Kazakhs and Japanese
Fortitude and perfection
Almaz Braev

The cheapest pride is national pride. It discovers in the subject infected by her a lack of individual qualities that he could be proud of; otherwise, he would not have turned to what is shared by many millions of people besides him. Whoever possesses great personal virtues, constantly observing his nation, will, first of all, notice its shortcomings. But a poor man, who has nothing to be proud of, grabs the only thing possible and is proud of the nation to which he belongs; he is ready to defend all its shortcomings and stupidities with a feeling of tenderness

© Almaz Braev, 2024

ISBN 978-5-0059-7060-2

Created with Ridero smart publishing system

– Arthur Schopenhauer

Chapter 1

Kazakhs and Japanese

What can unite such different and, to the same extent, very similar folks?

There is a gap of distance between us (eight thousand kilometers). The Japanese live on islands. Modern Kazakhs live in cities. The ancestors of the Kazakhs traveled thousands of kilometers because they were nomads. The Japanese have never in their history been able to have such luxury, and they did not have such unbridled space. After all, islanders live differently than on the mainland. This greatly affects behavior.

Despite such a remote residence, Kazakhs and Japanese are somewhat similar (in what? – an explanation will be given in the course of the book). Even outwardly, Kazakhs and Japanese are more similar than Kazakhs and Chinese, for example. Our common ancestor lived a very long time ago, ten thousand years, in caves near Beijing. Then, our paths diverged altogether.

Japan was settled three times. The first settlement occurred 23,000 years ago during the Ice Age. But these “Buryats” were not modern Buryats at all, although their remains were found at the sites of ancient hunters in Buryatia. The common ancestor of the Japanese and Kazakhs settled on the islands ten thousand years ago, and he came from China. It is because of this ancestor that we are so similar in appearance. Then the Japanese accepted Buddhism and stopped eating meat, and we Kazakhs ate meat non-stop – which Kazakh does not eat meat? (Only Kazakh from the community of Krishna, probably. This is his personal business). That’s why the Japanese stopped eating meat and switched to rice, and they became so miniature. But still, you can notice something Kazakh in this miniature … (There will be even more of this Kazakh if you read to the end). But in general, there are a lot of differences between Kazakhs and Japanese. It is not necessary to look for something in common in one Shintoism. Shintoism influenced Japanese spontaneity. And so the Japanese are very disciplined and hidden. Kazakhs in this sense are always clumsy gaper and “ashik auzdar”.

So.

Everyone who visited Japan at different times noticed that there seemed to be no place on the islands where the hands of the Japanese would not reach. This does not mean that the Japanese have dug down all the mountains and fenced off with buried stones from the continuous Pacific typhoons. No, the Japanese did not touch the mountains. (As, however, the Kazakhs did not touch their steppes). All foreigners note the Japanese participation in all inhabited places; they say that every pebble, every meter of land, every bush, and even every leaf from the bush was processed by a Japanese for contemplation so that it was harmonious and then practical.

On the contrary, Kazakhs did not touch anything along the way of nomads. Unless cattle eat grass – this is a natural “creativity”, but it is not the fruit of aesthetic Kazakh desires. Kazakhs did not touch the natural landscape. They hid in tents and yurts from rain, wind, blizzard, cold, and snow. Somehow, it would be absurd to interfere with the misfortunes of continental nature. Thus, we discover the first factor – landscape- which determines the type of economy and the character of the locals living in such a climate. (The influence of landscape on the character of people has been known for a long time, but we should be interested not only in the influence of nature and the influence of a person on himself and on his people. The workaholism of the Japanese, as everyone understands, was forced. To survive, the Japanese had to work hard. Every year, they had to wait for typhoons and prepare a sowing campaign).

In this respect, the Kazakhs trusted nature more and again and did nothing… The climate in the Kazakh steppe is not a typhoon, which is even worse. These are more powerful forces. Therefore, the Kazakhs looked philosophically at all such events outside the yurt. Well, a blizzard will blow, it will blow, and it will pass by itself. Is it snowing? So what? The same thing – will pass. And the cold will pass. For almost eight months a year, Kazakhs had to sit in a yurt, drink mare’s milk (tea), and listen to each other under the motto “Everything is past, and this too pass.” Therefore, Kazakhs are great masters of oral creativity and dreamers. Every Kazakh wants to surprise first with an outfit, then with conversations.

