Hello, I am Yoshi from NILS Japanese language school. We would like to talk about Japanese spirit or mentality. Today’s topic is “恥（はじ）” or shame.
Shame is a painful emotion caused by an awareness of foolish or wrong behavior. The famous anthropologist Ruth Benedict characterized Japanese people as living within a “shame culture” as opposed to the “guilt culture” of the Western people. While guilt is more of an internal moral principle, a sense of shame is ruled by eternal moral standards. It is said, this principle was developed among Japanese warriors who often considered a sense of honor to be more important than their own lives. Some people argue that this definition was oversimplified and the Japanese have universal ethical principles, too. It is ture though that the Japanese people possess a national character which is very afraid of public embarrassment. People use the expression, “losing face” or “面目を失う（めんぼくをうしなう）,” when they disgrace themselves in public.

March 7th News, from NILS Japanese language school.