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| Social and Class Differences | |
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Social and Class Differences Not so long ago Japan functioned as a feudal state in which caste was severely differentiated. In this time period the samurai, or warriors, were the ruling class. Next in line of hierarchical importance came the farmer, the artisan, and lastly, the merchant (Seidensticker 30). In this section of my paper I will explain Japan's feudal system and how today that system has changed. |
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In the Tokugawa period, the country was run by a shogunate. Tokugawa Ieyasa was a shogun who was the head of a group of samurai with enough power to control all of the other shoguns. In this era, the samurai were at the head of the hierarchy, however the merchant class has the most money. In time this economic factor became a problem for the ruling class who were all indebted to various merchants. The friction created by economic disturbances was one of the contributions to the Meiji Restoration in 1868. Emperor Meiji had, until this point, been only a titular head of the country behind the military force of the ruling shogunate clans. However, in 1868 he was reinvested with some political and ruling power. Also in 1968 a bill was passed entitled "Equality of Four Social Classes" which abolished the feudal clan system (theoretically) (Kosaka 2). In this period eight static classes actually developed and were arranged as follows: Aristocrats, Capitalist Class, New Middle Class, Landlord Class, Peasant Class, Old Urban Middle Class, Working Class, and Lowest Urban Class (Kosaka 3-5). Following the end of World War II in 1945, land reforms were enacted in order to dispense with, in particular, the landlord class (Kosaka 6-11). These reforms helped to levalize urban and rural classes somewhat and to lead to a more "Westernized" democratic society. However, I would argue that even today remnants of class distinction still exist quite strongly within the language and mind-set of the Japanese individual. |
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"One's social position, as defined by his or her relation to other members of the whole, will determine the very specific types of language he or she uses when addressing other members" (Young 191). Within the Japanese language itself there are set grammatical rules which determine one's place in society when they are used in every day speech. There are different methods of saying such set phrases as "Thank you" depending on how polite one must be. If, for example you are speaking to a superior (in age, rank, job importance, economically better off, etc.) you would most likely use the most polite form. On the other hand, if speaking to an inferior you could use a less polite form. There are also different suffixes that can be added to proper names in order to denote superior-inferior relationships. These suffixes are typically always used and it is very rare, outside of the family circle, for someone to be referred to simply but the first name alone. |
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Within the mind-set of the individual, I would like to turn to two examples in anime which show quite definitively the continued gulf created by class differences. First of all in Kareshi Kanojyo no Jijou (His and Her Circumstances or Kare Kano) the two main characters of Miwazawa Yukino and Souichiro Arima have very different social classes as evidenced mainly through family situations and outward appearance of wealth. In the series the two freshman high schoolers go to each other's houses to study. The first time Yukino visits Arima's house she is amazed by the grandeur of it. Arima has his own room, while she shares one with her two younger sisters. In Arima's house everything is very quiet, sedate, and elegant. In Yukino's house the walls are thin enough to hear through and the family is loud and boisterous. Arima's family obviously has a maid and/or a cook, while at Yukino's her mother is always vacuuming or serving food. We learn through the course of the show (26 episodes total) that Arima's father is a doctor who owns/manages a prestigious hospital and Yukino's father is a "salary-man," an employee of a large corporation. The differences between the two families are subtly shown and it is only through Yukino's amazement at the Souichiro's wealth and her embarrassment around her own family that the social gulf becomes clear. And yet, that social disparity is made obvious and it is through its existence in anime that one can conjecture it still exists within Japanese society itself. |
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In a second anime series, Hana Yori Dango (Boys before flowers or Hanadan) which is not as recent as Kare Kano, the two main characters have an even wider chasm between their respective social statuses. These two characters are named Domyouji Tsukasa and Makino Tsukushii. Domyouji's family is one of the wealthiest in Japan, owning at least ten islands, homes around the world, a five star hotel chain, a couple corporations, and so on. In school Domyouji is always surrounded by three other boys, all the first sons of other major families in Japan. And it is in this school, Eitoku High School, that he first meets Makino. The school itself is for the wealthiest families and is otherwise impossible to get into except on scholarships for academic brilliance. It is with such a scholarship that Makino is able to attend Eitoku. Makino's family is very poor and in the course of the series her father loses his job, forcing the family to move from one small apartment to an even smaller one. Her parents are forcing her to attend Eitoku (she'd rather go to the one her junior high friends attend) because they hope she will be able to meet rich marriage prospects or eventually garner a higher salary through education. |
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In Hanadan, Domyouji continuously refers to the poverty of Makino's family and also offers her money. Makino, in response to him giving her brand name clothes, declares herself a "No Name Brand Girl." In effect Makino is attempting to define herself, not by her family situation or social status, but by her own individual integrity. Domyouji, on the other hand, is the spoiled inheritor of a vast estate, who never asks but only commands, and is the sole heir to an illustrious and affluent family name. And at the end of the series (52 episodes in total) Makino marries Domyouji and sails away with him on one of his many yachts, much to the protest of his stuck-up, socialite mother. In the cases of these two series, it is apparent that although in the aftermath of World War II, a democratic system was superimposed upon Japanese society, remnants of past aristocracy retained some power. Particularly in the case of Hana Yori Dango the tradition of primogeniture can be seen to be still exist. It is a fact of human civilization to desire social equality but to seldom achieve it. It is also a sign of capitalist cultures that whoever has the most money rules the world. |
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Kosaka, Kenji. Social Stratification in Contemporary Japan. New York: Kegan Paul International, 1994. Seidensticker, Edward and the Editors of LIFE. LIFE World Library: Japan. New York: Time Incorporated, 1961. Young, John and Kimiko Nakajima-Okano. Learn Japanese: New College Text Volume 1. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1984. |
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