1.Introduction

What do you think ? The term 'haji' can be defined as the loss of respect, face, and honor. In short, severe shame or disgrace. It is true that a sense of haji existed in the Japanese people as an American anthropologist, Ruth Benedict, first pointed out in her masterpiece The Chrysanthemum and the Sword -Patterns of Japanese Culture(1946). But I'd like to say that Haji is one of the things that most of the Japanese people have been losing during the gradual change in our society. Once Haji was essential for the Japanese society, on which the Japanese culture was based. Here I'd like to examine why and how Haji has been disappearing from the present Japanese society and if the Japanese people still have Haji which 47 years ago Benedict regarded as the main characteristic of the Japanese culture.

2.What Haji was/is for the Japanese

First, I'd like you to grasp what Haji was/is for in the Japanese society. As I have mentioned, Haji really existed in Japan. To those who were born more than 53 years or have experienced the war, it seems to have been a terrible word and still to be the word that reminds them of the terrible faces of their parents or the ridiculing faces of their companions and neighbors. In other words, those days Haji was obviously meant for being scolded, being given a severe punishment(sometimes a spanking punishment) by parents, and also being ridiculed by companions and neighbors living in the same community. This is far from 'feeling ashamed' in English. On the other hand, however, to most of the present Japanese people Haji is just an out-of-date style; only one of various styles of living which exists in the present Japanese society. In other words, the Japanese people see Haji as something important attached to by the older generation, but they don't have to rely on it any longer. Under the present Japanese society, people may abandon Haji so easily that the people who could never do so in old days would be perplexed. That is to say; people in the old days taught children about manners, morality, courtesy, loyalty and so on though Haji. But now, people seem to teach children through experience, law, discussion, just a conversation or others. Therefore, the change in the Japanese society can not be easily understood by those who once attached importance to, and lived by Haji.

3.Education of Haji through imitations

Secondly, I'd like to focus on how and where children in the past learned Haji. The Japanese word manabu(learn) comes from the old Japanese word manebu, which means 'to imitate' or 'to copy' in English. In other words, to manabu (learn) originally meant to maneru(imitate or copy). For example, the Japanese people still think it essentially important that children, even not knowing the truth, imitate what adults do at home, or what teachers do at school. This is how the way that most children learned in the past has developed into the present educational system. In this sense, Haji still exists in Japanese society.

On the one hand, with regard to school, the lessons which are empasized on imitating can still be seen easily in nearly every Japanese school. And some of the mistakes which students make are overlooked and forgiven by their teachers or companions. But, at the same time, their teachers make the students learn and notice Haji. A teacher might say,"You cannot do such a trifling thing, can you ?" or "Your parents must feel ashamed if they find that you could not pass the final exam!" At times, other mistakes, being trifling, become targets of scornful ridicules from other students. That is to say; it seems that the Japanese people still think it important to imitate or copy a style, even if that is done on the surface. Therefore, students who cannot imitate what teachers do or students who don't study as much as other students may be shut out from the groups which they used to belong to. It seems to me that this means that the education of Haji as one style of learning things still lies in the present Japanese schools.

On the other hand, with regard to the home, the education of Haji is disappearing. One of the reasons is probably the rapid change in the way of living. The way of living at home has been changing with the change in society, which, I think, has been influenced by western nations. If Haji is compared to the Japanese culture based on groupism, it can be considered that individualism from western culture or diploma-oriented societies have been taken its place and have been taken into acount. More and more children are obliged to obtain more diplomas which are guaranteed to lead a happy life. This situation is one of the things which I'd like to take seriously. It is clear that some children, particularly from a family that still attaches a great importance to ka-mei (a family name), ie-gara(a family origin) and mi-bun(a social status), are obliged to learn haji as the foundation for life, most children don't learn haji from their families. This means clearly that most Japanese families really think much of the respect for individuals as declared in the Constitution of Japan, which was promulgated in 1946.

4.As a conclusion

In conclusion, I'd like to say that the Japanese people live in a society where they don't have to learn haji any more in order to obtain a happy life. Since the Constitution of Japan was promulgated after World War II, the Japanese people have abandoned their haji that I have mentioned above. And if they had not abandoned their haji, they could never have built the present Japanese society. But this does not mean that abandoning haji was the best way for the Japanese people to build a new society, but that it was the only way left. Whether the way was right or not depends on the opinion of who is speaking. Finally, what I can say clearly is that the Japanese people have come to find many values all through their lives and to regard other people's values as being as worthy of respecting as their own values. To put the matter simply, in many ways, individualism has taken the place of the culture of haji in Japan.