Chapter 8 Chapter 6 Repaying Gratitude in case
"En" is a debt and must be paid.But in Japan, "gratitude" is regarded as another category completely different from "en".In our ethics, these two categories are mixed together to form neutral vocabulary, such as obligation (obligation, grace) and duty (obligation, task).The Japanese find this as strange and incomprehensible as we find it strange that some tribes do not distinguish between "debit" and "credit" in the language of monetary transactions.For the Japanese, it is called "en", once accepted, it is a permanent debt; "repaying favor" is positive, tense, and repaid without delay, which is expressed by another series of concepts .To owe a favor is not a virtue, but to repay a favor is a virtue.The beginning of virtuous deeds occurs when one actively dedicates one's life to repaying one's kindness.
An effective way for Americans to understand this Japanese virtue is to compare it frequently with money transactions, and to see behind the scenes the sanction for non-repayment.Just as we all require the fulfillment of contracts in financial transactions, we will never tolerate anyone who takes advantage of others.If you have a debt to the bank, you must repay it, and you cannot just repay it casually.The debtor must not only repay the principal, but also the interest.These are very different from our views on patriotism and family love.For us, love is a kind of emotion, which is given freely without any restraint, which is the most noble.Patriotism means putting our country's interests above all else; in this sense, unless the United States is under armed attack by an enemy nation, patriotism is seen as a kind of disregard for oneself, which is incompatible with human frailties. Not very compatible.We Americans don't have the basic concept of the Japanese - a person is born with a huge debt.We believe that one should sympathize with and assist needy parents, one must not beat one's wife, one must support children.But these cannot be weighed like a monetary debt, nor rewarded like a successful business.But in Japan, these are seen as the kind of monetary debt that Americans see, with strong binding forces behind them, like bills payable or interest on mortgages in the United States.These notions are not something to be paid attention to only at critical moments (such as a declaration of war, a parent's dying illness, etc.), but a shadow that hangs over the mind at all times, just like the farmers in New York who are constantly worried about their mortgages, and the investors on Wall Street who see the market rise after selling short. disturbed.
The Japanese divide grace into different categories with different rules: one is unlimited in amount and duration; the other is equal in amount and must be repaid within a specified time.For unlimited kindness, the Japanese call it "obligation", which is what they say "it is difficult to repay kindness in case".This obligation includes two categories: one is to repay the kindness of parents - filial piety, and the other is to repay the kindness of the emperor - "chu".Both are mandatory and are inherent in every human being.Elementary education in Japan is called "compulsory education", which is so appropriate that there is no other word that expresses its meaning of "compulsory".Accidents in a man's life may alter some details of the duty, but the duty is imposed on all men automatically and transcends all chance.
List of Obligations of Japanese Nationals and Their Corresponding Obligations
1. En: Obligation that occurs passively. "Receive grace" and "receive grace", this type of grace is an obligation to accept from a passive standpoint.
Emperor's grace - by the grace of the emperor.
Dear kindness - by the kindness of parents.
Grace of the Lord - by the grace of the master.
Teacher's kindness-received by the teacher's kindness.
The "gratitude" received from various contacts in a lifetime.
Note: All those who are kind to you are your "benefactors".
2. "En" corresponds to (obligation):
One must "pay" these debts, "pay back" to the "benefactor".That is, such obligations are viewed from the standpoint of voluntary repayment.
A．The obligation, however repaid, cannot be fully repaid, and is also infinite in time.
chu - duty to the emperor, the law, and the Japanese state.
Filial piety—responsibility to parents and ancestors (including descendants).
Task - Responsibility for one's own work.
B．The debt that should be repaid in full is also not infinite in time.
(1) Morality to society
Responsibility to the Lord
Duty to next of kin
Responsibility to others Get "favor" from someone, such as accepting money, accepting kindness, help in work (such as mutual aid in labor), etc.
Responsibility to non-close relatives (such as uncles, aunts, cousins, cousins, etc.) does not refer to any "favor" from these people, but to a common ancestor.
(2) The meaning of one's own reputation is equivalent to the German word for "reputation" (die Ehre)
Insulted, or defeated, has a duty to "wash" the stigma, that is, to retaliate or take revenge. (Note: This "settling" is not considered a violation)
Not acknowledging responsibility for your own (professional) failure and ignorance.
Observing the responsibility of Japanese etiquette, that is, following all etiquette, strictly guarding one's status, and restraining one's emotions when things go wrong, etc.
