The Anatomy of Self: The Individual Versus Society

by Takeo Doi

This work is an exploration of the role of the individual in Japan and Japanese concepts of self-awareness, communication and relationships.

Genres: Japan, Psychology, Nonfiction, Sociology, Anthropology, Cultural

168 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1986

Reviews

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mmmm... Japanese psychology.

I'm not even sure where I got this book. Maybe I picked it up one time when I was living in a NOVA apartment, I don't know. All I know is, I was going through some books with the thoughts of selling them, and figured I could give this one a try. Maybe, I figured, it would give me some insights I could use.

And, in a way, it did.

Doi is a Japanese psychiatrist, who's made his career trying to figure out how the Japanese Mind works. In a country that is very reluctant to seek mental counseling (I read today that Eli Lilly decided not to sell Prozac here because there was "no market" for it), I imagine this was a daunting task.

His previous book deals with the concept of amae, which is kind of necessary to understand, because the rest of his theory rests on it. Amae is the condition of dependency and security that one has as an infant. In his view, we pretty much long to return to that state, where we can feel safe and provided for, but we have to live in a world that doesn't allow that. So, we have to make mental adjustments in order to live comfortably with other people, while at the same time maintaining our individual identity.

The Japanese have developed a very detailed psychological structure to illustrate this kind of self-division, and there's a whole lexicon of words to describe it. There's omote - the outside, the public - and ura - the back side, the private. There's tatemae - the attitude and personality that one shows to the world - and honne - the thoughts and feelings that are normally hidden.

Despite first appearances, Doi takes great pains to explain that there are no divisions involved in this situation. The tatemae is not a false face, and the honne is not the secret thoughts. Neither is "better" or "worse," the "true self" or the "mask." Instead, they are a construct that allows a person to maintain their identity while at the same time fostering a kind of substitute amae by contributing to a good and stable society.

Confused? Yeah, so was I. I kind of get it, because Doi uses fairly simple terms most of the time, and relates his concepts to concepts in Western psychology that mirror them. He uses a lot of literary examples, from Natsume Soseki's Botchan (which I now have to read again, having gained new insight) to Romeo and Juliet. The book is short, and includes an appendix with a couple of summaries of his work. He's able to lead you to a point where the stereotype of the "crafty Japanese" can be discarded, and the reader can start thinking more deeply about why Japanese people might behave the way they do, and how to best live in that society.

But, not having been born and raised a Japanese person, I don't think I'll ever completely "get it." I see some things a little more clearly, though. and that's pretty good....

[Angel 一匹狼 · Rating 1 out of 5]

As a person who has lived in Japan for more than 3 years, and has a degree in sociology (and has studied a little bit of psychology) and actually wrote a little dissertation about honne/tatemae this book was one that I was really interested to read. But I can say that I was quite disappointed with it.

I will leave that the author's thinking was really old fashioned (we all have different ideas and his tendency to say that people divorcing is a bad thing makes no real sense, because it comes out as if he believed that 我慢する, just be patient, is better than breaking a relationship that doesn't make sense anymore), and also that he has this tendency to think Japanese people are different (they don't see nature in a different way or are difficult to understand, it is just they express themselves in a different way; and they are very proud and are the first that have gone around the world saying they are difficult to understand; they are not so). It is that he has a tendency to just talk about Jesus's life to justify what he says and that what he says is just so shallow and bar-type-of-conversation that is something that anyone could say. I have had more interesting conversations of this subject with random people on an izakaya that what comes up in this book.

This a book poorly written, that thinks that all times past were better and with a tendency on relying on religion when it makes no sense to do so.

3

[Erina Okada · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thought-provoking subjects covered and I loved that he used fictional and literary examples instead of real-life case studies to reinstate these constructs in Japanese society. Quite old-fashioned due to the nature of sources used (and published in the 80s) but a pretty good read overall. Can't see myself re-reading it unfortunately

[Kesvalee Azaliya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the idea young generations adopted from Yamabushi. The Forest therapy does make sense enough to say that individuals could feel like human in the heart if the nature than be in the center of the crowd. Good book indeed.

[Patrick McCoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Takeo Doi has written a fascinating book: The Anatomy of Self: The Individual Versus Society. Doi is author of the also provocative book, The Anatomy of Dependence, which looks at the cultural concept of amae (essentially it is a Japanese word used to describe the behavior of a person attempting to induce an authority figure, such as a parent, spouse, teacher or boss, to take care of him.) Both books were written for the general reader, rather than for psychologists, which is where the germination for the books started. In this book he looks at the concepts of omote and ura as well as tatamae and hone. These dual aspects of individuals reflect the Japanese preoccupation with public and private selves as well as exterior and interior. These are difficult concepts to express and Doi has essentially written a book to discuss these terms and what they mean to Japanese people. Doi explains that omote means kao (face) and that ura means kokoro (heart). Thus omote is what people want to reveal to the public, whereas ura is something that is kept close to the heart. Doi suggests that omote is essentially that which is seen to be good, while correspondingly ura is what is to be feared judged negatively. People may be more familiar with the concepts of tatamae (literally "façade," is the behavior and opinions one displays in public) and honne (refers to a person's true feelings and desires), which are often used to describe how Japanese people behave. He has a very complex discussion where he finds it difficult to separate the two concepts nor to give them value judgments: “While tatemae appears in omote, honne is concealed in ura.” Furthermore, he likens the concepts of tatemae to Max Weber’s concept to ”legitimate order” and honne to a “wide range of motives.” Once these terms are discussed he writes about human beings in society and the dual nature of man drawing from a number of sources form Japanese and western literature. The last section was particularly provocative as he discussed the significance of secrets especially in relation to love. It is in this section that he ties the concepts from this book with the idea of amae from his previous book. He draws heavily on Soseki’s famous novel, Kokoro, which makes feel as though it is essential reading-I know it is one of those books that all Japanese have to read at school. I wonder if these concepts find their origins in Confucianism or if they evolved independent of it on their own in Japan. This is an interesting and thought provoking look at how Japanese people view themselves and dual nature of humanity that exists in different degrees in every society.

[Rukmini · Rating 4 out of 5]

"To sum up, the ideal condition of the mind—the condition from which mental health derives—is one in which we can feel comfortable with having secrets. Lest I be misunderstood, I should point out that this has nothing to do with arcanism or mysticism. To be comfortable with our secrets does not mean to shut them up within ourselves. We communicate what is necessary to others. If we are mentally healthy, we realize that we have secrets, that there are things inside us that we could not communicate to others even if we wanted to. Furthermore, the healthy person does not feel that having secrets is painful.
We feel a profound sense of wonder at their presence, but we accept them as part of the gift of being human."

[Chris Lynch · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bookfest find that is going to keep me thinking for a while. Need to reread.

[Monique · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was a true help to me to understand what was going on around me and to get me out of my cultural shock!