The Japanese are great conservatives in this sense. When they eat, it’s indecent to talk. Drinking tea with them is a whole exercise; this is a world-famous tea ceremony. Only in the third phase, when sake is served – Japanese vodka (or beer- whoever likes it, because sake has a weak strength), when the host makes a welcoming speech (that is, at the third hour of gatherings!) and serves the guest to drink sake first, mutual relaxation begins. This is, of course, if the guest is a stranger the first time he comes to the house. And how can there be strangers among Kazakhs? Who wants to wander around in such a cold winter, for example? Only relatives live everywhere. Therefore, everything was happening faster. When a “stranger” from distant relatives appeared, it was a great joy – he could tell a fresh story. And so it’s everything that happens sedately. During the absorption of meat, you can talk about anything. (This is what Kazakh journalists like to do today. Corrupt officials eat a lot of meat, as if they hadn’t eaten for a long time, and got lost in the steppe for years …)

Yes, under the influence of climate, the behavior of Kazakhs and Japanese is sometimes diametrically opposed. However, this bad weather has affected the powerful forces of nature; therefore, the Japanese are Shintoists. Shinto is one of the main religions of Japan. There are Kazakhs who see this as the prerequisite for the same success. If the Japanese could, why can’t we? We can! This gives hope for some kinship. In fact, there are moments when the Japanese and Kazakhs are very similar. And there is a lot that distinguishes us.

Chapter 2

Meeting at Stalin’s station

How did you see the meeting of Kazakh and Japanese through Soviet writers of the bestseller “Golden Calf” of the 20s of the 20th century – Ilf and Petrov.

Let’s start, perhaps, with the scene at the train station.

According to the novel, the scene of the Kazakh and Japanese meeting took place during the construction of the TURKSIB in the 30s of the last century.

“A wide field of activity opened immediately outside Orenburg when passengers saw the first camel, the first yurt, and the first Kazakh in a pointed fur hat and with a whip in his hand, at the stop where the train was accidentally delayed, at least twenty cameras aimed at the camel’s muzzle.

The exoticism began with the ships of the desert, the camels and the riders, the freedom-loving sons of the steppes, and other romantic burdens.

The Japanese diplomat was standing two steps away from the Kazakh. Both looked at each other in silence. They had exactly the same slightly flattened faces, stiff mustaches, yellow patent leather, and eyes that were swollen and narrow. They would have passed for twins if the Kazakh had not been in a sheepskin coat belted with a calico sash, and the Japanese in a gray London suit, and if the Kazakh had not started reading only last year, and the Japanese had not graduated from two universities twenty years ago – in Tokyo and Paris. The diplomat stepped back, bent his head to the mirror, and clicked the shutter. The Kazakh laughed, sat on his rough horse, and moved into the steppe.”

The authors of The Golden Calf knew for sure that the Japanese graduated from two universities, and the Kazakh himself probably said that he learned to read last year. The cultural revolution came to the steppe with Stalin’s railway construction. The Bolsheviks needed literate Kazakhs. I don’t know why the shepherds need a letter in the bare steppe, probably so that they understand what is happening. But the Bolsheviks are the Bolsheviks. They said they had come to enlighten the people, so they began building schools and teaching everyone to read and write.

However, if you put a Kazakh in front of a Japanese again, after fifty years, everyone would indicate who is who, even in the 80s of the last century. First of all, by the Panasonic camera and other things and clothes. And an experienced person would hardly be mistaken who eats who even now. The Japanese are more experienced in urbanization. When the Kazakhs began to receive only with the collapse of the USSR, it was just that everyone received this highest education. And besides, the Japanese are more petite in terms of figures. It is unlikely that the Japanese would have so many sumo wrestlers. After all, these wrestlers were specially fattened in the Middle Ages to entertain samurai. The urban environment strongly influences people’s inner world. It makes them tolerant and democratic. But it can not get rid of the “ghosts of the past,” in the apt expression of Karl Marx.

Chapter 3

In what Kazakhs and Japanese are similar

This book will mainly show the differences between us. But this distinction will be shown for the learning so that we can see the shortcomings. Moreover, there are some shortcomings among the Japanese who are successful in everything today. It’s never a shame to make mistakes; the main thing is not to repeat someone else’s. And it’s even better to learn from others to be proud of yourself later.

Despite the many differences between peoples so far apart, even though many thousands of kilometers separate us, Kazakhs and Japanese have a lot in common.

We are very similar in some manners. We are so similar that even a subtle connoisseur of people can get confused. Only the Kazakh or the Japanese will immediately tell who is who by the face and facial expressions. An ethnographer of another nation will have difficulties.

So, the first similar feature of the Japanese and Kazakhs is the Asian art of diplomacy.

Japanese are taught from childhood not to lose face. Therefore, the Japanese always retain dignity.

What does it mean?

This means never committing such an act that will cause the condemnation of others. Therefore, the Japanese have followed this rule all their lives. They preserve their honor and care for someone else’s honor in every possible way. This does not apply to the fact that the Japanese do not shake hands with each other in a European manner. They try not to even touch each other because it’s an insult (for a samurai. Here, it is a legacy from the past. And samurai are not to be trifled with. In 1963, for example, a world-famous wrestler, Japanese celebrity Rikidozan, and Yakuza member Katsushi Murata quarreled with each other in a nightclub with a tragic outcome for the wrestler. Murata stepped on Rikidozan’s foot. It was a great insult).

