The Essential Difference Between Japan and Biblical Cultures: What Institutions Cannot Change

The Essential Difference Between Japan and Biblical Cultures: What Institutions Cannot Change Understanding This Reveals the Essence When we engage with the world, where we place our "heart" (kokoro) differs by culture. In Japan, there is a strong tendency to perceive a spiritual essence in objects and to imbue actions with sentiment (jō) through the concept of "the Way" (michi). In contrast, in the Biblical cultural sphere, the doctrine of a strict distinction between the Creator and the created, along with the covenant (the Law), suppresses the excessive attribution of divinity to objects. The difference between the two has been projected not only onto religious practices but also onto art, finance, and technological ethics—though one must avoid generalizations, as variations across eras and sects are significant. This essay will re-examine this difference through the twin axes of the "capacity for emotional projection" and the "governing power of the covenant." Attitudes and Sensibilities Toward Things are Fundamentally and Powerfully Different The idea that "all people are the same" is a lie. This is not about inequality or discrimination. It's about a difference in how we perceive the world. More specifically, our sensibilities toward things are different. While this may be an acquired trait, it creates a fundamental divergence. What is this difference? It can be summarized as follows: "In the Biblical cultural sphere, people are trained not to feel divinity in things (the created), whereas in Japan, people are trained to feel a heart or spirit (Buddha-nature or divinity) in things." Japanese Culture Projects Emotion; Biblical Culture Keeps Its Distance If I may speak bluntly, even at the risk of being misunderstood, Japanese culture is one that trains people to project their emotions—to pour their feelings, heart, passion, or soul into physical objects. In contrast, the mindset of the Biblical cultural sphere—though there are variations between, say, Catholics and Protestants—is a culture that trains people not to project emotion onto objects, or to at least restrain it. To a certain degree, this is why Catholics might feel more personable, while Protestants, like many in Britain or America, can seem aloof and cold. Though the trend has changed recently, in the past, Japanese students studying in the UK or the US often felt they received a rather cold reception. Natsume Soseki is a famous example. Amidst the chilly atmosphere of England, he verged on a nervous breakdown. Upon returning to Japan, he grappled with Western modernization, and through experiences like the ritual suicide of General Nogi Maresuke and his own battle with a bleeding ulcer, he came to realize the ancient heart (kokoro) of the Japanese people. The history of Japanese thought is a history of the heart. In ancient times, it was the "clear and bright heart" (seimeishin); in the medieval period, the "honest heart" (shōjiki); and at the end of the Edo period, the "sincere heart" (seijitsu). It is a philosophy of kokoro, or what can be rephrased as a philosophy of chūjo (sincerity and empathy). Chū (忠) means sincerity and earnestness—it is internal to one's own heart. Soseki was raised in the Edo era and belonged to a generation that remembered it. Mori Ogai, also deeply moved by Nogi's suicide, wrote a novel about it; clearly, it struck a chord with those raised before the Meiji era. Nogi Maresuke was a fellow student and relative of Yoshida Shoin. They received a spartan education in selfless public service under the same master. Yoshida Shoin's philosophy, in a word, is a philosophy of the heart. The Wang Yangming school of Neo-Confucianism, which entered Japan during the Edo period, was adapted into a Japanese form called Shingaku ("heart-learning") and, though it had unique aspects developed by figures like Ishida Baigan, it spread among the common people and became the spiritual pillar for the patriots of the Meiji Restoration. Jo (恕) means compassion and forgiveness. As the character's form suggests (like-hearted), it is the act of thinking and feeling from another person's perspective. Confucius called this the most important thing in Confucianism, or perhaps for all humanity. He went further, stating, "The way of the noble person is nothing but sincerity and empathy (chūjo)," implying it is a sufficient condition. While perhaps a rhetorical flourish, taken literally, it means that for a human being, having a heart and showing consideration is all that is needed. The Western Case In contrast, Western culture can be described as one of emotional distance. Excessive emotional projection is avoided because it could lead to the impiety of feeling divinity in objects other than God, or seeing God in what is merely His creation. As such, people are trained to maintain a certain emotional distance from things. Of course, being human, people do project emotions onto many things, so the boundary is ambiguous. In the days of a more fundamentalist Saudi Arabia, photographs, pictures, and dolls were banned from the country. Seeing events like the modern Japan Expo there might