Survivor

Recently I was at a party, where all the Westerners were sitting around talking, and we didn’t even realize the two Japanese girls had taken the small circular cake and somehow managed to cut into 14 equal pieces. It was about an hour before we realized they were measuring sizes and comparing number of fruits on the cake. I pondered their reasoning in semi-shock, considering the depth of their sense of fairness. What is fair to you? I think fairness is a balance that does not equal sameness, but “levels the playing field” to create equality. I would take any piece that looked generally the same. But in Japan, fairness means exactitude. Everyone is more or less that same as far as background features and growing up. Students must have similar haircuts, uniforms, bags, shoes, gloves, etc etc. There is a chart to determine what students should look like. I am not kidding. There are many examples of what people would consider fair here. Children are taught in the same manner, no matter whether they are very smart or lived in an English-speaking country or are slow learners. It doesn’t matter; it must be fair. Teachers must switch schools every few years, to give everyone a chance with all good teachers. If someone fails a grade level, they move on anyway, because they had the same chance as everyone else. A teacher was forgotten in the food division at school lunchtime and 3 ran to get a bowl and wash it and ran around trying to make sure they got an equal share. In the classroom when one team wins, and gets a prize and the other team gets very upset because somehow it’s not fair to them. Why should only half the class win prizes when they all tried hard? A win for one side is a win for the other and that’s what they’re taught since kindergarten. All for One and One for All. When one person in the class doesn’t do their homework, the entire class has to write another page. So that’s how 127 million people survive on an island the size of California, with a population density near India’s (50% of the people live on 2% of the land). Try to be exactly fair in every way. Yes indeed, the nail that sticks out must get hammered down here, or there wouldn’t be enough room for the stuck-out nails. Sticking out would create an unhinged, unequal society. This small island chooses to survive through what is socially considered fair as they have for thousands of years. And they continue to do so, with 90% of the population in the middle class. Whether or not you choose to work hard or play hard, you are part of this society, and as such, you deserve an equal piece of cake. Hmm…I don’t necessarily agree…but, I don’t necessarily disagree with sharing my hard-won cake…Now that I think about it, 1% of America is eating 90% of the cake, so perhaps the Japanese sameness is the only way to ensure equality, starting with something as simple as splitting the fruit.