A Japanese person will never tell you the word “no”. Although, even if a Japanese person says “yes” to you, it doesn’t mean anything either. If a Japanese person says “hai” to you, it looks like “yes”; in fact, it rather means “I understand”. If a Japanese person answered “hai” to an appeal, this does not mean at all that he will fulfill your request. To answer you no, the Japanese will turn the situation so that you will never be able to do what he asks you. You need to know this when you sign a contract with them. Thus, the Japanese do not say “no” to you. It saves your face. He protects your self-esteem. First, the Japanese think about you.

Although we live far from each other, Kazakhs speak in such patterns that sometimes a non-Kazakh will never understand what the Kazakh said to him. What can I say? Even a Kazakh must guess a crossword puzzle in his mind, which his interlocutor hinted at. It’s good that we have lived next to the Russians for so many centuries, so there are Kazakhs who speak directly and are not so colorful. In the yard, after all, market relations. Time is money. But tradition is tradition.

This is a tradition -ymdau. When a Kazakh speaks by hints, he first wants to find out who he is talking to and in what manner to communicate with the interlocutor further.

If a person does not understand the hints, then he is either not a Kazakh or a city Kazakh. Kazakhs have excellent, very accurate proverbs on this score. I sometimes wonder who came up with such proverbs. If we could implement these proverbs and follow them to life, then we would overtake even the Japanese. The Kazakh tradition of ymdau resembles the Kazakh game of cat and mouse, which is more cunning and has a rich imagination. No one will lose face here, but everyone will remain with their conclusions.

(The way of allegory also arose for a reason. To inform Genghis Khan about the death of his son, the great akyn Ketbuga took a dombra and played the kui “Aksak Kulan” (Lame Kulan), and Genghis Khan began to cry).

The second similar feature between Kazakhs and Japanese.

Today’s Japanese cities are beautiful: they glow with neon advertising, which takes millions of dollars. The streets are clean, all the sidewalks are clean, and well-groomed green spaces grow all around – it’s nice to the eyes. But not everywhere and not always. You can make up legends about Japanese home cleanliness. Even for the toilet, they keep a separate pair of slippers, not to mention slippers for the house.

The whole problem

The Japanese can’t keep everything clean everywhere. They can’t walk in subway slippers, either. It comes out of their understanding of the world. In the subway, Japanese people walk in large shoes and white socks to quickly remove their shoes and put on their slippers again at home. Hence, the phenomenon of alienation: if it’s not his house, he can throw a beer can everywhere.

“In the cinema, in the car, in the office, people calmly throw cigarette butts, empty bottles, banana peels, candy wrappers, and other garbage on the floor. Regarding neatness inherent in Japanese housing, the Japanese office looks so sloppy.”

Now let’s talk about our problems

There is one central street in the city of Aktobe. Probably, there are such “central” streets all over Kazakhstan. But I remember this street especially. Not the whole street, but its edge, which is adjacent to Sankibaya Avenue. Three hundred meters from the intersection, this part of the street was always flooded with water. In autumn and especially in spring, there was a whole lake. Cars overcame this section at first speed, and the spectacle was literally like crossing a river into a Ford. In the spring, when snow was just melting, thawed pits appeared, actually from pits and snow edges – a real obstacle course turned out.

So what? – the reader will say. There are always such roads in the spring.

The fact is that private owners built mansions on the edges of this plot. Private traders had been driving out of their own gates directly onto the obstacle course and into the swamp for more than ten years. I am 100% sure that everything is dry, clean, and beautiful in their yard.

This psychology of “my hut on the edge” applies to society and the whole state. Everything is fine at home, but the state has a puddle.

Chapter 4

Japanese nationalism

Nomadism and nomadism are the worst conditions that market relations would have to face. Although the former nomads have already met with Western civilization and its mission, today, the market trend throughout history has been through an intermediary, Russia.

If we were looking for the reason for Asia’s lag. However, Asian civilization had cradles of civilizations such as Egypt and Mesopotamia. Although nomads did not create these civilizations, they are not nomads in the sense that we understand today. The long stay of the people in one place creates a deep root of the traditional elite. European civilization also seems to have been created exclusively by migrants. Although migrants are also a kind of nomads, we are not interested in such “nomads”. Such massive independence of character, directed at any small property of migrants and “travelers,” – contributed to modern Western civilization. All migrants, even the ancients (Darians, Latins, migrants from the Old World to America), had new laws in use. These laws rejected the “tails” of the old privileged clans, peoples, and families. Slowly, informal laws were replaced by formal laws, which were recorded and observed by everyone.

In Asia, the opposite is true. No one migrates, and everyone has been fine for centuries. That’s why a kind of eternal Asian conservatism has turned out. Whatever country you take, dictators rule everywhere. Because tradition is based on the root. Of course, you understand that. Why didn’t people fly into space from Egypt and Mesopotamia? Because huge pyramids caught on the tail of ancient civilizations and were not allowed into space.

It is better to be a migrant in this picture of a market-democratic future because all migrants are rootless. Nothing was pressing on them, and nothing was pressing on them. They found it difficult to show their arrogance. Who are you? – they could have told every upstart.

It’s better to be a migrant but not a nomad.

