Japanese Studies on Attitudes Towards Persons With Mental Retardation

Abstract

Many studies on attitudes toward persons with mental retardation have been conducted in Japan since World War II. However, because all of these studies were published in Japanese, results have not been widely circulated abroad. It is our desire to introduce these Japanese studies internationally in a brief report. Because Japan has a unique culture, we believe that researchers in other countries will be interested in these investigations. Japanese people very often distinguish between what they say and actually think (and we have special words, tatemae and honne, to make the distinction). Although these words are not easily translated into English, we can say that the distinction is between tatemae (what one says) and honne (what one actually thinks). What is said is intended to look good. A discrepancy between what people say and actually think might not be specific to Japan. In the United States in the later part of the 1970s, some researchers noticed a discrepancy between survey responses in a Gallop Poll and community opposition to building facilities for individuals with mental retardation (Kastner, Reppucci, & Pezzoli, 1979; Sigelmen, 1976). We have also observed the same discrepancy in Japan regarding community opposition. The difference between Japan and the United States is that such a discrepancy is not perplexing but natural in Japan because people frequently make a distinction between tatemae and honne. Many Japanese surveys show a high agreement about the establishment of residential facilities for persons with mental retardation (Minagawa & Narukawa, 1985; Nakamura, 1976; Sakurai, 1973; Shirai, Fujiki, & Shirai, 1977; Shirai, Fukiki, Shirai, & Tsukahara, 1978; Shirai, Shirai, Fukiki, & Tsukahara, 1979). Independently or despite such ‘‘superficial’’ positive attitudes, there is opposition by neighbors to the construction of local facilities. There has been no systematic research on such opposition in Japan. However, we see many reports in newspapers on community opposition. According to Berdiansky and Parher (1977), the main reasons for opposition in the United States are the impact on property values and safety problems for residents. We were surprised at how honestly residents expressed their feelings in the United States. Although the real reasons for opposition in Japan are not so different from those in the United States, Japanese individuals do not give candid reasons. As a representative example, we can cite the opposition in a district in Yokohama. The reason for the opposition was the possible destruction of the natural environment by the construction of a facility for people with mental retardation (The Asahi, 1997). (Actually, the location of the expected facility was not a special place but, rather, an ordinary site). We can see an educational environment that reinforces such kinds of distinction in Japan. A survey of elementary school texts in Japan and the United States indicates an interesting fact (Imai, 1990). In the United States, the ability to assert one’s ideas is considered a valuable behavior. In Japan, self-assertion is not emphasized as much. Keeping a good relationship with others with a ‘‘tender attitude’’ is a more important and desirable behavior (see Imai, 1990, for details). Teaching students how to have good relationships with others with a tender attitude, without emphasizing an importance of self-assertion, may promote the distinction between tatemae and honne, in which self-assertion is not needed for achieving a good relationship with others. Keeping this cultural climate of Japan in mind, we discuss the findings in Japanese studies about attitudes towards persons with mental retardation.