You may have heard before about the phenomenon of "karoshi" spread in Japan, which means death from a lot of stress and psychological pressure, that phenomenon affects workers who work more than 80 hours a week without the ability to complain or leave work, and their bodies do not bear this burden for a long time (1).
Emptying energy, anger and crying are relatively easy ways to break free from these pressures, as some studies by Dr. William Fry, a biochemist at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, who is called the "tear expert", indicated that crying reduces the hormones secreted in the body as a result of stress and have negative effects on the heart and blood circulation (2). But the Japanese don't seem to cry, and suppressing emotions is a culture rooted in the Japanese people's consciousness.
Why is Japan not crying?
When Japanese behavioral science professor Masaaki Yuki traveled to the United States, he was amazed by the facial expressions that his American students write in emails next to their speech, often ending their speech with a smiley, sad or laughing face, depending on their feelings in the dialogue.
Unlike Japanese animated films and stories show an excess of emotions and sometimes crying, the Japanese really don't tend to express their feelings in public at all. (Shutterstock)
These explicit expressions of feelings through facial features are not widespread in Japan, which prompted Masaki to try to understand the difference between the ability of Japanese people to express their feelings through their features, and the same ability in other cultures, especially American and European.
In a 2007 study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology, "Are the Soul Windows the Same in East and West? Cultural differences in the use of the eyes and mouth as indicators of emotion recognition in Japan and the United States", Masaki and his research team tried to understand this difference, when he realized that American people are more open to showing emotions over facial expressions, unlike Japanese people, who do not show many emotions in front of others.[3]
The researchers also found in this study that Japanese people determine the feelings of others according to their eyes, unlike Americans, who tend to identify the feelings of those they interact with through their mouth expressions, and this may be reflected in the difference between electronic facial expressions that originated from American culture, which focuses on changing the shape of the mouth only, and Japanese animation, which depicts wide eyes and full of emotions.
However, unlike the overexpression and sometimes crying of Japanese animated films and stories, Japanese people are actually not inclined to express their feelings in public at all.3
WA Culture
Japanese society expects people to hide their true feelings and opinions in many circumstances in order to maintain harmony, from facial expressions to crying. (Shutterstock)
"A man does not cry", a word that may have been heard in some Arab societies, when parents try to raise their male children to cohesion and intensity, but in Japan it is different, crying and showing feelings to everyone, even women, is a sign of weakness, and most importantly, if someone cries in a public place or among a group of his colleagues - from the point of view of Japanese culture - it makes them feel uncomfortable and disturbs the harmony in the place.
This culture is passed on by the Japanese people from one generation to another, so that children in public places are difficult to express their feelings, and do not cry in front of others as happens in other cultures, and the reason behind this is an ancient culture called the culture of "Wa", which means "harmony".
The culture of "wa" has been established in Japan since the early years of the formation of that civilization, and its goal is harmony and harmony between members of society in any council, and the individual's lack of interest in himself only, but interest in the entire community, and not to prefer himself to the group, so if you are sad in a place with a group of individuals spending an ordinary day, do not cry in front of them so as not to disturb this harmony and harmony, which made the Japanese people see crying as something that disturbs society and causes tension others.
Because of this culture, Japanese society expects people to hide their true feelings and opinions in many circumstances in order to maintain harmony, from facial expressions to crying(4). But after the world realized the importance of crying, and the comfort and sense of liberation it brings to the soul, and the spread of psychological studies that emphasize the importance of showing and expressing feelings, it was Japan's turn to learn to cry through a new culture that emerged in Japan in the last ten years, called "rui-katsu" or "the pursuit of tears" (5).
Who wipes the tears of Japanese women?
In times of grief, women usually want someone to wipe away their tears, but in Japanese society this was not an option for all women who were raised not to disturb the harmony of family and society. (Shutterstock)
"Rui-katsu" or "pursuit of tears" is a culture that has recently emerged in Japan, and Japan usually uses the word "katsu", which means "pursuit" by combining it with other words to express the pursuit of work, love or any other goal, and then the word "rui-katsu" appeared to form what was then called "a new fashion in Japan", where groups began practicing this activity together in order to relieve stress and feel relaxed.
This term first appeared at the hands of the Japanese businessman "Hiroki Tirai", whose job at that time was to organize and plan divorce procedures for couples who decided to separate from each other, and Hiroki aimed to reach what he called "happy divorce", as a way to psychologically qualify the couple to start a new happy life after separation.
After Hiroki began this activity in 2009, he discovered that divorce arrangements and parties he held for couples to express their pent-up feelings caused large groups of them to reverse the divorce decision, asserting that they became happier after expressing their feelings.6 So, in 2013, businessman Hiroki Terai started a new business dedicated to women only to train them to show emotions.
In times of grief, women usually want someone to wipe their tears, endure and contain the moments of crying with them, but in Japanese society this was not an option for all women who were raised not to disturb the harmony of family and society. Hiroki decided to create a place where women could cry and express their feelings, for a fee. However, over time, in the last few years, it is no longer limited to women, but some men have timidly begun to join these therapeutic groups in order to relieve stress on their souls.7
Hiroki aims, according to his statements, to create a new concept opposite to the concept of "Gross National Happiness" or increase national happiness, which is the concept of "Gross National Tear" or encourage and promote national tears, explaining that from his point of view, Japan as a whole will be a much better country if its people cry, then the Japanese people will live with less psychological pressure and tension, and with greater energy as well (8).
Headfumi Yoshide. Japan's First Crying Master
After years of suppressing emotions and holding back tears, it has not been easy for Japanese people to cry and express their feelings clearly, as noted by Hidefumi Yoshide, a former secondary school teacher in Japan, who calls himself "Namida sensei" or "teacher of tears." So, since 2015, Headfumi has been touring schools and companies around Japan and giving lectures on the importance of crying, helping attendees to cry through sad songs, reading books with touching stories or even showing a sad film to stimulate tears in the eyes of attendees.9
Headfumi's work at his school was similar to the specialty of a social worker in our schools, telling of a student who used to come to consult him on personal matters on a regular basis, but he stopped visiting him after the last session between them where the student cried and his feelings exploded in front of his teacher, which made him unable to face him. Headfumi was deeply moved by this attitude, which led him to travel around Japan to teach both men and women to cry.
With the help of Hideo Arrita, a professor of psychiatry at Toho University School of Medicine, Headfumi has visited hundreds of lecture venues and other activities in the past few years to create awareness about the benefits of crying, most of which are free of charge.10
"Many studies say that crying strengthens the immune system, and I have experienced this myself, as I used to catch colds frequently and quickly, but after my new work in teaching crying and shedding tears with those I teach, I rarely get colds" (11).
Certainly, the desire to cry is entrenched in the hearts of the Japanese like the rest of humanity, but the culture of achievement that colored their lives is what made tears hide behind faces that do not carry any expression, and the biggest evidence of this is the annual event held in Tokyo called "Crying Sumo Festival" or the Children's Crying Festival, in which babies compete for who will cry first and who will cry the most, through the appearance of men wrestling and wearing scary masks to cause terror in the hearts of children, And the child who cries first is the winner. This ritual arose because of the long-standing conviction of Japanese people that crying can drive away evil spirits, but now it is held for the purpose of following the traditions that have kept the event going on for many years.12
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