Culture has been applauded to the extent that society considers it a necessity.\nUnfortunately, people rarely notice that customs can \u2018enclose\u2019 one\u2019s\nperspective from realizing the downsides of his\/her culture as well as the\npositives of the other. As such, it is safe to argue that only those who are liberalized from cultural captivity can\noffer an unbiased view of another community. This notion is demonstrated in T.R. Reid\u2019s book \u2018Confucius lives next door what living in the East teaches us\nabout Living in the West. Reid juxtapositions Japan and the West as he\nexamines the concept of what he calls \u2018social miracle.\u2019 The author compares fundamental aspects that define the society that is divorce, crime and\nout-of-wedlock births in Japan and the West and concludes that the East is\ncharacterized by social cohesiveness that can be\nattributed to a shared set of core values that can be traced back to the Confucian teachings.\nAccording to Reid, the East boost a burgeoning middle class upholding an aura\nof civility and egalitarian wealth distribution that has not been enjoyed by\nleading economies like the US. Even though Reid seems\nfascinated by the Japanese culture, he\npoints out that the Confucian model has glaring flaws. At the end of the book, it is clear that Confucian values and the\nWest\u2019s Christianity are not that different after all. This paper analyzes T.R.\nReid\u2019s book \u2018Confucius lives next door\u2019 by examining the major characters and\nhow the various events influenced them. Additionally, the paper will analyze\nthe effect of religion on one\u2019s way of life by looking at how the characters\u2019\nreligion shaped their lives. Lastly, the paper reflects\nhow the book can serve to broad an individual\u2019s understanding of religion. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Overview\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
T.R. Reid is a\njournalist with a good mastery of the Japanese language and has spent a considerable amount of time studying the\nAsian culture. As he notes in the book, Reid was excited to move to Japan as\nthe head of Washington post bureau Even though the idea of living among a\nculture that he had studied and admired for years seemed fascinating, Reid\nunderstood that his family would face\nchallenges along the way. Upon settling in Japan, the differences between the\nEastern and Western communities are apparent.\nReid sends his children to a Japanese public school and with time he learns how\nto put up with his neighbors. In the text, the author notes that aspects like\ncrime and divorce rates cannot be reduced\nto the existing socioeconomic situation. Instead, the community\u2019s cohesiveness lies in\nthe upheld moral values. Reid notes that the Japanese love rules and all\naspects of the day to day life are entwined to impart the young generations\nwith moral values. In summary, Reid\u2019s book \u2018Confucius lives next Door What\nLiving in the East Teaches us about Living in the West\u2019 is an informative and\nhumorous piece that provides insights into the religion that serves as the\nbasis of the East and western cultures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Discussion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Character\ndevelopment<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Reid\u2019s family and his\nneighbor called, Confucius is the leading\ncharacter in the book. In chapter one, the author states that his thoroughly\nAmerican family of five moved from Castle Rock,\nColorado to Tokyo. Unlike Castle Rock which was quiet and sparsely populated,\nthe Reids\u2019 new home, Tokyo was crowded and noisy. The American family makes some obvious adjustments like taking the\ngirls to a public school as the father focuses on his job at the Washington post-Bureau in Tokyo. Once they settle in a\nneighborhood in Tokyo, a neighbor who Reid names Confucian serves as an embodiment\nof the Asian way of life. Reid and his family traveled\nin major cities of East Asia and settled in a neighborhood that he refers to as\nsubsection 3. Unlike in their previous neighborhood back at the US which was\ncharacterized by individualism, subsection three\nwas based on the idea of belonging to the group. In other words, the author notes\nthat one\u2019s identity is defined by the\ngroup that he\/she belongs in. An individual begins establishing the sense of\ngroup within a family setting which serves as the basic unit and extends\noutside to include other societal circles like the neighborhood, job and,\nschool among others. For this reason, a courteous introduction must include\nsome aspect of the group. \u2018\u2026Hello, I am\nMatsuda\u2026\u2019 is considered rude because the right introduction would be \u2018\u2026Hello, I am Matsuda of Tanigawa Sekiyu, Inc.\u2026\u2019 (Reid, 1999). From the example, it is clear\nthat the Asian culture dictates that an individual is identified as part of a group. <\/p>\n\n\n\n By settling in Japan,\nReid and his son learn the important Confucian lesson of Shame \u2018meiwaku<\/em>\u2019\nthat serves as a moral check (Lebra, 2005).\nAs mentioned before, the Japanese believe that an individual\u2019s identity is tied to that of a group and thus people\nstrive to belong. Any form of mischief results\nin shame which in turn leads to guilt. In chapter 3, recalls an incident where\na next-door neighbor came to warn his son that the loud music that he was\nplaying was a \u2018meiwaku<\/em>.\u2019 The concept of\nshape is fundamental in the social dynamic of the Japan society meaning that\nfor one to fit in he\/she has to abide by it by avoiding choices\/actions that\nare considered-dishonorable. Given the sharp contrast between the notion of meiwaku<\/em>\nand the West\u2019s individualism, it can be insinuated that an outsider living among the\nJapanese might have a hard time adjusting. However, Reid notes that he enjoyed\nhis time in Japan as evidenced by the\nfact that he made friends that he visited years after relocating to the US. As\nsuch it can be argued that Reid and his family internalized the meiwaku<\/em>\nideology and thus they were able to live in harmony with their new-found\ncommunity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Additionally, during\ntheir stay in Japan Reid and his family learned\nand internalized Confucian teachings which serve as a guide to everyday life.