Kyoto
Out for a walk, trying to stave off jet lag. Japan is plus 15 hours from SF, and the flight is 11 hours, so from an 11 AM departure, I am in the fog two days later, wanting to sleep when the world around me is awake.
I’ve been fascinated by Japan since I first visited at age 15 for a summer exchange program in 1964. During that trip, among the most moving experiences was sitting at the ceremony in Hiroshima, commemorating that most terrible event. The ability of this culture to have absorbed that and all else that WWII brought, to have suffered the war years and the harshness of the ensuing occupation, and then to have dusted off the defeat and forged into the economic miracle that became the second half of the 20th Century…just boggles the mind. Even then, they had shifted remarkably to acceptance and learning when confronted by Americans. Now, for all the challenges that last decade might suggest as the Japanese have endured stagnant economic growth, it is us who might want to emulate them.
I’m here to speak about the non-profit sector and what it has to offer those interested in social change. They have literally invented the NPO Sector, as they refer to it, over the past decade, and they are well along to making it a fixture in Japanese society. But this is not the area from which WE have to learn. We might learn a lot from them about how to manage limited resources, imported energy, and a rapidly changing economic outlook.
Japan is different from the US. It is socially homogenous in a way the US will never be, and that produces both benefits and challenges. But they have got some things very much right. Waste is frowned upon. Recycling is a way of life. Transit is extraordinarily well developed, and urban landscapes are pedestrian friendly. Though their ubiquitous advertising has more in common with “Bladerunner,” they have evolved a savings, not a consumption culture.
Among the most notable things, though, is the degree to which politeness is deeply ingrained in the culture. During my walk, I passed by a construction site. As with most commercial driveways, there was a security person ensuring people and vehicles maintained safe passages. As I approached, he conferred with the survey team blocking the way, then turned to me, and with a deep bow, showed me the way. A most remarkable experience.?
Also of interest: