Japan: Invisible Double-Edged Swords

Abstract Traditional Japanese culture uniquely combines elements of Buddhism, Daoism, and Shintō. It is more collectivistic than Western culture and more individualistic than Chinese culture. Aesthetics and organizational culture are highly developed, with survival value and external appeal but with underlying negative or risky implications. Communication is high-context, understated, and often non-verbal or paralinguistic. Self-construal is highly interdependent. Shūdan ishiki (group consciousness) is universal, and ba no kuuki wo yomu (“reading the air”) is an essential social skill. Melancholy is normalized, and suicide often is rationalized or romanticized. Haji (shame) is a common reaction to error or failure, sometimes unbearable to the point of suicide. Distinctive presentations of depression and self-harm arise from this cultural context, including kodokushi (lonely death), karōshi (death from overwork), and shin-gata utsubyo ("new type depression” or “modern type depression”). Depression can be obscured by normalization of melancholy and bipolarity by culturally sanctioned overwork or pleasure-seeking.