Nomads made annual raids along the old routes, essentially repeating the farmers’ sitting in one place; only some moved and returned to their original place. A nomad needs to go as far as possible along the route to take up more space to designate your land. This designation is repeated in time. On the contrary, the farmer “likes” to sit in one place. This community and the state of farmers are expanding, and the farmer dreams of acquiring a new plot. This perpetual movement with a small “rest” predetermined the technical lag of the nomads from the farmers. It’s not even about the late development of technology and, consequently, modernization in a cruel way (from anyone, but we are only interested in the Bolsheviks and why it happened. Without Stalin’s brutal modernization, it would have been even more difficult for the modern descendants of nomads to get used to Western civilization; even more, perhaps, they would have been threatened with complete disappearance. Even today, after the Soviet experience of modernization, Kazakhs remain imitators and consumers. Actually, who doesn’t imitate and consume in this world today? The only thing that remains as hope is a centralized state. This is very important for any nation. Without a central authority, every person is a miserable loner, a small boat in a market ocean. We must protect our state. But first, you have to come to him so that you can appreciate him later. Meanwhile, the nomads never loved the state, and they loved freedom. Because they loved freedom, they called themselves Cossacks.

The Japanese people, for example, have spent a lot of effort and time on centralization for almost 200 years. The samurai first took power from the aristocracy, then staged a civil war with each other. Tokugawa Shogun overcame the feudal fragmentation of the island. Of course, the island situation and the lack of large resources interesting to Europeans helped the Japanese. The Japanese managed and met with the Europeans – the future world colonizers – already in a centralized state. This was of paramount importance. The Japanese did not have to jump through formations like the Kazakhs immediately into socialism. After the shogunate, the imperial power helped to carry out rapid reforms. Already 36 years after the “Meiji Restoration” – the beginning of reforms – a victory was won over tsarist Russia and ten years before that over China. In 1904, Japan showed the imperial navy’s power and its admirals’ skill.

Moreover, a form of state nationalism or nationalism under the leadership of the emperor himself helped Japan. Japan has followed the path of all Europeans – and turned into a nation of militarists in a very short period. The German National Socialists, that is, the European analog of state Nazism, had a much larger time reserve – several centuries. However, Prussia and Bismarck formally united all Germans only in 1870.

Did the Japanese have an intelligentsia to educate chauvinists? It was not so powerful in scientific and intellectual, but it was (in the form of storytellers, myth-makers, and syncretisers, but Japan has its scientists and its own professors).

Japan needed resources.

Japan was poor in mineral resources, but all Japanese ministers were great-grandchildren of samurai. If Japan opened the doors to European technology and culture, then the inevitable happened: the imposition of modernization, economic growth, and population on the traditional Japanese craft – on the war. The Germans also had the Prussian military in reserve, and the Prussian military relied on the tradition of the Teutonic Order. There is nothing unexpected in this world!

There were no other ethnic groups in Japan except the Japanese. Where did the so-called Japanese nationalism come from?

There was no nationalism in the way the layman understood it in Japan. This is a state nationalism invented and controlled by imperial ideologists. The Japanese elite gathered and decided for the whole nation. Japanese nationalism is rather Japanese patriotism because the state completely governed it. Every Japanese before Emperor Meiji and the crossing of borders was inspired that the Japanese were the chosen race on earth. Watching East Asia die under the onslaught of European merchants and colonization, the Japanese could think that they were the best. And it affected the Japanese character.

If the Japanese seemed depressed after 1945 after the deposition of the emperor, this defeat resembled the soldiers’ failure and did not affect the Japanese character. So, a temporary setback. The main thing is that the bulk of modern Japanese is a reflection of the Remids, the Remids of the statesmen. This is because the modernization of Japan took place under the Japanese leadership. But most importantly, the aristocracy has been preserved in Japan. The aristocracy never steals. Never and nowhere.

The emperor’s power and the state had a paternal influence on Japanese society. Every government must care for its Remids, including every sovereign government (especially former historical nomads); otherwise, it will lose centralization. Centralization is the main value of all people. Without centralization, there will be a quick end, rapid disintegration under the influence of tribal or feudal culture. This is called a “fraternal massacre” (and the Kazakhs did not fully survive the zeref reflection). The market excites degradation, especially if the people have never had so-called citizens. Citizens appeared all over the world when people had private property. Then, these citizens fought for democracy. If the people have never known private property, and the nomads have never known it, then the people are always threatened with a “fraternal massacre”. It is the state that saves from the massacre.

The state may not be able to stand it, and the state is just a form of organization of people. Unless, of course, the government will continue “reforms” based on the traditional (primitive) personnel policy. The future of this state depends on which people are at the top. Either the state or death! This is the greatest danger if people still remember their kind, even symbolically and ritually. Each physical majority forms its leaders.

If market reflection penetrates into people who are not independent or complex but immediately militant and proud, these people will only accumulate material values to show their superiority. This is a primal quality. Therefore, the value of reflection is in the first place here.

