[REDACTED]
Professor [REDACTED]
History of Modern Japan
24 November 2020
Cultural Pressures in Rural Japan
Unlike the ever-evolving urban cities in Japan, the rural countryside of farm workers and similar
professions didn’t change much, and social pressures from previous generations persisted all the way
through to the 1970s. As seen in the book Haruko’s World – A Japanese Farm Woman and Her Community
by Gail Lee Bernstein describes living with a Japanese family in the countryside, mainly focusing on a
particular woman named “Haruko”. Throughout the book you can see how her (Haruko’s) upbringing
shaped her perspectives on the world and her actions towards others. Her keen eye on particular social
norms, distain for changes in rural lifestyle, and etc. This all coming from the lack of rapid change in social
norms that occurred in rural japan, the book Under the Shadow of Nationalism: Politics and Poetics of
Rural Japanese Women by Mariko Asano Tamanoi covers the “ideological emphasis on the virtues of the
traditional countryside in opposition to the urban, industrial society,”1 so distain for change the rural
countryside. This book and Haruko’s World describe the effects of why change wasn’t as fast as its urban
counterpart. The article “The Japanese urban system 1970 – 1990” by Susumu Osada show logical
perspective as to how the urban centers rapidly changed, as opposed to the rural countryside. This source
is useful to show how cultural pressures shape evolution of society. The rural side was slow to change as
shown in the two previous books due to cultural pressures, while the data in the article shows the opposite
effect shapes urban centers by comparison. To summarize before going into detail the purpose of these
sources is to provide a larger picture as to how cultural pressures in Japan shape its people and
communities. Using Haruko’s World as a first-hand account and Politics and Poetics of Rural Japanese
1
Mariko Tamanoi, “Under the Shadow of Nationalism: Politics and Poetics of Rural Japanese Women,” ix
Women to show a larger rural picture. With "The Japanese urban system 1970-1990" showing the urban
evolution by comparison.
With the beginning of Haruko’s World you can immediately see how rural Japanese society works
and operates. The writer of the story Gail Bernstein visits a traditional Japanese rural family and goes
there to study the lives Japanese women in the mid 1970s; and immediately you can see the drastic
differences between the American woman writer and the Japanese housewife. In their actions, social
attitude, and mannerisms. Haruko is a very traditional rural Japanese woman: very strict about rules,
particular about social norms such as appropriate clothing to wear, and certain ways to even eat. “I
unknowingly violated one of the canons of state she had been taught. Thus she reminded me to turn my
chopsticks around when serving myself from a common dish; to place food from a serving dish
plate...[etc]”2 Sometimes to the point that the writer expands on such as the unhealthy obsession with
social norms to the point of overstressing. Haruko even from the beginning shows how societal pressure
can shape a person and how it can persist through generations and can push-back against changes. Any
changes or deviation is looked at with discomfort. The children however of Haruko seemed to be more
open to change, and hence as described later in the book allow for new developments in farming to occur.
However, the older generations at the start of the book had control over new developments at the time
and were very content on doing things traditionally. One may wonder why to keep doing things
traditionally and the writer of Politics and Poetics of Rural Japanese Women wondered the same. “Why
do these women actively continue to engage in the task of relating and writing their memories of the
past?”3 in reference to why continue the tradition of doing something, if alternative means can do things
faster or better.
2
3
Gail Lee Bernstein, “Haruko’s World,” 22
Mariko Tamanoi “Politics and Poetics of Rural Japanese Women,” 3
That brings us to the big question, “Why?”. Or for a more detailed response, why are so many in
the rural community opposed to change while the urban Populus seems to thrive and accept changes. Not
completely, but more willing to change than the more traditional rural communities. A good response was
quoted in the Politics and Poetics of Rural Japanese Women where Rubie Waston an anthropologist writes
“Many Americans ‘remember’ the American Civil War and many Jew ‘Remember’ the Nazi Holocaust, but
not because they personally experienced those events...Rather they ‘remember’ because they share with
other sets of images that have been passed down to them through media or memory,”4 and this idea
perfectly encapsulates why so many in the Japanese rural community are aversive to change. It’s a
preservation of past customs to keep them continuing for newer generations. However even those apart
of the rural society which pressured them into specific roles and way of acting, did envy their urban
counterparts; including Haruko the very traditional Japanese woman herself. “Almost two decades later,
Haruko was still angry about those early years of her marriage. ‘I envied the wives of salaried men,’...