seem unbelievable now, but that former stance was, in a way, more faithful to the scriptures. Marc Chagall, a Jewish painter, was a special case. Not projecting emotion onto things is well-suited for commerce and finance. In Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, the Jewish merchant Shylock is depicted as a villain. But the Catholic world, which permitted idols, and a Jewish merchant, who was forbidden from idolatry and engaged in moneylending (interpreted as forbidden in Christianity), likely had such different sensibilities as to be temperamentally incompatible. Conversely, the fact that Protestantism, which banned idolatry, gave birth to both capitalism and Marxism may have something to do with this lack of emotional projection onto objects. First, from Japan The Japanese people feel a heart (kokoro) in things. It's unclear if this is a remnant of ancient animism, but modern Japanese people certainly have animistic elements. Part of this may be the Shinto idea of Yaoyorozu no Kami (eight million gods). The Kojiki and Nihon Shoki depict gods as natural objects, or natural objects as gods. It might also be the influence of the Tendai Buddhist concept that "all mountains, rivers, plants, and trees have Buddha-nature." It posits that all things possess an innate potential for enlightenment. The influence of Esoteric Buddhism, which likely came from Hinduism, may also play a role; it too sees objects as Buddhas or their attendants. On top of this, it is thought that Prince Shōtoku intentionally promoted religious syncretism through the concept of Honji Suijaku, where Shinto gods were seen as manifestations of Buddhist deities. There is also the influence of Taoist thought. Though different from the Tao of Laozi and Zhuangzi, Japan uniquely transformed the concept of "the Way" (dō or michi), particularly through the influence of Zen. Every action and object is seen as part of the total cultivation of the spirit and heart. This is a way of thinking that elevates not only the self but also the object. In Kendo, one feels a spirit in the sword; in the Tea Ceremony, one pours one's heart into every action, gesture, and the space itself. Taoism itself sees the divine in the earthly order. Though less conspicuous, Taoism has dissolved into Japanese culture in various forms, such as local confraternities (kō) and the Seven Lucky Gods. What the Japanese Imbue in Objects The Japanese imbue objects with something. What exactly that is, is hard to say, and it could be many things. Perhaps they pour in their soul or passion. Perhaps it is emotional projection. Perhaps it is the kokoro that Soseki realized in his later years. Perhaps, as the mathematician Oka Kiyoshi said, it is emotion or sentiment (jōcho). Perhaps it is personification. Perhaps they feel Buddha-nature or divinity. Perhaps they see all things as part of reincarnation, not discriminating between them and humans, but seeing them as equals. Perhaps they believe that something like a tsukumogami (a spirit that comes to inhabit old tools) dwells in objects. Perhaps the Chinese idea of hun and po (two aspects of the soul) is present. Perhaps, as in the Ainu bear ceremony (Iyomante) or Japanese folktales, they believe animals can become human. The examples are endless, but this way of thinking is, in fact, heretical from the perspective of the Bible. Biblical Culture Does Not View Things with Emotion In the Biblical cultural sphere, people do not view things with emotion; they are trained not to. "Emotion" is too broad, so let's specify it here as divinity or a heart/spirit. One reason is that the Bible regulates it. Or perhaps, also related to the Bible, there is a difference between agrarian and pastoral peoples. The Japanese, being Buddhist, have precepts against taking life. Truly, one should not kill not only animals but also plants. That is why Buddhist monks in the past practiced alms-gathering (takuhatsu) to eat. They ate what was given by others. What was given might be a dead creature, but that was accepted to some extent. On the other hand, for pastoralists, managing the psychological distance with their livestock is a crucial part of their work. They must at times kill, eat, process, castrate, brand, injure, exchange, sell, or transfer their animals. It is necessary not to become too attached to livestock, or even if one does, one must do what needs to be done, even if it is pitiful for the animal. In such cases, one must control one's emotions towards the livestock. Even if one feels sorry for a beloved animal, one may have to kill and eat it to survive. One might need to suppress emotions, avoid having them in the first place, or perform rituals to process feelings that are difficult to sort out. The Relationship with the God of the Bible The relationship between God and humanity in the Bible is defined by the "covenant" (keiyaku), a concept that does not play a central role in Japanese religion or thought. The structure of the Bible can be seen as follows: The Bible is constructed as a grand narrative. This narrative is like a history of humanity, which then becomes a history of the relationship between God and the Jewish people. As various episodes and religious