Peace

In this year’s Global Peace Index, released in May, Japan was ranked fifth of the 140 countries included. The Global Peace Index began in 2007 as a peace-promoting initiative by an international panel of experts including representatives from universities, think tanks, and not-for-profit organizations around the world. (If you’re wondering how the U.S. ranks this year, it’s a dismal 97th. The number 1 spot went to Iceland.)

At any rate, the GPI rankings are based on how countries measure up according to dozens of different criteria, including the level of trust among citizens, the crime rate, the percentage of jailed population, political instability, respect for human rights, gender inequality, percentage of government money spent on the military, percent spent on education, freedom of the press, adult literacy rate, potential for terrorism, amount of internal and external conflict, etc. etc. etc.

I can certainly understand Japan’s high ranking. Compared to the U.S. there’s remarkably little conflict here. The crime rate is far far lower than it is in the U.S., and even though there’s a death penalty, I believe it’s used only rarely, and only for really heinous cases. An American expat recently described Tokyo to me as the greatest city on earth because of the way its 35 million people interact so smoothly in a relatively small space. People are treated very respectfully.

As I’ve mentioned before, the city seems designed to make life easy. Besides the easy availability of clean public restrooms (which on its own raises the standard of living many percentage points!), there’s the ubiquity of convenience stores, the handing out of tissues during cold and allergy season (and lately, the handing out of paper fans–with advertising–now that the weather is hot and humid). Sidewalks all over the city have special paths with a raised pattern to help blind people navigate the streets (although I’ve only seen a few blind people since I’ve been here). Needs are anticipated and addressed.

(Special lanes with raised patterns help blind people navigate city sidewalks.)

But Japan has an advantage over many countries, including the U.S., in achieving this way of life. One thing most of the top-ranked countries in the GPI have in common is a homogenous population. In Japan’s case, that homogeneity is jealously guarded. Family registries–official records of births, parentage, and nationality–maintain national purity, since “blood” is considered part of an individual’s identity, and blood type can determine personality. “Blood” is so important that so far the country has managed to keep the use of donor egg, donor sperm, and gestational carriers/surrogates to a bare minimum. A few years ago the whole country watched as a well-known television announcer and her wrestler husband battled the government to allow their twins to be listed in the Family Registry as their legal children, and as Japanese citizens. The “problem” was that even though the children were biologically the couple’s–created from her egg and his sperm–the pregnancy was carried by a surrogate in the United States because the Japanese mother had had a hysterectomy after a diagnosis of uterine cancer. A court in Nevada ruled that the Japanese biological mother was the child’s legal mother, and that the American surrogate would not be listed on the birth certificate (which was exactly what all involved wanted). But the Japanese court ruled that the American surrogate was the legal mother, and refused to recognize the babies as belonging to the famous couple . . . or allow the babies to be listed in the Family Registry as Japanese citizens. The case went all the way to the Japanese Supreme Court. . . which confirmed that the American woman who carried the babies was the mother. So the couple has decided to raise their children as American citizens (which they are automatically), residing in Japan.

Anyway, all that is a digression (I have been compiling a lot of fascinating information about Japanese fertility treatments, adoption, surrogates, egg and sperm donors, etc.). The point is that the nation’s citizens are not a very diverse bunch, which makes it fairly easy to educate and socialize them to a kind of national “group think” which comes through in all sorts of ways. For instance, in many university classes, when a student is singled out and asked a question, he/she will consult with classmates before giving a consensus response.

(Schoolgirls in Tokyo.)

But the socialization also means that people identify with a common culture and a common cause, and almost all take great pride in their work, no matter how menial it may seem to an outsider. Bathroom cleaners do their job conscientiously and politely. Trains run on time–and there are very sincere apologies given when they are even two minutes late. Everyone has a stake in keeping their part of the machinery running smoothly so that things continue to function cleanly, safely, efficiently. I think one reason the Japanese are suspicious of outsiders (and particularly of the Koreans and Chinese who live here), is because they can never be sure that “gaijin” (non-Japanese) hold the same standards or have the same stake in the society.

For me living here that means several things. For one, that I am getting a bit of a free ride. I reap the benefits of this easy-to-live-in society without having been subjected to the same socialization process. But also, not having been educated in the Japanese system, I bristle at the repression even as I appreciate the niceties of the society. True there are few car horns honking in anger or altercations on the street. . . but there is also little exuberance or passion or raucous laughter. Everything is a bit restrained. Living in Japan longterm means adjusting to almost constant constriction. “Peace” describes a state of quietude, which is very much the feeling here.

If I ever came back here to live again, I’d need to have a job or something regular to do so I felt I was contributing to the functioning of the society. But I’d also need to find outlets for my enthusiasms and ways to release pent up emotions. One young American woman I met here, who had left her partner behind in the States for a few months, said that she found it difficult that friends didn’t hug here, because it left her without any “skin contact.” Her solution was to volunteer at an animal shelter. Another American woman makes frequent trips to Korea, where she’s developed closer friendships than she has in Japan.

I admire many many things about Japanese society. And I’ve never visited any other country that made me feel like the U.S. was somewhat backwards. In so many ways, Japan is showing a vision of a future that blends high-tech achievements and traditional values into a successful, well-functioning society. A lot of nations could learn from the example. But that doesn’t mean Japan doesn’t have a few things to learn, too: about tolerance, human nature, women’s rights, being part of a global society. There’s definitely peace here, but it comes at a price. And I can’t help but wonder if the price couldn’t be reduced to make life here even better.