The above "obligations" and "giri" are unconditional.In this way, the Japanese made these morals absolute, thus different from the Chinese concept of responsibility to the country and filial piety.Since the seventh century, Japan has repeatedly introduced ethical systems from China, and "chu" and "filial piety" were originally written in Chinese.However, the Chinese do not regard these morals as unconditional.In China, loyalty and filial piety are conditional, and there is a higher morality above loyalty and filial piety, that is, "benevolence", which is usually translated as "benevolence" (charity, fraternity), but its meaning includes almost all good interpersonal relationships in the West .Parents must have "benevolence".If the ruler is not "benevolent", the people can rise up against him. "Benevolence" is the prerequisite for loyalty.The reason why the emperor can enjoy the throne is because he is doing benevolent government.The same is true for civil and military officials.Chinese ethics regards "benevolence" as the touchstone for testing all interpersonal relationships.
This premise of Chinese ethics has never been accepted by Japan.The great Japanese scholar Kanichi Asagawa wrote of this difference between the two countries in the Middle Ages: "In Japan, these views were clearly incompatible with the Emperor's system, and so, even as academic theories, they were never fully accepted." In fact, "benevolence" is a virtue excluded from the ethical system in Japan, and has lost its lofty status in the Chinese ethical system.In Japan, "仁" is pronounced "jin" (still in Chinese characters). "Practicing benevolence" or "practicing benevolence and righteousness" is not a must-have morality even if you are in a high position.Because "Jin" is completely excluded from the Japanese ethical system, the formation of "Jin" has the meaning of "things outside the scope of the law".For example, advocating donations to charities, granting pardons to prisoners, and so on.But it's clearly an extra thing, not necessarily so.
"Practicing benevolence and righteousness" has another meaning of "beyond the scope of the law", which is the common moral standard among hooligans.In the Tokugawa era, those villains who made a living by killing and stealing goods (the samurai wore two swords, which was very powerful, while the rascals only wore a single sword), was like this "doing benevolence and righteousness".If a villain requests shelter from another villain who is not his accomplice, the latter will hide him in order to prevent the former accomplice from provoking trouble and revenge in the future. This is "doing benevolence and righteousness".In modern usage, "doing benevolence and righteousness" takes on an even lower status, and is often used only when discussing bad behavior that should be punished.The Japanese newspapers wrote: "What kind of benevolence and righteousness are still being practiced by the inferior laborers. This must be severely punished. The police should strictly prohibit this and prohibit the benevolence and righteousness that is still prevalent in every corner of Japan." There is no doubt that here The reference is to the kind of "robber's honour" that prevails in a gangster society.Especially those small-scale foremen in modern Japan, like the Italian contractor Padrone on the American docks from the end of the last century to the beginning of this century, signed illegal contracts with some unskilled workers, contracted projects, and profited from them.These are also called "do-jin-gi" in Japan.The Chinese concept of "benevolence" has been deprecated beyond measure here.This is how the Japanese completely distorted and belittled the most important virtue in the Chinese system, and there is no other virtue that can replace "benevolence" to restrict "duty".Therefore, filial piety has become an obligation that must be fulfilled in Japan, even including forgiving parents' evil deeds or immorality.Filial piety can be abolished only when it conflicts with duty to the Emperor, and besides it cannot be done away with, whether or not parents are worthy of respect, and whether or not they destroy one's own happiness.
There is such a story in modern Japanese movies: There is a mother who runs a restaurant with a considerable scale and is also very wealthy.Her son, a country school teacher, has married.One year, there was a catastrophe in the countryside. In order to save the family's life, a pair of peasant parents wanted to sell their school-going daughter to a brothel.In order to save her student, the teacher raised a sum of money from the villagers to redeem her life.However, the teacher's mother stole the money from her son.The son knew that his mother stole the money, but he had to bear the punishment himself.His wife found out the truth, wrote a suicide note, saying that she was responsible for the loss of money, and then threw herself into the river with the baby in her arms.After the incident was publicized, no one asked about the mother's responsibility in this tragedy.After fulfilling his filial piety, the son went to Hokkaido alone to hone his character, so that he could stand a similar test with strength in the future.This son is a hero of great character.As an American, I believe that the entire responsibility for the tragedy is clearly the mother who stole the money.However, my Japanese friend strongly disagreed with my American judgment.Filial piety often conflicts with other morals, he said.If the protagonist in the movie is a little smarter, maybe he can find a way to reconcile it without damaging his self-esteem.But if he blamed his mother for it, even in his heart, it was impossible for his self-esteem to remain intact.