What is nationalism? This is a massive desire to dominate yesterday’s artisans, townspeople, and peasants. They were humiliated by the traditional elite. Now they want to “humiliate”, and put any arrogant president in his place.

If feudal consciousness meets with market nationalism, then it turns out not a mass of free citizens as in Europe, but only a mass of feudal lords. And feudal lords always tear the state apart. The feudal lords of the state do not need anything. “It’s wet in the yard; start over”.

Chapter 5

The voice of blood

It is very far to Japan from Kazakhstan. Despite such a distance, the Kazakhs from the Union time were well aware of the Japanese. First of all, they knew according about the famous Toyota, Nissan, and Mitsubishi cars, these cars began to arrive in Kazakhstan en masse from the beginning of the 90s, when the USSR collapsed. Before that, everyone knew Japan by its world-famous electronics. In the late 70s and early 80s, nothing better than Sony and Toshiba items were produced in the world, or so all Kazakhs thought.

For the mass of viewers, Japan was known for films such as “The Death of Japan”, “The Legend of the Dinosaur”, and “The Legend of Narayama”. If the film “Legend of Narayama” was a wonderful illustration of feudal Japan, then movies with the participation of Takeshi Kitano showed the Japanese character of all times.

In 2003, the Warner Bros company film “The Last Samurai” was released with the participation of Ken Watanabe and Tom Cruise. The last samurai, Moritsugu Katsumoto, was interested in the exploits of the Indians against the Americans from Captain Nathan Algren.

Despite all the pathos of the film, the Japanese could repeat the fate of the Indians. However, the samurai lost to the emperor’s forces in the Boshin War. Is it possible to say that modern Japan is a blessing than the folklore savagery of the past? All modern Kazakhs will say with one voice that modern Japan is cool; you can’t think of a better one. What happened in Japan that Kazakhs lack? Some Kazakh patriots would dream of a Japanese fate for the Kazakhs. Such Kazakhs are ready to blame Russia and the USSR for why Kazakhs did not become like the Japanese.

But is this really the case?

Could Kazakhs follow the path of Japanese Meiji and create a “Kazakh miracle” long before the world-famous economic miracle in Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong, or at least repeat the path of the “Southeastern tigers”?

Why did the people of pure blood lose to the people of pure reason?

The principle of pure blood is suitable in the fight against pure blood when a tribe opposes another tribe. If the people of blood do not have a seer to overcome the voice of kinship, the voice of blood is bad for folk. To do this, every person must have a monarch and undivided authority. If a person of blood has many littler leaders, these people will never break out of primitiveness. The Japanese had an emperor in 1867. Visionary officials gathered around the emperor. They went to Europe and the USA and returned to Japan, and the Japanese began to wildly copy everything European, all the creations of pure reason.

The Japanese have no less personal vanity than the Kazakhs. But the emperor’s power limited the personal anarchy of every Japanese, not so that each Japanese could show off an expensive dress or a katana from a famous master. The Japanese have turned into one samurai. The Japanese have become a nation in one generation. This incredible leap from savagery cost the Japanese many victims, but the Japanese turned into the Japanese that the world knows today. The Japanese have no problems with the language. No Japanese person would ever think of asking guests to speak Japanese. The Japanese know when to use the voice of blood and when to use the voice of reason. This balance is also familiar to Kazakhs, but the existing Kazakh inertia is not the merit of the Kazakhs; it’s as if we continue to roam like former nomads even living in cities today.

Moreover, there is a current of nationalists who want to put the voice of blood ahead of the voice of reason. In the 21st century, this means only one thing – the bad way of the Indians. This means control by the external Western mind of the Kazakh instincts of the voice of blood.

Chapter 6

Adequacy and efficiency of the Japanese elite

On July 8, 1853, the American squadron of Commodore Matthew Perry anchored in Uraga Bay near Edo. Japanese officials already knew about the approaching threat, but they did not have time to prepare. The bureaucratic apparatus of the Tokugawa Shogunate is mired in formalism and the inactivity of officials. The old shogun entrusted the affairs to his minister.

Why did a formidable military squadron land on the shores of Japan?

Japan continued its self-isolation regime. The closure of Japan – the Sakoku regime – happened because of aggressive, arrogant behavior – according to the shogun of the Portuguese Jesuits in the XVII century. Since then, foreign ships could not enter ports, replenish food and water supplies, whaling ships were shipwrecked, and the Japanese arrested the surviving sailors. Now, Commodore Matthew Parry had instructions from President Millard Fillmore to force the Japanese to trade by force.

Japanese were surprised for the first time and saw innovative American ships releasing black smoke. For the Japanese to understand everything, the Americans made an empty hall of guns "for suggestions". Of course, after such a show, the Japanese accepted Perry’s delimitation – according to all the canons of Japanese diplomacy. However, they first played the game “Who are you?”When minor officials talked to Perry, Perry realized this, so he ordered the Peisan cannons to be uncovered.

What to do? The Japanese tried to save face – they referred to the shogun’s illness. Perry agreed to wait one year.

