In Japanese educational institutions, starting with kindergarten and ending with the end of one's life, citizens are learnt how to be responsible. Children in schools are responsible for cleaning their schools; classes, corridors, walls, stairs, every bit and everywhere in the school. THERE are no workers for cleaning! The same is in hospitals - doctors, nurses and hospital's president- clean every bit everywhere in the hospita ; companies, factories and night clubs too! There is no shame to clean the sidewalks and the surrounding areas of own place of work; surely the same implies on the residence areas. No governor, a worker, or an official to be blamed for any shortage of the cleaning issue; all the blame and the shame fall on the citizens themselves.
The equalizer sense of being GUILTY in our society is the sense of being ASHAMED in Japan. In Egypt, God is our judge and in Japan society is. The merciful God forgives and gives more chances to repent, but the society in Japan is merciless and cruel!
When people know how to be responsible, they can build a civilized and advanced society. They will stop recalling the memories of kings and presidents, and accuse them of all what they themselves failed to correct. Society, whether it is a nursery or a big country, is owned by its people; the leader is just a representative of people, and when they fail to correct their leaders' mistakes, they should take the responsibility courageously otherwise they are irresponsible and worth all conclusions.
In Egypt, we were lucky enough to be the first nation which worshipped one God, but we betrayed Akhnaton and worshipped the pharaohs, and the process continued until today! Every time we damn the leader, and what else can do the irresponsible?!
When a governor or a minister in Japan is found guilty or irresponsible, there are only two alternatives to his remaining days in life; one is to commit suicide, and the other is to go on trial and lose his credibility in society; a social homicide. In Egypt, he will be transferred to a post in ministry of tourism before moving on pension!!!
Japan is a very special country with very distinctive culture and traditions. the most interesting thing in Japan is that you may form an idea or image about it when you read a book; you also can enrich your image by watching a documentary or historical movie about the chain of islands in the far east. When you visit Japan, your image will be soon changed and the idea will be replaced by a different one. If you have a chance to live longer in Japan, you will discover that all your previous ideas and images were illusion!! and the amazing society is absolutely different !!
Discussing the Japanese culture and way of thinking, and comparing it with the Egyptian one is a very huge subject which needs much efforts and time to be covered, but I'd like to start by narrating my impression of the idea of "Groupism" (Group-think) represented by the Japanese society on contrary to the sense of "Individuality", which might be seen clearer in the Egyptian society.
I was just a new comer to Japan when I started Japanese language courses before joining the graduate school in Miyazaki*or the southern paradise of Japan as they call it. There was a project of constructing a new facility in the university; one day I saw five or six workers of the project gathered and began a long discussion on how to move a rock to another nearby site. I was surprised to watch them talking and discussing the very easy task. It took from me a few minutes before I could imagine how the rock could be moved. The workers had taken the same steps I thought about after a long discussion lasted for about thirty minutes. when I told the story later to a Japanese friend, he taught me a lesson about the Japanese mentality and culture; he said that Japanese in general cannot take the responsibility of taking decisions individually even if the matter is an easy one!! He mentioned a Japanese proverb says, "Same like the others, I am safe". He added that taking the responsibility is very hard, and individuals cannot afford it , otherwise committing mistakes' result is committing suicide or in vain trying to escape society's punishment. I guess that there is no need to analyze the Egyptian way concerning this point but I'd like to mention the Egyptian expression , "Fahlawa", and I leave the rest to the readers' judgment.
* The historical name of Miyazaki means "Land facing the sun." It is by this name that Miyazaki is mentioned in the Nihonshoki, one of Japan's oldest written chronicles of history, as the cradle of Japanese civilization.
The structure of the Japanese social and economic system is rather amazing and remarkable. If you are a worker in a construction company in Egypt, you will get a salary could be equal to a fourth or less of the salary of an engineer; the engineer will have a third or less of the salary of the supervisors , the head managers...... etc. And if you own the company, you will be able to have more than an account in European banks.
In Japan, the worker will get eighty or ninety percent of the salary of the engineer; the later will have around the same percentage of the salary of sections and head managers; and all of them , including the owner, can be able to own expensive and fashionable houses at the same district or area !! Japan is not, and was not a communist country at any time of its history.
Being a big producer of cars, owning a car there is not hard or difficult at all. "A house - or an apartment- for rent" sign could be seen everywhere even in the crowded cities such as Tokyo or Osaka. The basic dream of a middle class Egyptian young man is to have the department and the car, something could be easily gained by any Japanese teenager !
Mountainous areas form 70% of Japanese lands !! The annual damages caused by typhoons and earthquakes cost billions of dollars!! Japan imports Petroleum and Gas, the food of the machines! And also imports rice, people's food! No strategic canals there, and the government uses millions of dollars on American military bases on their lands !! Japan had a bitter experience of wars; world first and second wars and many other wars with Petroleum!! Some Japanese islands are still occupied by Russia until today!! Japanese population is about 125 millions, and the chain of islands is about 350,000 km. (third of Egypt) !! The country does not attract much tourists because of the very high expense of living there!! Japanese central bank interfere from time to time to support the dollar to keep its high rate! Why Japan is one of the top industrial nations with a prosperous economy and standard of living?
Why could Japan assist and finance all the poor countries with high amounts of financial and technological support ?