\nIn chapter 5, Reid states that \u2018\u2026My wife\nand I were intrigued by the idea of\nadmitting our girls to a Japanese elementary school as we thought that it would\nbe an interesting cultural experience\u2026\u2019 (Reid,\n1999). From the statement, it is\nclear that the author understood the variations between Japanese and western education. However, the possibility that the\ngirls would not only sharpen their Japanese but also improve their mathematics\nand Science rigor seemed irresistible. Reid points out that to this day, his\ndaughter draws on the concepts of science\nand math lessons at Yodobashi, but the\nmost important lessons that the daughters took with them is Confucian\nteachings. \u2018\u2026like other students back at the Japanese Elementary school, my girls were taught to be little Confucians\u2026\u2019 (Reid, 1999). Note that Confucian teachings\nwhich are the basis of Buddhism focus on the cultivation of virtues. Hence the\ngirls understood the concepts of human-heartedness,\nbenevolence, and goodness among others.\nThe Confucian teachings instilled in them the Asian perspective of life, and thus their choices were influenced by the\nneed to avoid shame which will, in turn, isolate them from their crowd. Based\non the presented points, it can be argued\nthat the young Westerners, i.e., Reid\u2019s\ndaughters were transformed into the Asian\nway of living which might have a significant effect in their adult lives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Religion Lessons\nlearned by Characters<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n By understanding\nConfucian teachings, Reid got a grip of the Buddhism\nreligion. Alternatively, mastering Confucian teachings to the point of\nunderstanding illusions used in everyday\nconversations served as a form of enlightenment\nfor Reid as he got the opportunity to\nplace several religions including\nChristianity side-by-side. \u2018\u2026shortly after relocating to the US, Reid received a letter from his former neighbor\napologizing that he will not be able to\nsend his annual New year\u2019 s card\u2026\u2019 (Reid, 1999).\nHaving lived among the Japanese, Reid understood the essence of the New Year\ncelebrations which meant that only a significant\ntragedy in the family could stop members\nfrom taking part in the celebration rituals. Therefore, in his next visit, Reid understood that he was visiting a\nfriend who was mourning. The conversation between, Matsuda-san and Reid\nillustrated that the former had been instilling the Confucian concepts since\ntheir first meet. As they sat down together, the teacher noted that his student\nhad mastered the imparted lessons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The internalization of\nConfucian teachings enabled Reid to note\nthe striking similarities between Buddhism,\nChristianity and, Islam.\u2019\u2026Isn’t it a\npleasure when you make practical use of the\nthings that you have learned\u2026\u2019 (Reid,\n1999). Matsuda-san made this statement\nafter Reid had paid his respect to his wife who had passed away. Other than\nnoting that, Matsuda-san was quoting the opening phrase of the Confucian teachings, Reid points out that the statement is the equivalent of the Christian \u2018In\nthe beginning, God created the heaven and the earth.\u2019 <\/em>Additionally,\nMatsuda-san\u2019s statement was the same as the Islamic teachings opening phrase \u2018\u2026Call me\nIshmael\u2026\u2019 <\/em>By considering the opening\nphrases of multiple religions that have served as the basis of the different cultures, Reid gained a unique perspective\nof religion which in turn highlights the similarities of the various cultures. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Reflection<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Reid\u2019s book offers a\nunique perspective into the East Asian culture which is built on the principles of Confucian teachings. I understood that each culture is based on aspects of religion and thus Buddhism allows its believers to practice the\nConfucians teachings daily. Unlike Western cultures, the Japanese emphasize raising virtuous citizens by using\nevery aspect of life to teach children the Confucian principles. In other words, religion is considered a serious element\nto be left to religious teachers.\nHowever, in the West aspects of religion\nare treated as secondary, and thus a good\nproportion of the young generations are detached from religion paving the way for immorality and lawlessness. I believe that no religion is inferior or superior because they all have some\nbenefits as well as flaws but if a community chooses the right way of\ninstilling it the advantages would surpass the shortcomings creating a\nharmonious society. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Culture has been applauded to the extent that society considers it a necessity. Unfortunately, people rarely notice that customs can \u2018enclose\u2019 one\u2019s perspective from realizing the downsides of his\/her culture as well as the positives of the other. As such, it is safe to argue that only those who are liberalized from cultural captivity can […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1118","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-research-paper-writing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1118"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1119,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1118\/revisions\/1119"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1118"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1118"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/papersspot.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1118"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}