Prisoners of History
The Perception Gap between Japan and Russia
1997,8,25 Akio Kawato Between 1991 and 1994 I was in charge of public relations and cultural exchange at the Embassy of Japan in Moscow. This was the most fascinating time in my life,being able to witness one of the most remarkable changes in modern history. Freedom created by Glasnost' and the Russian people's repentence of their Government's past aggressive foreign policy provided us with a wondeful environment for public relations aimed at long-term confidence building and the improvement of
understanding on the Northern Territories issue. I enjoyed extensive contact with Russians from all walks of life.
The diplomat's job of building a bridge of mutual understanding is often an unrewarding one, not because of insufficient salary, but because of large perception gaps deeply rooted in peoples' minds. My contacts with the Russian media and
the Russian people were sometimes encouraging and sometimes frustrating.
Japan's Ambassador at that time, Mr.Edamura,an excellent communicator, gave many interwiews to the Russian media. One day an interviewer, a fairly young lady, told me how surprised she was to see the Ambassador wearing a suit, rather than a Kimono. I was even more shocked by her naivete. On another occasion I myself
gave an interview on live radio-broadcasting, in which I explained the Japanese
position on the territorial issue. If done in a calm,reasonable way, such an explanation was generally well received and understood by the Russian people, especially younger people. But on that occasion an elderly man called the station, declaring unilaterally that no matter what I said, the Russians would never give up Manchuria to Japan.
So much for the introduction. Now allow me to speak about the Russian public's perception of Japan. The Russian people's attitude toward Japan is not uniform. It differs, depending upon age, place of residence, profession, gender etc.. Incidentally, some people even consider that Hiroshi Kimura and Shigeki Hakamada are the names of the Japanese Prime Minister. It might come true some day, though. The elderly and people of lower income and educational levels tend to be less
interested in Japan, while general feeling of the Russian public toward Japan is favourable,only marred by the Japan's territorial claim.
An understanding of contemporary Japan is not too out-dated: a majority of the people consider Japan to be a technologically advanced country and not quite “Asiatic" in a negative sense of the word. However, not many people realize that Japan is now the number two economic power in the world. Interest in Japan is greater in Moscow and the Far East than in other regions. If Moscovites are more interested in culture, in the Far East the economy is more important.
However, there are misunderstandings and stereotypes carried over from the past. Many people still believe that Japan is the country, where the Emperor is the ruler, where the income gap is large, and where the people are diligent, protective of their own dignity, but cunning toward foreigners.
All in all, the Russian peoples' understanding of Japan is no worse than in USA and Europe. In view of the consciously conducted negative propaganda against Japan in the past, for example the Samurais' “cunning attack" on Port Arthur,this is a fairly good basis for the future. A lot of credit should be given to people like Ovchinnikov and the late Tsvetov, and many other brave people, some of whom are here today. I should also mention the greater part of the Russian media which is maintaining a generally positive approach in its reporting on Japan.
However, much remains to be done. The development of a clearer understanding of contemporary Japan is crucial. The real process of decision-making in the Japanese Government should be better understood. The bottom-up nature of Japanese decision making, the legalistic way of thinking of Japanese bureaucrats, their meticulous approach to fiscal accountability, and the strength of the Ministry of Finance all tend to make Japanese policy look “unpolitical", slow in reaction and “bookkeeper-like" as a Russian newspaper once described it. This is remarkably
different from the Russian style of decision-making, especially in foreign policy: top-down, strategically-minded and very “political", sometimes neglecting financial, economic feasibility.
The legacy of Marxism and the “Cold War" still lingers in the psychology of some Russian people. In analyzing things, they tend to presuppose a malicious intention or conspiracy on the part of the partner( ПＰЕЗУМПЦИЯ ＢИНＯＢНＯＣТИ). But, in many cases Japanese decision-making is a product of many factors: strategy in the best case, rivalry among interested Ministries, pressure
from the Parliament, social opinion, etc.. A simplistic conspiracy theory damages mutual relations. In October of 1993 Russian nuclear waste dumping in the Japan Sea caused an uproar in the Japanese media. Some Russian jounalists took it as an almost intentional anti-Russian maneuver instigated by the Japanese Government.
Many Russians still believe that Japan is a highly centralized state, where even the mass media is under the control of the Government. The communists willingly describe Japan as a model where the economy is run by the Government. The relative and dynamic nature of Japan's decision-making should be better understood. Access of Russian correspondents to the Japanese Government should be encouraged. During my posting in Moscow, Russian jounalists in Tokyo sometimes merely forwarded to Moscow translations of Japanese newspaper articles in which statements by Japanese politicians were misquoted or misinterpreted. When such information is carried by the Russian media, it engenders unnecessary negative repercussions. Therefore, in Moscow many journalists call the Embassy, asking for confirmation of one or another statement by Japanese politicians and officials. Similar opportunities should be accorded to Russian jounalists in Tokyo, who are the main source of information on Japan for the Russian media.