Young people bear a heavy duty of filial piety after they get married. Examples of this are everywhere in novels or in real life.Except for a few "modern" figures, the marriage partners of children from good families are generally chosen by their parents through a matchmaker.It is not the son himself who cares about choosing a good wife, but his family.The reason is not only about money, but mainly because the daughter-in-law will enter the family tree, give birth to a boy, and carry on the family line.It is common practice for the matchmaker to arrange, as if by chance, for the young protagonists and heroines to meet, accompanied by their respective parents.But not talking.Sometimes the parents would arrange a favorable marriage for their son, in which the parents of the woman would get money and the man would marry into a prominent family.There are also men's parents who value the girl's character.A kind son must repay the kindness of his parents, and cannot disobey his parents' orders. After marriage, the duty of repaying the kindness continues.If he is the eldest son, he will inherit the family business and live with his parents.As we all know, the mother-in-law always dislikes the daughter-in-law, and she always finds fault with the daughter-in-law. Even if the son and the daughter-in-law are in harmony and wish to live with the daughter-in-law, the mother-in-law can drive the daughter-in-law back home and dissolve the marriage.Japanese novels and autobiographies are full of such stories, which not only describe the suffering of the wife, but also emphasize the suffering of the husband.Of course, the husband abides by filial piety and obeys the decision to dissolve the marriage contract.
There is a "modern" Japanese woman who lives in the United States.When she was in Tokyo, she took in a young pregnant woman who was kicked out by her mother-in-law.The daughter-in-law was forced to say goodbye to her grieving young husband.At that time, the daughter-in-law was suffering from an illness and was very saddened by the blow, but she did not blame her husband. Her heart gradually poured into the baby who was about to be born.Unexpectedly, as soon as the child was born, the mother-in-law brought the obedient son to ask for the baby.Of course, the baby belongs to the mother-in-law's family. After the mother-in-law took the child away, she immediately sent it to the orphanage.
All the above-mentioned behaviors are included in filial piety, and they are all debts that children must pay and receive from their parents.In the United States, these would be seen as examples of outside interference with the legitimate well-being of individuals.The Japanese cannot regard this kind of interference as "foreign", because they regard "en" as the first premise.These stories, like the American stories of honest men who paid their debts no matter how unbelievable they endured, glorify Japan's virtuous men who won self-respect and proved strong enough to endure extraordinary hardships. ordeal.Yet such ordeals, however noble, naturally leave behind loathing and resentment.Of note is the Asian proverb about "the most hated man".For example, in Burma, it is "fire, flood, thief, governor (official), bad person"; in Japan, it is "earthquake, thunder, old man (parent, father)".
Japan's filial piety is different from China's. Its scope does not include the ancestral lineage hundreds of years ago, nor does it include the huge lineage derived from it.Japanese ancestor worship is limited to close ancestors.The words on the tombstones of the ancestors have to be updated every year, but if they are ancestors whose descendants have no memory, no one cares about their tombstones, and there are no spiritual seats for them on the Buddhist altars at home.The objects of filial piety that Japan values are limited to ancestors in memory; what they pay attention to is the present and the present.Many monographs have discussed the Japanese's lack of interest in abstract speculation and the construction of unrealistic images.Compared with China, the Japanese view of filial piety just confirms this argument.The biggest and most important practical significance of their point of view is that the duty of filial piety is limited to the existing ones.
Whether in China or Japan, filial piety is not only respect and obedience to parents and ancestors.Westerners say that caring for children comes from the instinct of mothers and the sense of responsibility of fathers; Easterners think that it comes from filial piety to ancestors.On this point, Japan is very clear. The way to repay the kindness of the ancestors is to transfer the care you have received to your children.There is no specific word in Japanese for "a father's duties to his children," and all such duties are included in filial piety to parents and grandparents.Filial piety enjoins parents to perform all of the following duties: raising children, educating a son or younger brother, managing property, protecting those relatives who need protection, and countless other similar day-to-day duties.The strict limitations of Japan's institutionalized family also severely limited the number of people who could have such an obligation.According to the obligation of filial piety, after the death of the son, the parents shall support the widow and children of the son.Similarly, in case the daughter loses her husband, the daughter and her children must be adopted.However, the adoption of widowed nieces and nieces is not included in the list of "obligations".If you adopt, that is a completely different kind of obligation.It is an "obligation" to raise and educate one's children. If one raises and educates nephews and nephews, it is customary to legally adopt them as one's adopted sons.If they still maintain their status as nephews, then it is not the "obligation" of the uncles to let them receive education.
