On the 7000th Anniversary of an Extreme Culture

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Quote from someone no longer living : "They can torture someone in boiling oil and then, 2 minutes later, sit for meditation. They have a cruel streak." This person got their info from reading Shogun by J. Clavell, so maybe it's partly unfair. The quote seems to apply to the aristocratic class. Fictionalized representations aside, we know from their behaviour in China and Korea and the islands during WWII that they needed (need?) work.

What made the Japs so cruel? In my simplistic view - it was evolutionary. Developing with unparalleled ethnic homogeneity on the islands gave them a clear understanding of the relationships between people and society and countries. The result was that people are the tools in building something great. If they see themselves as tools, what would they think of other people not related to them? No other culture had developed an intimacy with death as this one. The episode of the 37 ronin confirms it.

A paradox of life: The problem with patience and discipline is that developing each of them requires both of them.