But the natural death of the elderly shogun hastened the events. Perry sailed back to Uraga Bay exactly six months later. What for the Japanese to do again?

The head of the Bakufu, Abe Masahiro, did not dare to assume a responsible role and called an All-Japanese Meeting. Abe Masahiro soberly assessed the situation – resistance was impossible. On the contrary, representatives of the emperor, Bakufu, and regional nobility, Daimyo, were conservative. The agreement with the Americans, then with the Russians, was, of course, signed. With the help of the Dutch, Abe Masahiro immediately began to modernize the fleet, cast new guns, and even founded an intelligence agency to study new technologies and information from abroad. But Abe Masahiro didn’t have enough time. His compromise with the Americans, Russians, and British was a signal for other representatives of the opposition nobility. They accused him of cowardice and betrayal.“He signed a humiliating contract!” After the British shelled Kagoshima with cannons in 1863, everything became evident to everyone. Because the British were usually not enough for one trade agreement, they needed a bonded contract of the same type as the Chinese one, which they signed with the conquered China in 1860.

If the samurai power could not protect the homeland, this meant the shogun and his people had lost divine mercy.

That’s how the salvo of Matthew Perry’s squadron became the signal for a new era in the history of Japan. Those samurai and daimyo who felt humiliated did agree to change the old course of self-isolation. Everyone already knew what had happened to China, that China had lost its independence, and something had to be done. The invaders will soon come to Japan.

Who will save? Of course, the emperor.

The emperor is the son of the sun, which means hope, so in the spirituality of  emperor, there was a new way out for the new Japan. A group formed around the emperor against the shogun and Bakufu. It took another thirteen years for the shogun to agree and proclaim the power transfer to the emperor.

So, the emperor is a sacred figure. The Japanese, of course, first found spiritual reserves for the new government; this is a distinctive feature of the spirited Japanese. After all, when necessary, they always find a way out. Also, the Japanese have never closed their doors to talented people. Power is, of course, important for everyone, but not for the Japanese. Power itself was not an end for the Japanese – thanks to the soul synthesis of Shintoism and Buddhism.

Thus ended the two-hundred-and-fifty-year era of the shoguns. The executive power was returned to the son of the sun, Emperor Mutsuhito. An era called Meiji was born. So, the warriors were replaced by pundits. Isn’t this an indicator of Japanese adequacy and efficiency? The traditional power level is very important for the government to be adequate to external and internal challenges. The level of the elite is important, hence morality, what kind of people, and such is the power.

Chapter 7

Always on the right track

“Japanese morality does not encourage the appearance of outstanding personalities. Like a hammer, it immediately hits a nail, the head of which sticks out too much from the board. For all their apparent entrepreneurial spirit, the Japanese are weakly endowed with a sense of personal initiative. And this lack of creativity is largely due to their innate desire not to step over the boundaries of a proper place.”

“The concept of a proper place requires – don’t take for not your work. This deprives people of independence in many practical details.”

Sakura branch. Vsevolod Ovchinnikov

When I discovered how disciplined the Japanese are in all matters, I immediately realized where this quality came from. For me, a Kazakh, the author of the theory of self-reflection, it was not difficult. I automatically attributed the reflection of warriors to the Japanese. Yes, the first stage of reflection -it is the self-reflection of Zerefs has no semitones. This is the lowest reflection when warriors can’t show pity to enemies. It is when you have to follow orders.

However, after a minute, all my logic ended because the simple Japanese immediately show outstanding qualities when they don’t do other people’s business. If talents do not allow, they do not try to take someone else’s place. Natural modesty is always too obvious in Japanese etiquette. If you are an aristocrat, if you are a well-deserved person, and finally, if you are a guest in the house of a Japanese, you are always in the first place, you should sit in the most honorable place. If you don’t, because of your shyness now, the Japanese don’t know what to do in their own home. What is it? After all, the Japanese automatically follow the main motto of the Revcon – give in, skip ahead of the best. Even if this outstanding quality is a manifestation of upbringing, that is conditioned reflexes, the Japanese allegedly did not think of it himself, but he was inspired to respect his elders. Actually, in the East, old people are respected everywhere. What’s the matter here?

What is the uniqueness of Japanese intuition?

Since the Heiyang 794—1185, Japan has been structured into five hundred subclasses. There is no country in the world where people do not know someone else’s superiority, at least in something, in the smallest detail. Official status, noble origin, occupation, and even seniority are the most obvious things every nation has. At the level of intuition, the Japanese can distinguish which of them is higher and which is lower. Even if someone was born a minute earlier, he deserves more respect. Such a dictatorship of an almost eternal hierarchy brought up the Japanese. The whole history of the Japanese was taught discipline.

So, why didn’t stagnation happen in Japan?

Why didn’t the triumph of stupidity happen? After all, the elder in any form of seniority, even in social status, even in the form of a stupid older brother, must dictate his will to submissive people.