Tourism, Great history and glorious monuments, Natural gas and petroleum, Rich agricultural lands, Great source of water, Strategic location and important canal, Peace, Foreign aids; all these great sources failed to create a prosperous Egypt!!
Do not talk population, previous wars, or lack of sources ! We must face the facts of our corruption, injustice , lack of fair distribution and all the other reasons if we have an honest wish to improve our country.
Illiteracy is a direct result of Poverty specially in rural areas. If farmers can have a reasonable income, they will surely send their children to schools, and they will be able to have modern facilities so they can live in clean environment and avoid Diseases and Illness. When workers and employees can get reasonable salaries, they will not need to accept bribes, and we will be able to fight Corruption . All the social disasters would be fought if people had reasonable and enough income.
I think that I said nothing new; most of us realize those facts, but how a social remedy can be achieved? When doctor's income is ten folds or more of the nurse; the engineer's salary is five folds of the workers; the factories' owners and businessmen who produce local products with very high profit margins depending on government's help by imposing taxes and costumes on the foreign ones; the importers who earn high profits on the expense of the consumers; those and many others earn very high incomes and deny others the basic reasonable enough income for a reasonable living standard.
EGYPT is not less richer than Japan, but the wealth is not distributed fairly. Few people control the economy, and the majority is under the line of poverty. I do not call for a communist society where all will be the same, but a Japanese like society, which can offer a fair and reasonable system for distribution of wealth.
A young man in his early twenties, black hair, black big eyes and dark skin , is wandering Tokyo's streets after the long trip which lasted seventeen hours! Where are the citizens ?! almost nobody in streets; it is eleven AM. and I recalled memories of the streets in Cairo, Alex. and "Kafr gerzah" too!! People there are everywhere twenty four hours a day ; young people who used to have "estebs7ah" of hot milk tea and "shisha" with two stones "7agarein" at "Press coffee shop" or "qahwat al sa7afah" of "Shoubra" exceeded the number of people I saw along Tokyo's streets from "Narita" international airport in the north to "Haneda" airport in the south suburb of the metropolitan city.
Ahmed, 3esam and Ibrahim had their turn with "shisha" in the small coffee shop in the narrow street behind the university; 3esam practiced karate with university team and attended Psychology department. The smiling lively guy with the shiny eyes liked poetry and songs; he blew the hot smoke of the "shisha" and started his own song "3al hypothalamus ya wala 3al hypothalamus....", 3sam sang for the "Hypothalamus" admiring its role in human brain and quoting Dr. 3adel Sadeq's lectures.
Ahmed took his turn of the "shisha" and talked the stories of his elder brother, who works as a tour guide ; lovely and proud-sometimes erotic-short stories about tourists who come to the country in love of its history, people and obelisks !!
Patiently waited his turn, Ibrahim began his routine analysis of Egyptian football league; Ahly, Zamalek, matches, coaches ...etc.
The three friends attended Psychology courses before graduation and working as salesman. cafe manager, and football coach successively .
Tokyo hid its people within the noisy sounds of the machines, computers and robots in the giant factories, companies and department stores. It took about two hours before arriving at Miyazaki to start a long journey in my life. Miyazaki is one of the smallest prefectures in the southern island of Kyushu. Though populated with less than a million inhabitants, the great facilities in all fields of life there exceeds the facilities in many other whole countries.
The misty quiet morning in Tokyo had a different taste from the oily, smoky and noisy morning in Cairo. Shisha and twice killed cars made it smoky; "Ta3meya" and "Fuul" with sweet or hot oil made it oily !! All the flavors of the various delicious creatures of the Pacific ocean could not give me the same joy of breakfasting with a dish of "Fuul" with lime, oil, onion and hot bread. Egyptians are skillful in widening the gap between up and down; the "Fuul" full course at a stand in "Gamaleya", "Shoubra", "Muharram Beih" or "Tanta" cost a pound or two while three or four folds are needed to have the same course in "Akher sa3ah" of Cairo, "Muhammad Ahmad" of Alex. or other middle class restaurants. Up to twenty folds or more are needed to get the same course in luxurious hotels and resorts!! Having a meal or a drink costs me almost the same when I order it in fancy restaurants of Ginza, the most fashionable district in Tokyo, or in a small and tiny shops in back streets of any village here.
Many aspects of daily life have changed in Egypt; moreover many values and principles have also changed.
I used to laugh at the funky young men in Japan , who changed their hair color and never imagined that the same will happen in Egypt!!! Yes, guys with red, brown, and golden hair are there now in Egypt.
Many young people are waiting a chance, legal or illegal, to make much money in a very short time; why not if their ears are full of the needed money to get their basic dreams in a city like Cairo; a city which can be a paradise to the rich and a hell to the poor.
Monuments are still discovered, and also trafficked!! The pyramids area is still hijacked by those who rent horses and camels; a kind of people mastered in giving the foreigners , unfortunately, a very bad impression about the country and its people.
I went to pray Friday prayers in Al-Hussein mosque, the prayers speech was about the necessity of unity to face the new aggression of the west. Thousands of the simple people crowded the mosque aiming at God's love and forgiveness.
The republic of Cairo, with its new phase, can join the modern countries, but take the train along upper Egypt to meet the truth that nothing changed, and people there are living in tens of years behind the new civilization.
