No religion

The following is a comment I hear quite often:

"We Japanese don't have a religion, so we can't understand how people go to war over religion."

This is one of the few things that never fails to push my buttons. If I feel like it, I'll tell whoever said it that in Japan there is a very strong religion. The "We Japanese" religion. Their identity as a pure and superior race is as mystically ambiguous and zealously guarded in the hearts and minds of the citizens of this country as any religion.

I'm a good case in point. My mother isn't American, but people in America have no problems accepting me as an American. My mother is Japanese, but the Japanese will never accept me as Japanese. Not even my Japanese family. According to the "We Japanese" religion, there is something mystical called the Japanese Soul, which nobody can explain, but suffice to say that the fact that my blood is mixed means I don't have it.

So basically, the "We Japanese" religion is a bundle of superstitions and comforting ideas that resonate with the subscribers, comforting them with a sense of belonging and identity. Like any other organized religion. And unfortunately like a lot of religions, it defines itself largely by excluding those who don't belong.

It's also used to control its subscribers. Work yourself to death. It's the Japanese way. Make babies. It's the Japanese way. Fingerprint foreigners to protect the Japanese way. Panic about the aging population but don't allow for the safety valve of immigration. We have to protect the Japanese way.

And of course, no matter what, "We Japanese can't understand going to war over religion."

Don't worry, I'll go back to posting about impotent alcoholic salarymen and the crazy things they get up to tomorrow.