宿谷睦夫訳　加藤方寅著「新日本人論」
“New Japanology”　 by Dr. Michinobu Kato

translator: Mutsuo Shukuya
auditor: Bruce Wyman
supervisor: Boye Lafayette De Mente

(Ⅵ) Qualities of Speaking Japanese (each of them)
(2) Why Democracy Has Not Taken Root in Japan

It is well-known by most people in the world that Japanese people tend to have no interest in becoming independent from their society. In order to be independent from their society, you must make exact distinctions between yourself and others. Psychologically speaking, the Japanese cannot do this.
This distinction depends on logical thinking so it can be understood why Japanese people cannot make exact distinctions between themselves and others, and therefore cannot be independent from their society.
Because of their physiological brain mechanism Japanese people tend to treat not only logical and intellectual matters but also emotional or feeling information matters concurrently in the left-brain, which manages language-information.
Logic depends upon digital thinking, while emotion or feelings depends upon analog thinking. It is natural that Japanese people, who tend to use analog thinking, have less interest in becoming independent from their society and tend to behave as others around them do compared with Europeans.
One of the leading political scientists in Japan after World War II, Masao Maruyama says that democracy has never taken root in Japan and is like a revolution that never ends.
The original idea of democracy came from Europe. In order to make democracy take root, each person must become independent from his/her society. Democracy is the idea that people who become independent from their society live together by respecting one another.
This concept depends upon logical and digital thinking. The mental features that cause such phenomena as bullying result from the fact that the majority in a society tends to oppose a minority who have different opinions, which is quite different from democracy. In other words, bullying is a phenomenon, which reflects the nature of people who are not independent from their society.
My wife, who was independent from her society, used to complain that democracy never takes root in Japan. It is said that some problems such as the anxiety of young come out because of lack of a sense of pride. This lack of a sense of pride stems from being less independent from their society. Being less independent from their society is one of the qualities of Japanese people, who act ambiguously about everything and cannot think logically.
As Tsunoda’s research made clear, these qualities depend upon the physiological brain mechanism, which is deeply influenced by their unique language, Japanese. So, being less independent from their society is one of the most basic qualities of Japanese people. That is to why democracy is an idea that never takes root in Japan.
Anyway there can be no disputing that democracy is the fundamental idea in the politics of international society, especially industrial developed countries. So, we Japanese must learn to live with the idea of democracy not depending upon national emotion, but on rational mentality.
 第 6章　日本人の特性・各論
第 2節　日本に民主主義は何故成立し難いのか？
（日本人は自我の確立が脆弱）

日本人の自我の確立が脆弱であることはよく知られているところです。自我の確立は自己と他者を明確に区別するところから始まります。区別するのは論理的思考に基づきます。脳の生理機能の観点から、ロゴス（理論・理性）的なものとパトス（情念・感情）的なものが言語脳において混在して処理される日本人が、自己と他者の区別があいまいで自我の確立が弱いのは当然と言えます。
理論は、デジタルな思考を基盤とします。対して情念と感情はアナログ的です。アナログ思考の強い日本人が、良きにつけ、悪しきにつけ、欧米人に比べて自我の確立が弱く、集団で行動するのは蓋し当然と言えましょう。
戦後の日本を代表する政治学者、故丸山真男氏は、研究結果を踏まえた結論として「日本では民主主義は永久革命である」と言っておられたと思います。
民主主義はもともと、欧米で成立した理念です。真の意味の民主主義の成立には、人の個の確立が必要となります。民主主義は、自我の確立した個の集団がそれぞれの個を互いに尊重しながら社会生活を営むための理念です。
この理念は、理論的でデジタルな思考がその根底を支えています。意見を異にする少数者を集団で排除する「いじめ」の精神風土は、極めて反民主的なものです。「いじめ」は、自我の確立の脆弱な精神風土を反映しているわけです。
自我の確立の強い家内は、日本に真の意味の民主主義が定着しないことに、日頃から強い不満を持っておりました。最近の青少年の問題行動やキレは、自尊感情の欠落によるという意見が強いようです。自尊感情の欠落は個の確立が弱いことに基づくわけで、個の確立が弱いのは何事にもあいまいで理論に弱い日本人の特質であり、この特質は角田氏の研究によれば日本語という特殊な言語に基づいて形成された日本人の脳の特殊な生理機能に原因があることを考えますと、日本人には極めて根の深いものです。端的に言えば、民主主義は日本人の精神風土にはなじみ難い理念ということになります。
ところで、現在も、将来も、この国際社会において、とりわけ工業先進国において、民主主義が政治の基本であることに誰も異論はありますまい。とすれば、我々日本人は日本固有の国民感情の側面にだけ依拠するのではなく、理性を働かせて、意識的に民主的政策に取り組む努力を続ける以外に道は無いのではないでしょうか。


宿谷睦夫訳　加藤方寅著「新日本人論」
“New Japanology”　 by Dr. Michinobu Kato

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