Note: As I continue to learn the Japanese language and culture, these Spotlight posts seek to highlight things I find curious, interesting, and meaningful. The relationship between language and culture runs deep. In fact, there are many points where it gets hard to tell one from the other. “Language is not merely an indifferent mechanism for cataloguing men’s experience but the language itself affects the cataloguing process…. The language system of each culture is a fluid factor in culture; it varies with each generation and serves as clue to its thinking as well as actually coloring and molding this thinking.” In other words, if I am going to learn how to reach Japanese people, I need to understand how Japanese people think. The process of how they think is intimately intwined with the language they use. Unfortunately for us, it goes far beyond simply using “Google Translate” to come up with the right vocabulary. Language embeds the foundational concepts of culture into everyday interaction. So, deeper we go into this wonderful world of language exploration! Much of this information comes from Charles Corwin’s Biblical Encounter with Japanese Culture (Tokyo, 1967).
Japanese usage of the word yorokobi usually involves the emotional response to a pleasant situation. Today, most Japanese would consider it to be similarly defined as “celebration” or “gratitude” or “enjoy.” Digging a little deeper, though, there is a tension within Japanese culture that gives this word some pause. The Japanese, as a people, tend to walk back and forth between the two poles of Buddhist pessimism and Shinto optimism. Scholars debate as to which pole has had the stronger influence on Japanese thinking, but some evidence seems to suggest that the Buddhist line holds the slight edge.
Buddhism’s over-concern with sufferings and man’s escape from the hopeless cycle of existence has made joy an unknown concept in their train of thought. The word doesn’t even appear in some Buddhist dictionaries. The many Shinto shrines with their festivals have monopolized this aspect of the Japanese emotional experience. Still, the strong undercurrent of Japanese culture is to play down any joyful expression lest you come across as superficial or trying to be “Western” in some way. To show off what joy you might be experiencing would draw attention to yourself in a way that would be detrimental to those around you who are not experiencing it. Since Japanese culture operates from a group-first paradigm, this sort of placing yourself above your peers, as harmless as that seems to Westerners, shows severe lack of consideration for your neighbor.
One key aspect to Christian joy that is completely absent in its Japanese version is a sense of purpose. Rather than our joy being sourced from our response to a pleasant situation, we experience joy as a result of much deeper forces. The Christian’s joy is rooted in the confidence in our relationship with our Creator, the one who sustains us. Because we have this sort of relationship with Jehovah God, we can experience both pleasant and unpleasant circumstances with a measure of joy. This joy comes not from the actual feelings produced by those circumstances, but from the knowledge that through God’s providence and mercy, these experiences are purposeful. Even when we can’t quite put our finger on that purpose directly or articulate it to those around us, God’s Spirit works within us to remind us that His ways are perfect and intend for our blessing.
What a difference! By giving us purpose and meaning, God has enabled us to experience a Joy that is infinitely deeper and more meaningful that simply being able to experience good feelings with pleasant things happen. Moreover, this sort of Joy gives us comfort during the many times when pleasant things seem to be far away and out of reach.
May you experience the Joy of the Lord in all its many forms in your day to day walk.
~ Clay
Fowlers in Japan 