An Examined Life: Essays and Reflections by Karan Singh by Karan Singh & Raghav Verma

Author:Karan Singh & Raghav Verma
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: null
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers India
Published: 2019-05-29T22:00:00+00:00

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Some Impressions of Japan

I HAD OCCASION RECENTLY to visit Japan for the first time. The outstanding impression that I formed during a fortnight’s stay was of a people endowed with immense dynamism and vitality, enjoying all the benefits of technological affluence but retaining a distinctive quality to their life and culture.

It is common knowledge that the Japanese are economically advanced, but one is so psychologically conditioned to thinking of Asia as a poor, backward continent that it comes as a refreshing surprise to visit Japan, and actually see how an Asian nation has succeeded in breaking the shackles of poverty and taking its place among the most industrially advanced nations of the world.

This is all the more impressive when one realizes that Japan has an area of only about 142,000 square miles , and a population of almost ten crores. What is more, Japan has succeeded in establishing a democratic form of government which, along with our own, is a landmark of democratic functioning in the whole of Asia, and it has achieved all this despite a crushing and traumatic defeat hardly two decades ago. The reasons for this clearly lie deep in the history and character of the Japanese people, especially in the extraordinary phase known as the Meiji Restoration. The rule of Emperor Meiji (1867–1912) saw a complete transformation and modernization of the Japanese structure of life and economy, from the abolition of the feudal system to a restoration of the imperial powers and finally the adoption of a cabinet system of government.

It was obviously not possible for me in a short visit to study the Japanese experience in any detail, but there are some features by which even a cursory visitor to Japan cannot fail to be impressed. The first is the physical fitness, vitality and dynamism of the people. I saw hardly a local who was either overfat or emaciated, and though short of stature, the people seem to have attained a high standard of physical fitness. This is specially marked among the children who are a pleasure to behold—smiling, pink-cheeked and bursting with enthusiasm and vitality.

The second characteristic is the capacity for hard and disciplined work. I gathered that Japanese office hours are considerably longer than ours, and their discipline is visible even to the casual observer. My visit happened to coincide with the spring vacation, and there were thousands of Japanese schoolchildren in all the tourist spots. They are invariably dressed in uniform, the boys wearing black close- collar coats with metal buttons and peak caps, while the girls are in dark-blue frocks. The manner in which these children march along the streets under the guidance of a leader carrying a coloured flag is quite remarkable. When they are to cross a road they all collect in a disciplined manner, wait for the traffic to stop and then cross swiftly following their leader. This is in marked contrast to the haphazard and lackadaisical manner in which our children roam about the streets. This phenomenon

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