Nor does filial piety require assistance to poor immediate family members to be out of respect and love.Young widows who are adopted into a certain family are called "relatives with cold rice" because they eat only leftovers from cold rice.Anyone in that family can order her around, and, for all decisions about herself, she can only obediently obey.They are poor relatives, and so are their children.Under special circumstances, they will also receive better treatment, but this does not mean that the parents of that family have an "obligation" to treat them well.Brothers are not obliged to fulfill their duties "friendly" to each other, and even if each other admits that they are in a relationship, the elder brother can still be praised if he fulfills his duty to the younger brother.
The conflict between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is the most intense.The daughter-in-law entered the family as an outsider.She must be familiar with her mother-in-law's preferences and learn to obey her mother-in-law's temper.In many cases, the mother-in-law will bluntly declare that the daughter-in-law is not good enough for her son.In addition, we can also speculate that the mother-in-law is quite jealous of the daughter-in-law.However, just as the Japanese proverb says: "A hateful daughter-in-law still produces a lovely grandson", so there is always filial piety between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law.The daughter-in-law is always infinitely docile on the surface.However, these gentle and lovely daughters-in-law, as the generations change, will become harsh, nagging, and critical mother-in-laws, just like their former mother-in-laws.When they were young wives, they couldn't be self-willed, but they didn't really become docile people because of this.In their later years, they seem to vent their accumulated grievances on their daughter-in-law.Today, girls in Japan talk openly about the fact that it is better to marry a man who does not inherit the family business, so that he does not have to live with a domineering mother-in-law.
"Filial piety" does not mean that love is necessarily obtained in the family.In some cultures, this kind of loving-kindness is the cornerstone of morality in the extended family, but not in Japan.As one Japanese writer pointed out: "The Japanese place a great deal of emphasis on the family, and because of this, they do not place much emphasis on each member of the family and the familial ties between them." Of course, this is not necessarily the case, but roughly That's right.The key here is to bear and repay obligations. The elders have greater responsibilities, and one of the responsibilities is to supervise the young and require them to make necessary sacrifices.Even if they are unwilling, they must obey the decision of their elders, otherwise, they have not fulfilled their "obligations".
Another feature of Japanese filial piety is that rather explicit mutual resentment can be seen among family members.This phenomenon does not exist in the "obligation" equivalent to filial piety, that is, the great duty of loyalty to the emperor.Japanese politicians enshrined the Emperor as a god, completely separating him from the tumultuous reality of human life.This arrangement is really ingenious.Only in this way can the emperor play the role of unifying the people of the whole country and serving the country unanimously.It is not enough to say that the emperor is the father of the people, because although the father can ask his children to fulfill all obligations in the family, he "may not be a person worthy of respect."The emperor must be a holy father who is free from all worldly cares.Loyalty to the Emperor is a supreme virtue, and it must become a pious admiration for the imaginary, spotless, "good father."Politicians in the early Meiji period wrote after examining Western countries: The history of those countries is a history of conflict between rulers and people, which is not in line with the spirit of Japan.After returning home, they wrote in the constitution that the emperor was "sacred and inviolable" and could not be held responsible for any actions of the minister of state.The emperor is the supreme symbol of national unity in Japan rather than the responsible head of state.For about seven hundred years, the emperor has never played a role as an actual ruler, so it is not difficult for the emperor to continue to be the protagonist in the background.The only job that Meiji politicians have to do is to make all Japanese people absolutely loyal to the emperor in thought and establish this highest morality.In the feudal era, the "loyalty" of the Japanese was an obligation to the secular leader, the shogun.This long history warned Meiji statesmen of what they had to do to achieve their goal, the spiritual unity of Japan, under the new system.In previous centuries, generals acted as generalissimo and supreme ruler, and although their subordinates were loyal to him, it was not uncommon for plots to overthrow their rule and even kill their lives.Loyalty to the general often conflicts with loyalty to the feudal lord, and loyalty to the lord is often more mandatory than loyalty to the general.Because the loyalty to the lord is based on a direct master-slave relationship, in contrast, the loyalty to the general is inevitably weaker.During the period of turmoil, the attendant warriors fought even more to force the general to abdicate and support his own feudal lord.The pioneers of the Meiji Restoration and their leaders fought against the Tokugawa shogunate for a hundred years with the slogan of "loyalty to the emperor", and the emperor lived in Jiuzhong. Everyone can shape the image of the emperor according to their wishes.The Meiji Restoration was the victory of this king-respecting faction, and it was precisely because the object of "loyalty" was shifted from the general to the symbolic "emperor" that the events of 1868 were called "retroversion of kingship".The emperor continued to hide behind the scenes.He empowered his "lords" without personally running the government or the military or making policy decisions.There are still advisers - who are better selected - who run the government.The real fundamental change is in the spiritual realm, for chu has become every Japanese's tribute to the divine chief, the supreme priest and symbol of Japan's unity and eternity.
