hankyoreh

Park Jung-eon, Tokyo Correspondent

At the start of the New Year, I visited the home of a Japanese man. I was there to extend my New Year's greetings, but also to say goodbye. Grandfather Ikuda is 80 this year, but he was volunteering as a language teacher when I went to study in Japan in 1999. A manpower shortage in medium-sized companies had him working with machinery until the age of 77, and yet he still volunteered his spare time. These days, he is suffering from ailments common to the elderly, but on Sundays he still goes to a nearby park to volunteer as a docent at a traditional house exhibit. He remains very critical of the Koizumi and Abe governments.

It is easy to find honest Japanese like Ikuda, who contribute to the local community and worry about Japan's future as it makes a turn to the political right. Japan is full of grassroots organizations run through volunteer participation and small financial contributions. The "Article Nine Gathering," which opposes the amending of Japan's "peace constitution," is organized in 5,000 areas. The country's civic movement is strong.

Sadly, however, it is hard to hear its voice. For starters, there are almost no civic groups organized at a national level that would help tie the regional groups together and suggest joint issues. They have about as many large-scale demonstrations and protests as new sprouts seen during a drought. The mainstream press treats them with utter indifference. On the rare occasions when groups hold major events, they get a brief note on the city pages. It's an entirely different situation from Korea, where media and civic groups join together to find ways to achieve change. Korea's civic groups continue to speak with authority. Of course one problem is that in comparison to their influence, their foundations are too weak. In Japan it's hard to feel like civic groups exist; in Korea it's as if they're top-heavy.

Key to the reason why Japanese civil society fails to have more influence is a national character that is too accommodating to the establishment. Japanese tend to be relatively satisfied with their lives and do not openly express discontent. They "know their place" all too well.

Once, I was watching an entertainment program on a private television channel and found myself quite surprised at something. They were talking about the private life of a female surgeon who had made a killing performing breast augmentation surgeries. Apparently, she never wore the same clothes twice. She thought nothing of talking about how she threw money around while the host and audience stood in awe, delighted and amazed. What would have happened had the same program been shown in Korea? The program might have been so inundated with criticism from the general public that it would have been taken off the air. For starters, they never would have been able to make such a program here.

I have come to wonder if the reason this can happen in Japan is because of a belief by everyday Japanese that the business of others, particularly powerful social classes, is no matter to the ordinary public because they are just not in the same league. This accommodation and resignation contributes to social stability and lessens the intensity of competition. But it is also why there are no civic revolutions and why the conservative Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) rules for so long in conditions of long-term social stagnation.

On the other hand, the dynamism overflowing from Korean society is a problem. The experience of colonial rule, the division of North and South, war, and military dictatorship in the twisted course of modern Korean history has made everyone question even legitimate power and wealth. This is a main source of energy for social change. In the meantime, it makes one more likely to be angry at others than to be willing to take a critical look at one’s self. A side effect of this is the neverending competition between ordinary citizens and the wealthy social classes.

As my three years as The Hankyoreh’s man in Tokyo come to an end, I frequently find myself thinking that Korea and Japan are mirrors of each other. This means we are in a relationship where both countires have a lot to gain from improving themselves based on what each lacks in this context. Both countries need to have a more open attitude toward one other if we are going to have a "win-win" situation. I would like to see Koreans stop underestimating the Japanese and be less aggressively competitive. I would also hope to see Japanese humbly accept the past and look at Korea as a country that has grown to be an equal partner.

Please direct questions or comments to [englishhani@hani.co.kr]