‘Their chores consisted of merely cooking and washing. For farmers’ wives, cooking, washing, and caring
for children did not count as work’”5. Showing that because of the societal pressure around she couldn’t
enjoy the “benefits” of urban women since she “had” to fulfill her role as a traditional farm woman;
leading to her living a life in which she may not enjoy. This extreme pressure by Japanese society is a real
problem that can cause extreme stress on individuals and communities. It still exists today to an extent
but less extreme. But these pressures as well of lack of change may very well be the reason why many
people moved to urban centers. Lack of change causes stagnation, and stagnation causes lack of jobs for
newer/younger generations. “The Japanese Urban System 1970–1990” shows a population trend
between the Urban areas (JFUA) and non-urban areas. “The growth rate of the JFUA rings in this decade
(1970-1980s) was 10.7%… Non-JFUA areas did not show a clear pattern of population growth. In the
4
5
Mariko Tamanoi “Politics and Poetics of Rural Japanese Women,” 4
Gail Lee Bernstein, “Haruko’s World,” 48
1970s, although the population in the non-JFUAs grew in absolute terms, it declined relative to the
national total.” 6 Showing that many people were either moving towards JFUA areas (Urban areas) or
general population declined. The reasons could be speculated however, so a correlation in this cause may
or may not be causation. The article did however show a major trend in overall JFUA areas with significant
increase in population and urban changes throughout the 1970s-1990s while the non-JFUAs stagnated.
Which may explain the social pressure in the rural communities, as more tightknit communities are
formed, and less change is accepted. That brings us to the next point, how do societal pressures shape an
individual and what effects does it have on themselves and by extend the community via a feedback loop.
The Japanese women in rural communities in particular had it extremely rough in terms of
expectation and societal norms. Work was normal for the rural woman and she had to endure extreme
pressures of not only work, but often childcare and proper etiquette. One Japanese woman describes her
and her co-workers' painstaking lifestyle of doing piecework at home whilst taking care of her three
children or more in the Politics and Poetics of Rural Japanese Women book. “They work at factories and
at home. We must work hard to fight the increasing cost of everything. I can’t enjoy taking a walk with my
children in the middle of the day, because that’s a sign that I am not working. I don’t want anyone to think
I’m not working, you see? Our ancestors worked hard in rice paddies and dry fields. All of us are supposed
to work hard in this hamlet.”7 Showing how the society around them forces to work in extreme conditions
to fit their role in society. Even in Haruko’s World, Haruko regrets working too much at times because she
didn’t spend enough time with her children. Now picturing that not only did it happen to Haruko but
multiple families in rural Japan in the 1970s paints a clear picture as to why many people moved to urban
areas and distained the pressure put on their parents; and did not want the same onto themselves. Its
surprising how long the pressure grew since Haruko describes her childhood father with, “[F]ather was a
6
7
Susumu Osada “The Japanese Urban System 1970–1990, ”148
Mariko Tamanoi "Politics and Poetics of Rural Japanese Women," 26
tyrant, a ‘typical Japanese man’’ who in moments of anger struck her mother. Embittered by his own
father’s early death...he never forgets his disappointment at having to leave school after only six years of
education in order to tend the farm. In 1941 he was drafted into the military...By the time he was
repatriated, in 1947, he was a stranger to his children.”8 Having a rough father and earlier described her
mother’s subservient mother to her grandmother. Normally this could be an individual case of tough
upbringing effecting the individuals but this idea of master father to subservient wife was commonplace
in Japan as a whole, with further pressure in the rural societies. So, it was commonplace for women in
these communities to do hours of work, take care of children, conform to societal norms of attitude and
attire, and sometimes finances. So, one could see how cultural pressures rural Japan would keep society
from changing to meet modern or everchanging standards in relation to urban communities. Their
traditional roles and communities put people into submissive conditions in order to stay that way. Some
would say to preserve historical traditions, and others for the sake of normalcy. But it is very clear why it
took so long for changes to occur, and how in Haruko’s World the changes to the community took so long
to change and adapt to more modern tools and societal standards.
In conclusion pressure has an enormous pull on society, especially rural Japan. Without the direct
influence of leaders and mass amounts of people pushing changes, it is easy for rural communities to keep
traditional ideals and enforce them onto newer generations therefore keeping norms the same. However,
the pressure sometimes can be too much and using Haruko as an example can breed a well-meaning
person from societal values but very “robotic” (for the lack of a better term) person. Who does things very
particular in order to fit social norms. Wearing specific colored clothing and attire for specific events and
places; eating with particular utensils in very particular ways; and very strict on rules. Not all these traits
are inherently “bad” but can cause unhealthy habits and distress (as seen throughout book) to changes
8
Gail Lee Bernstein, “Haruko’s World,” 51
or deviations to any social norms. Urban and Rural data collection shows how rural communities were
shrinking around the 1970s time, which can loosely relate to how these strict norms affected people but
multiple accounts of overstress and social norms pressuring people into unhealthy lifestyles have been
given and show he negative affect of blind tradition. Inferring people may have moved to urban
communities for better lifestyles. Showing how social pressures in urban Japan affect the pace of change
and people’s behaviors.