Even well-meaning people sometimes reach for outlandish historical explanations for things in modern Japan, explaining phenomena in terms of “national character” or history. Often, the truth is a lot simpler and, simultaneously, more interesting.
You see this in many forms. When people in Japan clean up a sports stadium after a match, you hear how this shows “the Japanese ethic of cleanliness.” In fact, some Japanese streets are filthy (have you seen Kabukicho, folks?), and the clean ones stay that way from volunteers who care about where they live. (Gomi-yashiki, trashed-out houses, are also a thing, as is illegal trash disposal.)
When someone does something nice or chivalrous in Japan, we’re told this is due to Japan’s “collective society” or “samurai sense of honor” or “bushido” or some bullshit. Anything other than simple human decency.
And, of course, let’s not get started on all the books that attempt to turn common Japanese words into some deep-seated philosophy dating back to the Kamakura Era.
This attitude comes out in other, more strange ways. It came out recently, for example, regarding punctuation.
Let me explain.