ideas of the Jewish people were adopted as scripture, it also became like a collection of stories. What is important in this history is the relationship with God, and in the Bible, this relationship is framed by covenants. This allows for another way of reading the Bible: as a contract. The Bible can be seen as a book of covenants, with the narrative serving to connect the circumstances of those covenants. The terms of the contract are called the Law (Rippō). If we see law as a form of social contract, the Bible can be read as a law book. In that case, the non-legal parts can be seen as explaining the reasons and circumstances under which the covenants were made. The Bible’s structure is a covenant with God. The text is comprised of a legal code like the Six Codes of Japan, and the narrative that connects the background of those laws (covenants). A contract has Party A and Party B. Party A is the one and only God as the Creator; Party B is humanity as the created. The one God, having made the covenant, forbids in the contract any dalliance with other gods. The contract also stipulates a strict distinction between the one God and all of His creations, including humans. And to protect the contents of that covenant, it lays out dozens of meticulous contractual clauses. To see the covenant relationship of the Bible in practice, consider the following examples. (You can skim this section.) Covenants and Their Renewals in the Bible 1. Main Types of Covenants Noahic Covenant Abrahamic Covenant Mosaic (Sinai) Covenant Davidic Covenant New Covenant 2. Key Scenes of Covenant "Renewal" and Reaffirmation Reaffirmation of the Sinai Covenant (after the Golden Calf incident) Reading of the Law and Vows at Mount Ebal/Gerizim (upon entering Canaan) Covenant Renewal at Shechem (Joshua’s "Choose you this day whom ye will serve") National Repentance in the time of Samuel Nationwide Covenant of King Asa Reformation Covenant of Jehoiada the High Priest and King Joash Hezekiah's Restoration of the Temple and Worship Josiah's Covenant Renewal after finding the "Book of the Law" Covenant for the Liberation of Slaves (in the time of Zedekiah, though immediately broken) Repentance and Signing of the Covenant after the return from Babylon (Ezra-Nehemiah) 3. From Prophecy to Fulfillment Prophecy of a "New Covenant" by Jeremiah and others Declaration of the fulfillment of the "New Covenant" at the Lord's Supper Furthermore, both Christ and Muhammad are presented as bringing a new covenant. Paul's writings, the Jewish rabbis' Mishnah, and Muhammad's Quran and Hadith, even if not covenants themselves, serve to regulate the lives of believers. Religions of the Book are Different from Japanese Religions In Japan, Shinto has no clear dogma. If anything, it is a sensibility of "let's be clean and pure." Buddhism is essentially a philosophy. While some sects could be called religions, the core of Mahayana Buddhism in Japan is centered on the teachings of the Buddha as reconstructed through Nāgārjuna's theories of Emptiness and the Middle Way. The core of Japanese Buddhism is philosophy. Taoism has two parts: the philosophy of Laozi and Zhuangzi, and the folk religion. The latter might be called a religion, but it's different from the Biblical type. Covenants do not play a major role. To get a feel for it, one might read Journey to the West. However, it's different from Chinese Taoism, which is like a celestial copy of the terrestrial emperor and bureaucratic system. Japan has its own Emperor, so there was no need for such a celestial copy; it adopted only what was useful and edited it in a Japanese style. Confucianism, from Confucius's ideal of restoring the Rites of Zhou through its various transformations into Zhu Xi school or Wang Yangming school, is generally agreed not to be a religion. The Wang Yangming school can be described as subjective idealism, where the self is the world, so one's actions carry the weight of the entire world. This had an overwhelming influence on Japanese history from the Shingaku movement in the Edo period to the Meiji Restoration. There are also things like Onmyōdō, but isn't that more of a technology than a religion? Animism, totemism, and shamanism may exist, but they seem to have been lumped together with Shinto. Thus, religions heavily centered on covenants are not prevalent in Japan. Then there are yōkai (monsters and spirits). In Japan, there are quite a few things that are not well understood, and there used to be many more. In a short story by Shinichi Hoshi, an inexplicable being appears to the protagonist. When asked what it is, it denies every category, finally saying, "You see, the world also contains things without meaning, like you and me," before disappearing. Humans tend to interpret and assign meaning, but we mostly live on a foundation of meaningless things. Therefore, it seems that Biblical religions or ideologies have not had a major impact on the Japanese mentality. The Bible and Monotheism The Bible is monotheistic. Once a believer has entered into the covenant, they are expected to shun belief in or feeling of divinity in other gods. Once the covenant with God is made, infidelity, in a very strict sense, is not