Traditional Japanese Culture Essay

From the interactive oral presentation on the Japanese vs. Western Social norms, I have learned a tremendous amount on how Mishima incorporated traditional Japanese and western influences in the novel to portray the loss of traditional Japanese culture within the Japanese society. The Japanese mind is very pragmatic. They emphasize on immediate experience as opposed to the westernized analytical thinking. We see this through the character of Ryuji when he proposed to Fusako as he told her very bluntly without giving extra thought. We also see this through Noboru as he reacts to the actions of Ryuji very impulsively through his charges. We also establish that the Japanese are very introverted which is depicted through the characters of Ryuji, Noboru and Fusako as they keep very isolated and to themselves. Dealing with the traditional Japanese religions of Shintoism and Buddhism, their beliefs have been mirrored in the character of Ryuji. For example, his death. His death in the Shinto religion would be seen as very impure, contradictory to his death in the Buddhist religion would be seen as very …show more content…

For example, traditionally Japanese people hold practical views on marriage and believe that love dies when you die, contrary to western beliefs that love is eternal. You see how Ryuji and Fusako’s love is very westernized in this sense. Furthermore, in traditional Japanese culture, mother and child are very close to one another. They co-sleep together for a very long period of time which is the opposite of westernized cultures which practice their children to sleep alone from a very young age. Traditional Japanese mothers also punish through verbal aggression and guilt whilst westernized mothers would punish physically. You can see many instances of traditional and westernized mother and child relationships between Fusako and Noboru through the