The Japanese family situation and the Oedipal issue
In my research field, i.e., psychoanalysis, the notion of Amae is frequently discussed and is considered as a key concept in discussing Japanese mentality and Western mentality. While discussing the issue of Oedipus Complex, I once discussed as follows:
To be able to further understand the Oedipal issue in Japan, we need to reflect on family circumstances in society, which are perhaps significantly different from those in the Western world where the Oedipal theory was formed. In Japanese households, children are usually fairly close to their fathers, but their relationship tends to be less close than with their mothers. Young Japanese children usually sleep in the same room with their parents at night, unlike Western children who are usually given their individual bedroom very soon after being born. Japanese fathers’ attention tends to be often focused on their daytime work, and their evenings and weekends are also significantly given over to their employers. In a sense, Japanese sons can gain their mother’s attention with much less effort or consideration than Western boys, and their fear of punishment and castration anxiety is present to a much lesser extent than what Freud postulated in their Western counterparts. Of course, this does not deny the presence of Oedipal father in the Japanese household. Traditional Japanese fathers have been rather strict and disciplinary toward their children, counterbalancing mothers’ rather indulgent attitudes to some extent. However, Japanese fathers are not very possessive of their wives. The entire family sleeps in one bedroom with children flanked by their parents so they feel close to both of them. Children are not readily punished by their fathers because of their closeness to their mothers. Some fathers might welcome closeness of their children to their mothers while, at the same time, feeling left out and envious toward them to some extent.
Thus, Japanese fathers are not really castrating toward their children. However, they themselves are under the threat of castration in his workplace and community, where his show of faith and submission is constantly called for.
As I stated before, the punitive agent in their society is not altogether a powerful father-like figure within the household. It can be scrutinizing groups or the society that an individual belongs to. In Japanese society, a conspicuous person risks being regarded as someone who will disturb the social equilibrium. Peace and harmony are regarded as crucially important to the common good. People strive to be like others in order to escape being ostracized by society. In the Oedipal story, the taboo is hostility toward the father. In Japanese society, the taboo is to challenge the hidden or unwritten rules that govern society.
To be able to further understand the Oedipal issue in Japan, we need to reflect on family circumstances in society, which are perhaps significantly different from those in the Western world where the Oedipal theory was formed. In Japanese households, children are usually fairly close to their fathers, but their relationship tends to be less close than with their mothers. Young Japanese children usually sleep in the same room with their parents at night, unlike Western children who are usually given their individual bedroom very soon after being born. Japanese fathers’ attention tends to be often focused on their daytime work, and their evenings and weekends are also significantly given over to their employers. In a sense, Japanese sons can gain their mother’s attention with much less effort or consideration than Western boys, and their fear of punishment and castration anxiety is present to a much lesser extent than what Freud postulated in their Western counterparts. Of course, this does not deny the presence of Oedipal father in the Japanese household. Traditional Japanese fathers have been rather strict and disciplinary toward their children, counterbalancing mothers’ rather indulgent attitudes to some extent. However, Japanese fathers are not very possessive of their wives. The entire family sleeps in one bedroom with children flanked by their parents so they feel close to both of them. Children are not readily punished by their fathers because of their closeness to their mothers. Some fathers might welcome closeness of their children to their mothers while, at the same time, feeling left out and envious toward them to some extent.
Thus, Japanese fathers are not really castrating toward their children. However, they themselves are under the threat of castration in his workplace and community, where his show of faith and submission is constantly called for.
As I stated before, the punitive agent in their society is not altogether a powerful father-like figure within the household. It can be scrutinizing groups or the society that an individual belongs to. In Japanese society, a conspicuous person risks being regarded as someone who will disturb the social equilibrium. Peace and harmony are regarded as crucially important to the common good. People strive to be like others in order to escape being ostracized by society. In the Oedipal story, the taboo is hostility toward the father. In Japanese society, the taboo is to challenge the hidden or unwritten rules that govern society.