permitted. In the Bible, it is forbidden to feel divinity in things. The Bible strictly distinguishes between God the Creator and all His creations, including humans. Creations are not allowed to represent God. Making pictures or statues of God is not permitted—the so-called prohibition of idolatry. Anything that would lead to feeling God in something other than God is preemptively forbidden. It is blasphemous to suggest that a creation can represent God. Moreover, one is not allowed to say God's name in vain, draw it, or make statues of it. So much so that God's name was forgotten in history. It seems to have been reconstructed now, but how is unknown. We may be calling him Yahweh without being entirely sure of the reconstruction. As such, feeling divinity in any and all things is forbidden. One may feel divinity in God himself, but basically, one cannot meet God. Among the characters in the Bible, only a handful, perhaps two to four at most, have ever seen God. Many have heard His voice. Such people are called prophets (預言者, yogensha), not to be confused with fortune-tellers (予言者, yogen-sha). The point is, one must not feel God in things, whether it be the God of the Bible or the gods of other religions. What is Divinity? What divinity is becomes an issue, and it is a difficult one. What kind of feeling constitutes feeling God—a sacred feeling, a holy feeling? It's a complex problem. For the Japanese, it's fine to feel divinity or whatever else they want in things. But for people of the Book, if they feel divinity in something and mistake it for God, they're out. To separate God from all other things, to feel divinity only in God and to deny it in all other things, is easy to say but very unclear in practice. The Bible states that God created man in His own image. Does this mean that the faith of the Bible is to imagine something like a human in one's mind, feel divinity towards it, hold a sense of faith, and practice keeping the covenant? Or is it presumptuous to imagine God in the image of a specific human? All these questions arise when one thinks in detail, and this has become the subject of theological debates among scholars East and West, much like Zen koans, used as an analogy for things that are arcane, complex, and incomprehensible. One solution is to strive not to have any feelings for any things. It seems this strategy has often been used throughout history. Modernity and God To pursue the relationship between God and man in detail is difficult. This was true not only for theologians but also for philosophers and during the Reformation. Calvin preached predestination. This is one theory about the relationship between God and man. Leibniz advocated for Monadology and the Pre-established Harmony. This is another model of the God-man relationship. Spinoza advocated for pantheism. This too is a Spinozan image of God. With the rise of science, deism also appeared. God created the system and laws of the world, and now it just runs according to them. There is also the idea of Laplace's demon. This is a deterministic cosmology, and applying it to the relationship between God and man yields interesting conclusions. The modern era was becoming a time when agnosticism and atheism about God could be freely discussed. Einstein did not choose to become a Jew because he could not believe in God. In Judaism, there is a ceremony in the early teens where a child chooses whether or not to become a Jew. Not viewing objects with emotion was compatible with modernity; or rather, perhaps Western civilization was made possible by not viewing objects with emotion. Marx, whose grandfather was a rabbi and who converted to Christianity in his grandfather's generation or so, advocated for materialism and historical materialism. Marx's thought is also in the lineage of classical economics. The idea of not viewing things with emotion was likely very compatible with economics, commerce, and finance. Things can become vessels for prices and desires in a materialistic, secular way, instead of emotions. That is what economics is, and this line of thought is common to Weber's and Sombart's studies of capitalism. If this is hard to understand, consider the recent trends of neoliberalism and globalism. The international financial capitalism symbolized by Wall Street is built on severing emotion from things—except for emotions like desire or value in the sense of price. The Most Important Prayer in Judaism The following is the "Shema Yisrael," the most important prayer in Judaism, which expresses the oneness of God and love for God. Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. (Blessed be the name of the glory of His kingdom forever and ever.) ※ This line is inserted when recited as a prayer. