WWII had changed the world order and established new patterns of communication and interaction between people. Culture and social life in Japan were influenced by Western traditions and values. The development of a capitalistic economy brought about a change in Japanese industry and contributed to augmenting national power. At the same time, it widened the gulf between rich and poor, between capital and labor, which in turn gave rise to a movement to organize labor unions intended to raise the living standard of workers. Such men of light and leading laid great emphasis on the necessity of promoting and protecting the interests of the working class.
The WWII transformed traditional life of people limited by the Imperial regime and old laws. The scientific methods of the West came to be applied even to such studies as Japanese history, Japanese literature, Oriental history, and Indian philosophy. Phenomenal progress was thus made in all branches of science, it is true, but a scientific spirit can hardly be said to have permeated the general public (Kamachi, p. 43). While brilliant achievements were born in laboratories one after another, an unscientific, superstitious way of thinking was the rule outside among the people in general. Even today modern science has not yet taken its place in the everyday life of the masses. With the introduction of Western music, both vocal and instrumental, a taste for music spread throughout the country, due partly to the inclusion of singing in the primary school curriculum. In histrionic art a reform was effected in the kabuki, one of the legacies of feudalism; new ideas and devices were adopted in playwriting and theater structure (Kamachi, p. 20). Two new schools of drama were founded: the shrimp-get based on the manners and customs of the new age, and the shin-geki illustrative of the spirit of modern dramas of the West. The traditional kabuki and these two newly born dramatic schools thus competed in the sphere of stage art. “For most Japanese today, formal religion involves rites and services more than religious doctrines or discipline” (Kamachi, p. 29).
Western culture was adopted and assimilated in Japan to an extent unparalleled before. Japanese society adopted elements and traditions of Chinese culture, it is true, to develop the native culture, but it did not bring about a complete change in the social fabric, economic structure, and everyday manners and customs. WWII completely changed the life of the Japanese; improvement was made along the lines of the active and efficient mode of living of the modern West (Marton, p. 32). Not only did foreign clothes and chairs and tables and things of that kind become the rule among the intellectuals, but as time went on, various conveniences and facilities of life, such as gas, electricity, city water, means of traffic and communications, the motion pictures and radio, came to enrich the life of the Japanese. It must be admitted, however, in the interests of truth, that the traditional mode of living and ways of thinking, both good and bad, are deeply rooted in the life of the Japanese people of today (Kamachi, p. 116). Thus modern Japan has two faces in its social and cultural aspects. The rapidity of Japan’s progress may be inferred from the growth of population in just a little over half a century. After WWII, Japanese authorities favored and supported new architectural traditions and values. “New houses in urban areas are designed not only for the economy of space and building cost but also to accommodate modern facilities such as airconditioning (and even central heating for those who can afford it), as well as the need for security” (Kamachi 1999, p. 93).
In the fields of religion and education, Shinto was ordered to be divorced from the State. The Shintō shrines which had been under State patronage now were to be treated in the same way as other places of religious worship in Japan, such as Buddhist temples and Christian churches (Kamachi 130-131). In this way, freedom in religious worship was guaranteed to the Japanese people. School textbooks on Japanese history beginning with a narrative of the so-called Age of the Gods were done away with, and the schools began to use new textbooks in history, which started with the Stone Age. In the economic domain the zaibatsu, powerful industrial families of Japan, which had been regarded as the grassroots of militarism, were disbanded (Kamachi, p. 23). Then came the emancipation of the tenant farmers. “Although Shinto buildings were not built to last permanently, their forms have remained basically unchanged. Shrines are often rebuilt to purify the site and to renew the construction material, following the same designs as the previous ones” (Kamachi 1999, p. 104). Something like 5,901,000 acres, out of a total of about 7,372,000 acres of cultivated land passed into the possession of the tillers of the soil. A system whereby tenant fees could be paid in money at lower rates was adopted. Labor unions came to be protected by law for the first time in the history of the country. To guarantee the rights of workers a new law was enacted under the name of the Labor Standards Law. In the province of politics, Japanese women were given the elective franchise for the first time. The political parties that had been disbanded during the war staged a comeback, and the Communist Party came to secure seats in the National Diet as a recognized political party. The highlight of the great reform was the proclamation of a new constitution in 1946 (Marton et al, p. 98).
