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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 4 page research paper that discusses the Japanese virtue of "gaman," which means patience and endurance. This cultural concept is discussed in reference to Japanese history, as well as the present. Bibliography lists 10 sources.
Page Count:
4 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khgaman.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
paradigms. One of these cultural concepts, which is still prevalent in contemporary Japan is "gaman," which means "patience and endurance." It is because of their conception of gaman that the
Japanese place a high priority on such personal features as "orderliness, discipline, self-sacrifice and the warrior spirit" (Nees, 2003). Gaman is part of the Japanese ethos that places a high
priority on group conformity and group membership. This cultural paradigm facilitates the logistics of living within a dense population that is located within a limited geographical space. Japanese are
socialized to value "groupism" versus "individualism," that is, the "welfare of the group as a whole" is considered as a priority over the "well-being of any one individual" (Kumagai and
Keyser, 1996, p. 9). This group-orientation creates a priority on reaching consensus in decision-making processes. In fact, all parties are expected to be in agreement with a specific decision before
any major course of action is officially taken (Kumagai and Keyser, 1996). Such a cultural orientation naturally lends itself toward promoting and appreciating patience as a supreme virtue. There is
evidence of this cultural orientation throughout Japanese history. The house laws of the Asakura family, dating from the fifteenth century, stressed an ethos of conformity (Samson, 1958). Rather than
allow the young Emperor, age 8, to fall into the hands of Genji warriors, a "Nun of the Second Rank," instructs the boy to make his farewells to the
symbols of his religion, so that she can escort him to the "Pure Land" and the "happy realm called Paradise" (McCullough, 1988, p. 1). The boy is stoic, even at
a tender age, and demonstrates his endurance, his gaman, by following her instructions, after which, she scooped him up and committed them both to the sea. As this story illustrates,
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