Relationships and Tradition: The Social Threads Holding Japan Together
I understand today’s question as this.
You want to know why the Senior/Junior relationship is so prominent in Japan.
So today, let’s talk about the words you so often here in anime or manga. Senpai/Kouhai.
Instead of fiction, I want to share with you the structure of Senpai/Kouhai and how it affects our society.
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My Own Experience
Let’s start with a bit of my own past.
40 years ago, in my first year of university, I joined the martial arts club.
It was a mix up of 100 students in total and around 20 ~ 30 students per year level.
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When we, the 1st years, joined the 2nd years immediately gathered us up.
And told us one phrase. I remember it very vividly.
They said: “Treat the 4th year students like gods”…
The 4th year students, at the time, were only 3 years older than me.
But they were my seniors. So I had to treat them that way. It was the norm.
And as you got older and older, your presence became absolute.
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To me, this was kind of dumb rule.
All of my life has, up to that point, been devoted to martial arts.
And honestly, I could beat almost all of the seniors who were considered “above” me.
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But even then, it was objectively clear that the seniors were considered “better”.
Not in terms of skill, but rather in terms of their worth.
Their value was dictated by ranking in the hierarchy, which itself was determined by age.
It contradicted my own theory that “strength” is what’s valued in martial arts.
Clearly, [seniority > strength] was what was occurring. In a martial-art club of all things.
But wait. What even is a senior?
A senior is one who joined the group before you did [year-wise].
For us, it was those who joined 1 year prior.
Juniors were those that joined 1 year after.
And our colleagues were the ones who joined in the same year.
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Okay, but here is the interesting part.
These relations weren’t created strictly on ones age.
No, there were plenty of juniors who joined 2 ~ 3 years later than their cohort.
They took a gap year, or just redid the central exam [1] until they got accepted.
And Yes, I still vividly remember some who were much older than me.
Yet, as I had joined the club earlier, I was above them in the hierarchy. I was their Senior. And they were my juniors.
So in a sense, (age ≄ status within group).
It’s an interesting phenomenon.
It doesn’t matter whether your 後輩(junior) was older than you or not.
Everything relied on when they joined the group.
How about in the real world?
It truly was surprising seeing this in the real-world as well.
Although the differences were not as severe, the same existed in the work-force.
The juniors would look-up to the seniors.
And those who joined in the same batch, colleagues, would form some sort of unity.
That was what was believed to be the social norm.
How about in the rest of the world?
Okay… here’s a question、 do you think this system of 先輩・後輩・同期 exists in isolation in Japan?.
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yes?…
Well then, let’s take a look at our geographical neighbor.
Both Korea and China use a similar 先輩・後輩 system.
And change your perspective a little and you see the same system everywhere.
An example: The boarding school system in the UK.
I know you have watched Harry Potter before so let’s use that to elaborate.
Harry Potter.
When Harry goes to school, they’re the seniors that act like absolute beings.
Harry and his friends have to treat them as absolute beings – everywhere they go.
In turn, Harry and his classmates become life-long colleagues and form bonds.
Yes, Harry Potter is not the most realistic representation of the real-world.
But it’s amazing at illustrating what life ‘can be like’.
So in essence, when someone tries to join a ‘fixed society’, the senior, junior, and colleague hierarchies are naturally formed.
This I strongly believe.
Unique differences between American and Japan.
From the looks of things, there is this phenomenon everywhere.
So why don’t we now consider how it looks in the US.
The land of freedom and achievement, that’s the image you have right?
Well…
To an extent I say it’s a good representation.
Within the corporate world, there is no general senior/junior relationship.
It really can be considered flat, in comparison to Japan.
I can personally vouch for this. Having had the pleasure to work with many American colleagues throughout my life.
They have a system that’s quite unlike the one in Japan.
But, in turn, there is huge gap between the boss-employee relationship.
It was to the point where there were doubts if it was even flat.
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In a sense, America has a relationship that’s on a different scale compared to Japan.
So where would you like to work?
Japan where there are multiple hierarchies at different positions?
Or the US, where there is one clearly defined boss-employee relationship?
Personally, I would choose Japan. (No bias).
It’s because I feel that multiple hierarchies grant greater flexibility and opportunities to adapt to new changes.
Conclusion
This all fits in well with the Confucianism ideal of respecting your elders. [1].
And that’s mainly why it’s so easy to be adopted in Eastern Countries. [2]
But that doesn’t mean it only exists here.
In countries with similar, fixed structures, a close replica will be naturally formed.
The bad being that taken too far, it can lead to bullying and even harassment.
It’s not uncommon to see worker harassment news anywhere around the world right?.
But to me. This relationship between senior/junior is what aids in cohesion and order within the group.
Thus it’s not necessarily always bad. It can be helpful in many ways too.
[1]: Filial Piety: the idea that children must respect their elders. A view that is commonly accepted in Eastern Asia. Another form of maintaining Social Order and Cohesion.
[2]: In this case, the Eastern countries that we are referring to are: Japan, China, Korea.
[3]: Learn more about Confucianism in Japan, check out our other blogs. Click Here.