Independent thought is one thing. independent behavior is another. It's really the latter that is key in the case of Japanese culture.
Did you know, Muck, that even in the 1980's onwards, it was very common practice in both Korea (south) and Japan for people to wear these sorts of face masks in the winter seasons? In Korea, it was often for warmth (can get pretty cold with Siberian winds blowing down in winter), but especially in Japan, it was common that if you had a cold, you wore a mask so as not to spread the germs (coughing, sneezing, breathing, etc) to others.
(I know all this through personal experience, btw)
So there is in fact a very different background to the whole Covid era world wearing masks phenomenon. Much, much more culturally normal for Japanese to wear these masks when Covid hit than a place like Oz or the US or Europe.
Not because of a lack of independent thought, but because in Japanese culture, making others the priority, not impeding others or making problems for others, is an extremely highly ranked cultural value.
Independent thought is one thing. independent behavior is another. It's really the latter that is key in the case of Japanese culture.
Did you know, Muck, that even in the 1980's onwards, it was very common practice in both Korea (south) and Japan for people to wear these sorts of face masks in the winter seasons? In Korea, it was often for warmth (can get pretty cold with Siberian winds blowing down in winter), but especially in Japan, it was common that if you had a cold, you wore a mask so as not to spread the germs (coughing, sneezing, breathing, etc) to others.
(I know all this through personal experience, btw)
So there is in fact a very different background to the whole Covid era world wearing masks phenomenon. Much, much more culturally normal for Japanese to wear these masks when Covid hit than a place like Oz or the US or Europe.
Not because of a lack of independent thought, but because in Japanese culture, making others the priority, not impeding others or making problems for others, is an extremely highly ranked cultural value.
Thank you explaining this to me, for telling me of the knowledge you have gained from personal experience.