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your might. These words, which I command you today, shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. This prayer also contains the words "heart" and "soul." The point is not about this prayer, but about the ambiguity of pouring one's heart or soul into things. Humans have senses and sensibilities, and we feel all sorts of things in objects. To feel sanctity or divinity in them and think of it as the God of the Bible or another god might not be recommended in the Biblical cultural sphere, but what constitutes sanctity or divinity is very ambiguous. In any culture, it seems that humans pour their heart, soul, and strength into their work. The Japanese, however, consider it a good thing to elevate their senses, mind, and body to the point of feeling divinity or sanctity in it. This is the essence of the Japanese engineer's spirit, the craftsman's spirit, and the concept of "the Way" (michi). On the other hand, I have not studied the mindset of technicians in the Biblical cultural sphere, so I do not know. The religious paintings and sculptures of the West are magnificent, as seen in Michelangelo, but Catholicism does not prohibit idolatry or the creation of idols. Even within the Biblical cultural sphere, there must be differences depending on the era, region, and sect. No Christian or Muslim today watches anime and feels God in it. On the other hand, groups like the Taliban have destroyed historically valuable cultural assets like Buddhist statues. Perhaps this is like the iconoclasm of the Protestants. When you think about it, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam do not have such long histories. Islam is about 1,500 years old, Christianity about 2,000, and Judaism's holy texts may have been compiled later than Christianity's. Even if we mark the beginning of modern Rabbinic Judaism with the reforms of Ezra and Nehemiah after the Babylonian exile, that's less than 2,500 years ago. As the Bible shows, before the Babylonian exile, the Jewish populace was heavily influenced by the religions of surrounding regions. Christianity is full of influences from non-Christian religions. Well, Judaism too was heavily influenced by the ancient Orient. Religions themselves change with the times. Religious doctrines and interpretations also change. The Catholic Church only recognized non-Catholic religions from the mid-20th century onwards. History can be seen as surprisingly short. In that time, ideas about objects have also varied and changed with the era, region, and sect. Conclusion: The Japanese Imbue with Heart; Biblical Cultures are Cautious The Japanese people pour their hearts into all things and will even praise the act of feeling divinity in objects, as long as it is in a positive, respectful direction. On the other hand, the Biblical cultural sphere is extremely cautious about objects—both in their creation and in how one feels about them. To feel divinity in an object and treat it as a god, as is done in Japan, is forbidden. The idea of feeling divinity in objects is easy to say, but what it refers to is unclear, so interpretation becomes arbitrary at any time and place. Trying to make it non-arbitrary makes the discussion too difficult and impractical for the common person. It becomes a debate for the narrow world of Jewish legal scholars (rabbis, Pharisees) and theologians, detached from the general believer. However, the ethos that one should not fetishize objects is constantly being transmitted. The Japanese, as well as people from non-Biblical Buddhist and Hindu countries, and those who still maintain old, non-Biblical traditions (though they are few now), or people in regions like Africa and South America even after being Biblicized, have a tendency similar to the Japanese to easily find divinity. For the people of the Book, the covenant is extremely important. The fact that Christians do not have food laws like Halal is because it is written in the Bible so; the principles are solid. But in actual practice, life, reality, and application, they are flexible. And in the grand sweep of history, secularization is advancing, and the fanatical individuals and groups that appear in history are weaker and fewer in number now. Of course, there is terrorism, and the label of terrorism is also a problem, but the world is a quieter place than it was a few decades ago. If anything, when we look at the war in Ukraine or Israel's war in Gaza, it is the state that seems more terrifying. In summary, in Japan, it does not matter what one feels in objects. One can feel a god or a Buddha, and there is a deep-rooted culture that suggests one should feel them. This is a core aspect of "Japaneseness" that is extremely powerful and difficult to eliminate, even if it was sometimes obscured by Meiji-era enlightenment thinking. Perhaps this is the aspect that is now attracting global attention as part of the "Japan boom" and its soft power. However, it is a difficult point to grasp without a real sense of the mentality, history, and circumstances of both the Japanese and Biblical ways of thinking. On the other hand, the idea of restricting a certain kind of emotional projection, presence, sanctity, or divinity in objects is also difficult to understand for those who grew up solely within the Biblical cultural sphere and do not know a different culture like Japan's. And for an outsider like a Japanese person, it is also difficult to understand without considerable study. But knowing both is powerful. If one wants to discuss Japanese identity or comparative cultural theory between Japan and the Biblical sphere, this perspective is a necessary condition.