The uniqueness of the Japanese Brain

A friend recently sent me an interview with Tadanobu Tsunoda, a best selling doctor whose books champion the idea that Japanese brains are unique among humans. For Dr. Tsunoda this is not a function of genetics but rather of linguistics, as he believes that learning Japanese at a young age programs the brain to be left brain centric. In books such as The Japanese brain: Uniqueness and university he discusses how this influences behavior and abilities.

Ontologically this theory is part of a concept called Nihonjinron, which postulates Japanese uniqueness based on several factors. According to Wikipedia these include:

• Uniqueness: Japan, its people, culture, ways of thinking, social behavior, language, etc., are unique
• This uniqueness of the Japanese is rooted in the distinctive characteristics of the Japanese race or ethnos
• Ahistorical essentialism: The peculiarities of the Japanese remain unaltered essentially throughout history, and indeed, it is often asserted, are derived from a prehistorical world
• Homogeneity: The Japanese are homogeneous as a people, race, or ethnic community
• Language: The Japanese language contains words and phrases that cannot be adequately translated into other languages, demonstrating the uniqueness of the Japanese race.

In interactions with other cultures this aspect of Japanese thought has been coupled with a second idea that Japan should share these unique insights with other peoples who are not privy to such perspectives. In the previous century Japan’s New Religions such as the Omooto movement and its leader Onisaburo Deguchi believed that Japan’s holy mission was to bring enlightenment to the world through its unique link with the divine.

In matters of culture, the expansionary phase of the first half of the century gave rise to a practice of supplanting local customs in lands occupied by Japan such as Korea, Formosa and Manchuria. Japanese arts, crafts and even names were forced onto the native population in what was described as magnanimous gesture. Interestingly this cultural imperialism continues to be heralded as proof of Japan’s benevolent intentions in occupying foreign lands, as a means of protecting Asian neighbors from the oppression of the West while civilizing and modernizing its inhabitants.

In the past decade Nihonjinron has moved into the field of economics according to Christopher Wood in his book “The End of Japan Inc.”. After the fall of the Soviet Union, Japanese economists travelled to Russia to propose unsuccessfully that the country adopt Japan’s “unique” statist model as a superior alternative to the failed ideas of communism and the expectedly failing ideas of Western Capitalism.

This same perspective appears in technology where Japan continues to unilaterally develop its iMode system despite its incompatibility with accepted global standards, due to a belief in its inherent superiority. The inability of Japanese cell phone manufacturers to break into other markets worldwide is difficult to understand from this view, considering how well they fit the needs of the domestic market.

In this vein I read a piece in the Times last month discussing Google Japan’s secondary status in the country behind Softbank Yahoo. Google Japan’s president considers the situation to be another teaching moment where Japan can impart to an otherwise successful foreign concern how Asian markets should be targeted.

Actually I agree with him though from another perspective. Japan’s inwardly focused culture will provide Google not with a blueprint for widespread adoption but rather a template for handling exceptionalism in other equally self referential environments.