The ease with which the object of "chu" could be transferred to the emperor undoubtedly played a large role in the ancient folklore that the imperial family was descended from the god Amaterasu.But this fabled theological point is not as important as Westerners think.In fact, those Japanese intellectuals who completely rejected this theological point of view did not have any doubts about the need to be loyal to the emperor, and even the general public who accepted the theory of the emperor's divine descent did not understand it as Westerners imagined. "神" (カミ) is translated as "god" in English, but its meaning is "supreme", the pinnacle of hierarchy.Between man and god, the Japanese do not have as great a gulf as there is in the West.Every Japanese will become a god after death.In the feudal era, "loyalty" was dedicated to the leader of the hierarchy without godhood.In the process of transferring the object of "chu" to the "emperor", a very important factor is that in the entire history of Japan, there is only one imperial family, a line of ten thousand generations, who inherits the throne.Although Westerners would say that the theory of the eternal line is a lie, because the rules of succession to the throne are different from those in Britain and Germany, such accusations are useless.Japan's rules are Japan's rules. According to this rule, the emperor's lineage is "forever immortal".China has experienced thirty-six dynasties in history, but Japan has not.Although it has undergone various changes, its social organization has not disintegrated, and its model has not changed.In the 100 years before the Meiji Restoration, the anti-Tokugawa forces used the argument of "one family of ten thousand generations" rather than the theory of the emperor's divine descent.They said that since chu should be dedicated to the highest in the hierarchy, it should only be dedicated to the emperor.They raised the emperor to the position of the nation's highest priest, a role that does not necessarily imply divinity.This is more important than the descendants of the gods.
In modern Japan, various efforts have been made to shift the object of "chu" to specific people and specifically to the emperor himself.The first emperor after the Meiji Restoration was an outstanding and majestic person. He has been in power for a long time, and he has naturally become a symbol of the state that his subjects look up to.He rarely appears in public.The few times that they appeared, they all arranged ceremonies grandly and showed great reverence.The crowd crawled in front of him without making a sound, and no one dared to look up.The windows above the second floor were all tightly closed to ensure that no one could look down on the emperor from a height.His access to senior advisers was similarly hierarchical.In Japan, there is no saying that the emperor summoned the ruling officials, but a small number of privileged "Your Excellencies" who "have been given to pay homage to the emperor."He never issued edicts on controversial political issues.The content of the edicts issued are all about morality, frugality, or appease the hearts of the people after a certain problem is solved.When he was about to die, the whole of Japan almost became a big temple, and all the common people were praying for him devoutly.
In these ways, the emperor became a symbol that transcended all political disputes in the country.Like Americans' loyalty to the Stars and Stripes, which transcends all party politics, the Emperor is "sacred and inviolable."We have arranged a certain ceremony with the flag, which we think is completely inapplicable to human beings.The Japanese, on the other hand, make full use of the human value of the emperor, the highest symbol.The people can respect and love the Emperor, and the Emperor can respond.Common people would be moved to tears when they heard that the emperor "cared about the people". "For the peace of His Majesty," they could give their lives.In a culture as entirely built on relationships as Japan's, the emperor was a symbol of loyalty that meant far more than the flag.When a teacher is trained, if he says that the highest duty of man is patriotism, he will be accused of not doing enough, and must say that he is repaying the emperor.