The study of Japan abroad owes much to Russian scholars such as Eliseyev and Konrad. It started from the humanities. Japanese traditional culture was studied
in depth, extracting several traits of the so-called “Japanese national character": collectivistic, Confucian, etc.. Many people consider these traits to be invariable, and maintain stereotyped views of Japan as: collectivistic, servile, unimaginative, humourless, descriminatory towards women, etc..
These people overlook the gradual but fundamental change in values in post-war Japan. The influx of American culture and economic development are changing the nature of Japanese society. In fact, a similar change in values and behaviour took place in Western European society in the 17th century. Some people, however, do not want to admit such changes in Japan and in Asia. Consciously or unconsciously, they want to maintain the intellectual supremacy of Russians over Japanese. Russian intellectuals are more “westernized" in behaviour and ways of thinking because Russia accepted Western European culture 100 years earlier than Japan
did. Russian intellectuals began to compensate for their inferiority complex toward the West by denigrating the Asians. On the other hand, Japanese today tend to neglect Russia because of her economic failure, thus compensating for their own feelings of inferiority vis-a-vis the West. This is a childish game of “Who is better".
Unfortunately stereotypical perceptions of the Japanese are sometimes strengthened as a result of direct contact with certain Japanese who seem, to Russian intellectuals, to be insufficiently responsive, imaginative and humane. Lack of understanding is mostly the product of history, but it can be exacerbated by unhappy encounters today.
The younger generation is more open and free from prejudices in any country. The Russians are not an exception. They are more interested in Japan than their elders, less suspicious about the Japanese and more open to the solution of the territorial issue. However, there are two sides to the coin. From time to time I
observed how liberal and individualistic Russian youngsters have become. But they read less than their parents did and do. They obtain information not from written materials, but from TV and from direct contacts. Cheap American movies, in which Japanese are depicted as odd, exotic and inhumane creature, are very often
aired on the Russian television. Kung-fu movies are taken as representative of Japanese culture, leaving a distorted impression about the Japanese. The so-called “Japan-bashing" in the USA a few years ago, reflected in such films, produced
negative effects in the minds of the Russian people, too. This “revisionist" thinking vis-a-vis Japan was accepted by many Russians partly because of their admiration of anything American, and partly because of their desire to tie up with the USA against Japan.
Returning to the attitude of the younger generation of Russians, I was once shocked in Yekaterinburg to encounter a young businessman, who bluntly stated that he was not interested in doing business with the Japanese because they were “incongenial and slow in business". This is a real problem. Knowledge gained from written materials does not convince these young Russians;only their own experience can change their minds.
Misperception is a product of history. Lack of information exacerbates this. While the dissemination of information to the Russian people has become much easier both politically and technically, ironically enough Russians today read less. Person to person contacts do help but not always. Then what could be done to improve the Russian people's understanding of Japan and the territorial issue? Some Japanese maintain that if the Russians knew more about Japan and the territorial issue, then they would condone the return of the islands to Japan. Yes, such
public-relations activity should be continued. Many Russians will be convinced of the rightness of the Japanese cause, according to my own experience. However,
we have to keep in mind that good public relations is not a panacea. It is merely one component of a bigger policy. I witnessed many instances where the Russians were convinced “in theory" by Japan's position, and yet remained suspicious not only because of the fear that the solution of the Northern Territories issue might lead to an avalanche of other territorial claims, but also because of their traditional distrust of any official “propaganda", domestic or foreign.
Efforts to convince people remind one of election campaigns. People cannot be
persuaded by mere words. If they do not see future benefits for themselves, they will not vote. Therefore, both the Japanese and the Russian Governments should
endeavour to create conditions in which the Russian people will see benefits in
improving ties with Japan and in solving the territorial issue. Public relations activity should be continued with a priority, however, on building the image of Japan as a friend to Russia.
Japanese-Russian relations used to be one of the “fronts" of rivalries between the European colonialism and Japan's surging power. A lot of enmity was engendered because of this. But today we live in a totally different world. Enmity which originated during the course of our past history must be terminated once and for all by the development of that history.
I limit myself here to describing the Russian misperception of Japan. Outdated and distorted views on Russia exist in Japan,too. These present equally serious problems. Perhaps, these two situations should be discussed simultaneouly.