhead?

In many aspects of daily lives, people in general do not really "think" in Japan. Rather than forming their own points of view, they follow each other in thinking and doing. We are not encouraged to "think" and "express our thoughts logically" in homes and schools. It was stimulating and exciting for me in high school in the US to write essays like "How I would have done if I had been Thomas Jefferson" or experiment extensively in biology class to experience and think. I could not stand the behavioral patterns of people in the bank to blindly obey their bosses, but truthfully they may not have known how to recognize what is good and what is bad.

Learning how to think and express, however, is not enough. Japanese people must learn not to mind others too much at the same time. When I was in the bank I had the following conversation with one of my male colleagues.
" Why can't you go home before your boss leaves?"
" Well, I just can't."
" Have you ever been told something for leaving early?"
" No, but he will think I am not hard working if I left earlier than he."
" How do you know if you are never been told?"
" Well, that's just the way it is!"
As a Japanese I did understand what he was trying to get at, but I could not help wondering how he, or anybody else for that matter, could survive in such a stressful environment where one lives on assumptions of the other people's unvoiced opinions.

They mind other people's opinions too much maybe because we live in such an interdependent society but also because they do not have their own opinions. Right, they cannot think, thus they do not have their opinions. Becoming independent is not encouraged in Japanese homes or schools either, although some people claim it is.

Becoming independent is not so hard, after all. For yourself, just concentrate on what you like and what you are good at. For others, indicate good qualities they have, and even when advising tell positively what they can do to improve.

When I was in elementary school in Japan, I seldom got good comments on my output both in school and at home. For instance, even when I was happy to receive 95 on a test, my teachers and parents would say, " Why did you make such mistakes?" which really depressed me. On the other hand, in the US middle and high schools people would say, "Wow! Good job for you!" which really encouraged me to try harder for next time.

Thus I built my confidence and learned to respect myself knowing what is good in me. It also helped me to understand other people's good qualities.

Now I am not vulnerable to people's even sarcastic remarks because I know myself and know what I like, what I think, and how I want to live.