The culture of etiquette is pressing on the Japanese – this is indisputable. This culture of respect is felt even in the XXI century, although Japan can be considered the most urbanized nation in Asia. The Japanese will always smile at you, but it’s not exactly a Chinese smile absolutely. It also does not puzzle that a Japanese is obliged to smile at any stupidity and every ignoramus. The Japanese will start hinting from afar so as not to offend. He will say goodbye culturally if he gets bored and sees who is before him.

So, who is a Japanese – a Zeref or a Zelot?

This question and the confusion in my theory of reflection is because the Japanese deny everything by their behavior my whole theory. Overly tactful and friendly Japanese tell you about the long historical compulsion to be like this. It really is. During the two hundred and fifty years of the Tokugawa dictatorship, the Japanese were taught not even to touch each other to avoid being insulted. Has anyone seen Japanese people holding out their hands for a handshake? No, the Japanese fold their palms and make bows. So, is it an innate affability then, or is it the fear of many generations hidden in this way?

And who said that children who love their father are friendly from fear?

The friendliness of the nation is just an indicator of its high self-reflection. They sort of say why should we waste time on trifles? What needs to be realized does not always come from the heart. High self-reflection manifests itself precisely in the search for and finding the best option, which is the search for Zen, which is the best way. In the VI century, Buddhism penetrated Japan. The Japanese liked it so much that they always made the right choice. The Japanese have very few fools in the administrative apparatus so far. A fool would not dare to replace a talented person so as not to look like a laughingstock. They always make the right choice and always find the right path. With all the shogun administrators’ dictatorship, they could not influence the freedom of choice. Yes, the Shoguns have accustomed the Japanese to over-discipline. They brought the intuition of the Japanese to cosmic heights, but few of the Japanese turned into holy prophets, of which there are many in the West. The dictatorship of the shoguns influenced the growth of reflection. Even the most recent Japanese try not to do stupid things so as not to have clowned over him. In this regard, the Japanese are very dependent on the opinions of others. But it is dependence on the opinions of others that is the first step to perfection.

Chapter 8

When everything is simple and when everything looks like a show-off

When there is a lot of beauty, it is not beauty.

Japanese proverb

As all fans have noticed, all Japanese cars are very ergonomic. Not only Toyotas and Nissans are ergonomic, but also Japanese high-speed trains. All Japanese homes and rooms, in general, are ergonomic without a single superfluous detail, not a single superfluous object. There is no satiety and pretentiousness in architecture anywhere. The Japanese don’t like everything big and colorful except for street advertising. But all trade is subject to other laws.

If, in Japanese reality, everything is as restrained as all Japanese, then this is Japanese culture. The first Europeans who visited Japan noted the small stature of the Japanese, the absence of overweight people, and the miniaturization of Japanese things. They said that the Japanese served treats in toy dishes. All the Japanese things reminded them of children’s toys. The Japanese, like children, always bow to each other.

(The Japanese, for their part, also did not remain in debt. These red-haired Portuguese and Dutch seemed to them disgusting demons from the world of demons – so huge and with the same big noses as Tengu (Tengu is a Japanese demon with fiery hair). They called “nanbandies” actually Chinese, but the Europeans also came from the side of China – what’s the difference? So, the Europeans also turned into barbarians because the Europeans had a bad smell. Where were they supposed to take a bath? How can this be done on a ship?)

Of course, the Europeans were surprised by the absolute purity of the Japanese. The Japanese were clean and tidy, even simple peasants and porters. They wore robes in which they wrapped their body; even the Japanese socks were white. There was not a single extra thing in Japanese homes. Entering their house, the Japanese took off their shoes and put on slippers; even for the toilet, they had separate slippers. All the household members, after greeting and curiosity, disappeared somewhere. Everyone, including the head, behaved towards the guest like the Japanese emperor had come in. The guest was necessarily seated in the most honorable place. If the guest showed shyness and did not sit there, the host and wife fell into a stupor – they did not know what to do, so the Japanese had everything painted according to the age-old etiquette.

Before serving the most exquisite treats, all the housewives said the same words: “I’m sorry that we have almost nothing on the table.” It’s good that the guests did not understand anything; they themselves would have fallen into a stupor from such words because all the delicacies were put in front of them. During the meal, the host and hostess would not have said a word, except for toasts, pronounced in honor of the guest several times, and the absorption of Japanese rice vodka “sake”. In other cases, including semi-official ones, the Japanese behave as if they desire to disappear, to evaporate. Absolute modesty and tact. Buttoned-up jackets and a look at the floor. Thus, the Japanese not only have all the rooms ergonomic, but the Japanese themselves are ergonomic in their own body, if I may say so.

Someone may suspect that this behavior is also the result of the age-old administrative dictatorship of the Tokugawa Shogunate. Maybe everything can be. I think this is because almost 70% of Japan is occupied by mountains. Japanese rice fields are so tiny that willy-nilly, one might think they could all disappear. And these miniature areas would really like to disappear because cyclones are real Japanese disasters.

