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Uchi-Soto - Japan's national village
Uchi-soto translates directly into English as "inside-outside" and refers to the differences in the way members of a group relate to each other and those of other groups.45 So embedded is this notion in the Japanese psyche that it forms an important part of Japanese grammar. The verb forms that one uses to address those outside of one's group and those within one's group, for example, differ remarkably. Although many Japanese consider uchi-soto to be a simple extension of ancient village life into modern times, when applied beyond the simple boundaries of modern corporate culture, this notion can become a serious barrier to internationalization.
If it were simply a matter of being a member of a group different from all other groups, then all one should have to do as a group member is to comply by the group's rules, promote the group's goals, acknowledge the group's historical roots, contribute to the group's team spirit, and when necessary make the appropriate personal sacrifices. What more can a group expect of its members?
Well, are you Japanese? Do you carry a Japanese passport? Were you born in Japan? Are either or both of your parents Japanese? Do you have black hair, or can you dye it blond? Are your eyes brown? Do you have a pug nose? Can you do something about your eye-lids? Do you speak with an accent? If so, from what part of Japan are you from? Were you born there? Were your childhood classmates Japanese? If we admit you, are you prepared to help us submit others to the same humiliation to which you were subject before entry into the group. No, this is not a fraternity or a sorority; this is a national mentality!
Part of the reason for this extreme exclusionary attitude and nearly prohibitive barrier to entry, can be explained by the following:
One, Japanese generally assume that all Japanese have the same basic idea about what it means to be Japanese. Thus, when a new Japanese enters a group in which foreigners are present, he assumes that everyone treats the foreigner as would most Japanese -- non-Japanese. Such behavior on the part of Japanese newcomers can be troublesome for other Japanese within groups who try to integrate their foreign members fully. As a result there is a tendency on the part of Japanese to limit the degree to which foreigners can become involved in their group's activities.
Two, when foreigners are outside of their groups in Japanese society at large, they are subject to stereotypical behavior similar to that which Japanese newcomers bring to groups in which foreigners are present. Thus, even if a foreigner is well integrated into his group, he must readjust each time he re-enters Japanese society at large. For there his foreignness is once again cast upon him and his national identity pushed to the forefront of nearly every communication among strangers.
Thus, either the foreigner resigns himself to his foreign identity, or he leaves Japan altogether. If he remains, he takes on the role of ambassador between the Japanese group to which he adheres and his native colony -- namely, other foreigners living in Japan who share his nationality. Of course not all foreigners belong to a colony per se, but they do tend to associate with other foreigners, so as to maintain a sense of group identity that is not simply defined by who they are not, but rather by who they are. Few reject their native roots for fear of becoming homeless or refugees before international law. There is a fairly standard joke among internationally conscious gaijin in Japan: "Wouldn't it be great, if all Japanese were to leave Japan?"
One of the ways in which one contributes to his group is by adhering to its rules. If the rules are not to your liking, then one must learn to live with them, seek to change them, or find a new group. Whereas most Japanese are unlikely to change them, they do often learn to live with them. Depending on the nature of the group and one's dependence on it, Japanese will also leave a group, if it no longer appears meaningful.
In most cases, if a group does not have a strong central core, the group will not survive. This is because individual members place high demands on their group's leaders, who in return receive respect, courtesy, and privileges not accorded other members of the group. Thus, the disposition of a group's core towards its foreign members is crucial. Because the foreign member of a group is generally held at arms length within his group and Japanese society at large, other Japanese members of his group, be they in the core or not, can easily make trouble for him and other members of his group. This is because every disagreement between him and a Japanese member of his group can easily be turned into a national issue, or an "international" issue as it were, based on the foreigner's national -- i.e., non-Japanese -- identity.
In such cases foreigners are placed in the awkward position of either proving to their group that their foreignness or nationality has nothing to do with the issue at hand, or admit that it does and thereby relegate themselves to the group's periphery by virtue of their foreignness. If the "troublemaking" foreigner's grasp of the Japanese language is not as good as that of the Japanese who are ill-disposed towards his presence, or if the foreigner is not well-versed in Japanese culture, then his fate is sealed, and he either cedes the point to the aggrieved or leaves the group. Getting to the point where one actually becomes a participating member of the group's core, or even a full-fledged member of the group, can thus be a long and arduous process.
In short, the foreigner is placed in a catch-22 situation in which he is constantly reminded that he can never become Japanese, on the one hand; but if he wants to participate fully in his group, he must effectively be Japanese on the other. Thus, belonging to a Japanese organization of any sort is difficult for foreigners, unless the organization's core places important priority on their presence and stands ready to interecede whenever it becomes necessary. As this is not always possible, one often finds Japanese and foreigners belonging to groups whose cores consist of non-Japanese. In such groups the level of foreign alienation is reduced, and the groups Japanese members always have their own society to which they can return.
Whether it is the foreigner in the Japanese group or the Japanese in the foreign group, the workable solution in Japan almost always finishes with division along national boundary lines -- namely, Japanese with other Japanese in the foreign-led group, or foreigners with other foreigners in the Japanese-led group. Of course, there are those Japanese and foreigner group members with good bilingual proficiency who enjoy relatively free exit-and-entry between the minor and major subgroups of the entire group. These are generally highly prized members of any international group in Japan.
Of course, most of what has been explained so far, can be found in any society or group in which one's ability to identify with its members is determined by something other than good familiarity with the group's language, behavior, thinking, and purpose. What makes Japan a particularly difficult place for many foreigners is the exaggerated importance that Japanese place on those aspects of Japaneseness that are not acquirable without having been born in Japan and unto Japanese parents. Moreover, whereas individual identity is determined by one's beliefs and achievements in many other places of the world, in Japan it is largely a function of the group or groups to which one belongs and one's status within those groups.
Finally, because Japanese spend so much time in their respective groups, when they finally do have time to be alone, that is exactly how they spend it -- alone. This makes it difficult for foreigners to relate with Japanese on a one-to-one basis.
return to gaijin-sama | footnote 55)
45 Although conceptually a very simple notion, in practice the linguistic, cultural, and historical means by which it is nurtured, maintained, and enforced are quite complex. This is perhaps the reason why Japanese prefer to write it in hiragana -- namely, うちそと. (text | the problem of wabi-sabi)
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