Too Much Tequila, Too Little Sunscreen

I was fumbling through something or other, and read that The World Values Survey rates Japan as the highest in the world in “Rational-Secular Values”, whatever they are. I really like Japan and have the greatest respect for all things Japanese. Who or what the hell is the World Values Survey, and is it good or bad being numero uno in “Rational-Secular Values”, whatever they are?

I just learned that The World Values Survey is a bunch of social scientists in Sweden who have been looking into people’s values and beliefs since 1981. They are especially interested in how people’s values and beliefs change over time and the social and political effects of all of that.

So what’s up with this “Rational-Secular Values” thing? Here’s what I learned, verbatim:

Secular-rational values have the opposite preferences to the traditional values. These societies place less emphasis on religion, traditional family values and authority. Divorce, abortion, euthanasia and suicide are seen as relatively acceptable.

It seems that to understand secular-rational values you must first understand what they mean by “Traditional Values”.

Traditional values emphasize the importance of religion, parent-child ties, deference to authority and traditional family values. People who embrace these values also reject divorce, abortion, euthanasia and suicide. These societies have high levels of national pride and a nationalistic outlook.

So I looked up the definition of “traditional” just to double-check. A tradition is a ritual, belief or object passed down within a society, still maintained in the present, with origins in the past. What does that tell you? These social scientists in Sweden are comparing Japan’s passed down “traditional” values to their own Western, no doubt, “traditional” values. Theirs are good, anything different is bad.

Who am I to argue with world-class social scientists but they’ve got this all wrong. Spend any amount of time in Japan and you’ll take exception to this broad and unearned generalization.

It is true that the Japanese put less emphasis on religion that Western societies, and I find that to be a good thing. Most (83%) Japanese practice Shinto, their indigenous religion, which means “the way of the gods”. And, unlike Judeo-Christian religions, Shinto does not require an admission of faith, instead merely participating in certain aspects of Shinto is generally considered enough. Any religion passed down from prehistoric times that demands a respect for nature and for particular sacred sites can’t be all bad.

Our so-called “family values” is the cry from the social conservatives and the religious right of Republican Party in the US. When they preach family values they are preaching their take on what they call their Christian values. These groups viciously oppose abortion, pornography, pre-marital sex, homosexuality, certain aspects of feminism, cohabitation, separation of church and state, and depictions of sexuality in the media. They like, however, abstinence education, displaying the Ten Commandments, and allowing teachers to conduct prayers in public schools. Now if this is what we’re calling “family values” I’m glad Japan didn’t score well.

You only have to spend a few minutes dealing with a Japanese corporation or sitting in a classroom in Tokyo or, I’m guessing, training with the Japanese military to realize that that crack about “authority” is way off the mark. If the Japanese people are anything, they may be too subservient to authority. We were taught unquestioning obedience in the US Marine Corps, and if ever a society modeled this principle, it’s Japan. What were these yoyos thinking when they claimed the Japanese put less emphasis on authority? Less than whom?

Okay, I just looked up the divorce rates in Japan, and found that it has doubled in the last 20 years, but it now is about half of that of the US and roughly equal to that of Germany and Sweden.

It is true that abortion is de facto legal in Japan. Approved doctors can perform an abortion on anyone who requests it. So the Japanese have legalized abortion, and done it right, as best as I can tell. What do you think their abortion rates are compared to countries with more “Traditional Values”? Here’s how many abortions were performed per 1,000 women by country: Australia – 19.7, France – 16.9, Sweden – 20.2, US – 20.8, Israel – 13.9, and are you ready for this, Japan – 12.3.

As of 2011, active euthanasia is only legal in the three Benelux countries: the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg. Assisted suicide is legal in Switzerland and in the US states of Washington, Oregon and Montana. So where is Japan, with their “Secular-rational values” in all of this? The Japanese government has no official laws prohibiting euthanasia and their supreme court has never ruled on this matter. They are still struggling with this complex issue, just like the rest of us.

That brings me to suicide, the one bad category in which Japan is near the top of the list. We all remember those Kamikaze pilots of WWII, and how about today’s suicide bombers in the Middle East. Well they ain’t got anything on Russia. Russia has the highest suicide rate I could find, a whopping 31.7 per 1,000 citizens while other civilized places like the US have 11.0, Canada 11.3, Sweden 13.4. Japan is near the top of this heap with 24.75.

I have the greatest respect for Japanese culture, especially their calligraphy, ikebana, the Japanese art of flower arrangement, traditional Kabuki theatre, and where else in the world would they create a garden as a piece of art. Japanese cuisine is truly unique. It is beautifully presented, loaded with wonderful and unusual flavors, and on top of all of that, its healthy. I prefer European wines to sake and tend to agree with a British traveler who once said this about Japanese music: “It exasperates beyond all endurance the European breast.”