Character of Isolationist

Not only being reluctant to speak foreign languages, the Japanese are highly hesitant to talk with strangers. It is almost rare that a passenger in a train talks with someone next seat. People on the train would be doing something self-sufficient, such as reading a book or newspaper, tapping smart phone or playing Nintendo game. They are doing those not because they like it, but because they do not want to communicate with others. This anthropophobic tendency of the nation was fostered by geographic uniqueness isolated from the continent.

On the trains in Tokyo, people are so reticent that one might think he/she is in China, because the loudest conversation there is Chinese language spoken by Chinese tourists. Passengers ignore others as if they are foreigners, and are reluctant to pass the seat on old agers or the handicapped. Even if there were children romping around on the train, no one would chide with the impoliteness. This tendency became apparent with the Westernization in the time of high economic growth decades after the end of Pacific War. People falsely realized Western-style individualism as apathy toward others.

For centuries, security for Japan has been dealing with threat from China. In twelfth century, the government of Japan concentrated troops to Kyushu area to counter Chinese invasion. The storm that occasionally blew on Chinese navy was called God Wind, or Kamikaze, which helped Japan’s independence. Isolationism in Middle Age was a policy for keeping independence from continental powers.

With those political requirements, the Japanese has established an exclusive society and culture. Language became so complicated that foreigners can hardly master it. Exclusive economic behaviors such as keiretsu or kaizen are for prosperity of a specific group. A student who has strange way of thinking will be isolated in the classroom. If Japan had huge land to include immigrants, like the United States, they had to be welcoming them. Unfortunately, this inland country does not have enough geographical space for them.

The Japanese people still do not adapt to open society. They are comfortable being isolated. If someone invades his/her territory, he/she turns to be extremely furious. That is why the Japanese are united against China’s assertive action in Senkaku Islands, regardless the legitimacy of international law or treaty obligation. So, Senkaku issue cannot be underestimated as a matter of give-and-take in international geopolitics, because it is about independence for this isolated nation.