Great changes took place in clothing and human relations. After the WWII, Japanese started to wear western-style clothes and footwear. “Japanese-style clothes (wafuku) are only for ceremonial occasions” (Kamachi 1999, p. 122). Thus, the Japanese favor national colors such as yellow and red, favor such traditional materials as silk and cotton. Kimono still remains an important symbol of Japanese culture and traditions thus “wearing kimono is one of the traditional arts that is no longer a part of everyday life for most Japanese people” (Kamachi 1999, p. 125). The resulting Japanese nationalism gained such pervasive power that even those few intellectual leaders who embraced universal values continued to regard the nation-state as the focus of their principles. This tension between nation-centeredness and universal principles is fundamental to emerging nations, and for that matter continues to confront all nations. The compelling need is to blend ideas that liberate in their very universality with cultural patterns that provide anchorage for those ideas and to find in the blend symbolic power and meaning for people at all levels of society. The lives of our six men suggest that, at least for Japan, that goal could be only approximated—and that in the symbolic gaps that remain we encounter potentially dangerous psychological and political possibilities. There is the modern temptation to call forth the immortalizing vision of the state, which is the essence of all nationalism, on behalf of a sacred and consolidating mission. The development of the modern state required people to identify with a larger national community that was unfamiliar in its abstract, impersonal, and distant nature (Marton et al 99). The shift could be accomplished because leaders skillfully manipulated the emperor-centered symbolism that was both transcendent and rooted in Japanese ties to the human group (Kamachi, p. 76).
After WWII, women received more rights and freedoms, received assess to education and politics. “The number of married women who work after age 35 increased from 32.7 percent of the female workforce in 1962 to 57.2 percent in 1995” (Kamachi 1999, p. 127). The changes in cuisine were influenced by new technologies and cooking practices that came from Western countries. The uniqueness of Japanese cuisine is that most people prefer fresh food and try to avoid frozen food. The main foods are rice and fish, vegetables and tea. It developed from the meals at Zen monasteries together with the tea ceremony. “Chakaiseki ryori (literally means “tea”) is supposed to be a frugal meal, as its name came from the fact that Zen monks in training placed warm stones inside their robes to stave off hunger. The food is served at tea ceremony now.” (Kamachi 1999, p. 118).
The world of learning and the world of art, too, became full of life and activity, particularly in the field of social science which had long been subjected to considerable restrictions. Rapid progress was made, for instance, in historical research in the short space of ten years or so (Kamachi 81). All sorts of valuable studies were published concerning the origin of the Japanese people, the history of the Tennō system, the structure of feudal Japan, and the circumstances leading to democracy and to the socialist movement in this country. In the realms of natural science, research in theoretical physics, in which efforts had been made since before the war, bore fruit. In 1949 Yukawa Hideki’s honor of being the first Japanese scholar to win a Nobel prize proved a great inspiration to the post-war Japanese. The war-devastated economy of Japan, too, gradually revived; taking 1935 as the basic year in production, the index for 1950 in mining and manufacturing advanced to 73% from the 1946 low of 24% (Marton et al, p. 98). As has been set forth in the foregoing pages, Japan evolved several modes of culture having distinctive features in her history of nearly two thousand years. It is the cherished hope and aspiration of the Japanese people that they may contribute their share, in promoting the welfare of mankind by furthering social and economic development.
In sum, WWII had changed the traditional lifestyles of Japanese people and their values. It brought new Western ideals and cuisine, new clothing, and human relations. Thus, Japan preserved its unique national traditions and religious values transmitted from generation to generation for centuries.
Works Cited
- Kamachi, N. Culture and Customs of Japan. Greenwood Press, 1999.
- Marton, W.S., Olenik, J. K., Morton, W.S. Japan: Its History and Culture. McGraw- Hill; 4 edition, 2004.