In this respect, the nomads have a great expanse to ride over the endless distance. Who’s going to stop him? There is no one a thousand kilometers ahead. Ride as much as you want, and no one will limit you. The nomad must move as far as possible and use the entire territory to be overcome. Maybe that’s why even a modern Kazakh boss seems to be alone in his office; no one else is around, but they are. Kazakhs need to designate their territory by themselves, by their presence, by their importance, so to speak. The Arab Abu Ziad was asked jokingly how the Kazakhs walk. He must have seen them when they made the Hajj to Mecca. The observant Abu Ziyad laughed and walked forward, waving his arms and spreading his legs apart as if not one but two people were walking to show their territory – he was joking.

Meanwhile, this does not give anyone dignity. As the Prophet said, may Allah bless him and grant him: “Do not walk the earth proudly.” In general, there are 128 million Japanese in Japan and 9 thousand officials. In Kazakhstan, 82 thousand civil servants account for 19 million people. There are obvious shortcomings with the ergonomics of power.

Chapter 9

The quality of bureaucracy

Amakudari (literally “descent from heaven”)

“Officials are people who want to surround themselves with as many subordinates as possible. The more subordinates there are, the more stable the official’s position is and the more opportunities he has for further advancement to the top.”

Hiroshi Fujiwara

In 1945, Japan lay in ruins. Everyone knows about the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In fact, the damage from the nuclear bomb was only a tenth of the carpet bombing by the American Air Force. Squadrons of 500 B-29 bombers burned down all Japanese cities in two years. When the emperor addressed the nation, all the Japanese could stand at the radios. Young Akio Morita, the future founder of the legendary Sony company, stood at attention in the uniform of an officer of the Imperial Navy with a sword. Yes, the Japanese bureaucracy itself was one of the ingredients of success (the other most important factor of the Japanese miracle was the highest discipline and diligence of the Japanese people. The unwritten and little understood by others, the strict practice of amakudari (“descended from heaven”), of course, requires clarification.

What is amakudari?

This is a lifetime contract of an official with the state. There are a lot of applicants, but there are few high government posts. So, officials of that age did not stay too long in office; thus, they could find work in commercial firms. The pension was good because the work in a commercial company will also be recorded in the work experience. At the age of 50—53, high officials leave for business structures, that is, long before retirement age. They go to private companies, where they are invited as top managers. Although they have modest salaries in the ministries, they, as a rule, do not steal – they know that they will honestly take their own in the private sector. There is, of course, an opportunity for patronage and corruption because the “favorite” company, for example, will not check enough. But this does not greatly affect Japanese corruption in general. Corruption in Japan is very low. Suspicion of corruption for a modern Japanese official is the same indelible shame as for a Japanese during the shogunate. The Japanese just mortally do not want to be a laughing stock in front of society. That’s the positive legacy the Japanese received from the shoguns.

In Kazakhstan, they try not to check the companies in which relatives of big officials work. This is not accepted. Any inspection of a large firm or a large bank is authorized only from above, and any errors are excluded. Basically, inspectors check small businesses, and everything is already possible there. Small businessmen are better off not contradicting and agreeing with everything with small officials; otherwise, it will be more expensive.

Thus, all power is tied to big business. You need to have large relatives in the executive branch to have an unsinkable business. The higher the position in which an official sits, the bigger his business affairs are, and this is almost a rule.

If the government changes, then, of course, the whole pyramid changes. They select “their own people”, their own team. There is also a redistribution of large businesses’ assets. Therefore, power cannot be lost in any way. Every official knows this. Therefore, no one wants to leave voluntarily. Disloyalty to the regime can serve as a reason for dismissal, so no one wants to get involved with the opposition. No one wants to be overly active, say, in work, but everyone tries to praise the course of the current president, and the president himself should always be praised (for example, give to streets, parks, and squares the president’s name). If an extraordinary event occurs in the controlled territory of a big official, enemies and competitors for a lucrative place immediately take advantage of it, and they quickly inform the leader. The official is first checked for loyalty, and then everything else is checked.

The culture of power is always linked to culture in general. The desire of a nomad to occupy more space around himself is quite understandable. This is an eternal desire. Even minor officials from the former nomads do not tolerate objections. In Japan, for example, no one takes a step without instructions; Japan is generally a country of instructions. In Kazakhstan, almost no instructions are needed. The officials do this under the motto I am the boss – you are a subordinate, so complete subordination. If an official has a relative, a “roof” on top, he does not care who is sitting in front of him. He knows he has protection. The pathetic babble of a journalist is pathetic because there is no free press, although everywhere, they talk about some kind of commitment to democracy. Well, it’s true; if there is a market around, then there should be a free press. Not with us. The authorities decide everything. Therefore, everyone wants, especially the extremely conservative Kazakhs, to get into power. But the government has its own selection. And this selection is far from meritocratic principles in general. The whole press is under control almost like in Japan (with one difference: the Amakudari principle helps the Japanese). That is, a Kazakh with a reliable roof is not afraid of anything.

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