"Chu" formed a double system between the subjects and the emperor.On the one hand, the subjects confronted the emperor directly without intermediaries, and they used their actions to reassure "His Majesty"; to their ears. "This is the imperial decree of the emperor", this sentence can evoke "chu", and its coercive power exceeds the call of any modern country.H. Lory (H. Lory) once described such a thing, in a peacetime military exercise, when an officer led a team to set off, he ordered that the water in the kettle could not be drunk without his permission.Japanese military training places great emphasis on being able to march fifty or sixty miles continuously under extremely difficult conditions.Twenty men collapsed that day, five of them dead, from thirst and fatigue.He opened the dead soldier's kettle and saw that there was not a drop of water in it. "The officer gave the order, and his order was the Emperor's order."
In civil administration, zhong enforces everything from funerals to paying taxes.Tax collectors, policemen, and local conscription officials were all intermediaries in the loyalty of subjects.According to the Japanese point of view, obeying the law is the reward for their highest grace - "Emperor's Grace".This is in the strongest contrast to the customs of the United States.Any new law -- from taillight signs on parking to income taxes -- is viewed by Americans as an interference with individual liberty in individual affairs and sparks outrage across the country.Federal law is doubly suspect because it interferes with the legislative powers of the states as imposed on the nation by the Washington bureaucracy.Many citizens feel that no amount of opposition to those laws can satisfy national self-respect.Therefore, the Japanese think that Americans are lawless, and we say that they are tame people who lack democratic ideas.Perhaps it is more realistic to say that the national self-esteem of the two countries is linked to different attitudes.In the United States, self-esteem is associated with doing one's own affairs; in Japan, self-esteem is associated with repaying favors to benefactors.Each of these customs has its own difficulties: ours is that laws, even for the good of the whole country, are hardly accepted.Their trouble is that the whole life is under the shadow of a debt of gratitude.Perhaps every Japanese can find a way to avoid breaking the law and avoid demanding on some occasions.They also appreciate a certain kind of violence, direct action, and private revenge that Americans disapprove of.Yet despite these reservations, and others that could be enumerated, chu's dominance over the Japanese remains beyond doubt.
When Japan surrendered on August 14, 1945, Chu displayed incredible power throughout the world.Many Westerners who had experience or knowledge of Japan believed that it was impossible for Japan to surrender.They claimed that it was naive to imagine that the Japanese troops spread across the islands of Asia and the Pacific would peacefully lay down their arms.Many units of the Japanese army had not yet suffered regional defeat, and they were convinced that their war was just.The mainland islands of Japan are full of recalcitrants.The occupying force—the vanguard of which could only be small—runs the risk of being slaughtered if it advances beyond the range of the naval guns.In war, the Japanese can do anything!They are a warlike people.Such American analysts do not take into account the role of zhong.The emperor spoke and the war was over.Stubborn opponents surrounded the palace in an attempt to prevent the truce from being announced before the emperor's voice was broadcast.But once announced, they all obeyed.No one objected, whether it was the front-line commanders in Manchuria, or Java, or the local Tojos.When our troops landed at the airport, they were greeted politely.One of the foreign journalists wrote that he kept his hand on the pistol when he landed in the morning, put the gun away at noon, and went to the streets to buy daily necessities leisurely in the evening.The Japanese are now reassuring "His Majesty" by observing peace.And a week ago, they vowed to repel Yidi with bamboo spears to make "Your Majesty feel at ease"!
There is nothing inconceivable about this attitude, except for those in the West who do not recognize that the emotions governing human behavior are subject to change.Some people claim that the Japanese nation can only be exterminated and have no other way out; others maintain that Japan can only be saved if the liberals take power and overthrow the current government.These two analyzes are understandable if we are talking about a Western country that is going all-out, supported by the whole people, and engaged in an all-out war.However, they think that Japan's course of action is basically the same as that of Western countries, which is wrong.Even months after the peaceful occupation of Japan, some Westerners predicted that all chances were lost because there had been no Western-style revolution in Japan, or because "the Japanese did not understand that they had been defeated."This statement is a Western social philosophy based on the Western standard of truth.However, Japan is not a Western country, and it has not adopted the last force of the Western countries: revolution.Nor has it confronted the occupying forces with methods such as passive destruction.They use their own inherent power, that is, they can ask themselves to pay the huge price of unconditional surrender as "loyalty" before their combat power is completely destroyed.In their view, this huge price is still valuable, they have obtained the most cherished things, and they have the right to say: This is the emperor's order, even if it is an order to surrender.In other words, even if you surrender, the highest law is still "loyalty".
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