Kazakhs and Japanese. Fortitude and perfection. Almaz Braev

p>Kazakhs and Japanese

      Fortitude and perfection

      Almaz Braev

      The cheapest pride is national pride. It discovers in the subject infected by her a lack of individual qualities that he could be proud of; otherwise, he would not have turned to what is shared by many millions of people besides him. Whoever possesses great personal virtues, constantly observing his nation, will, first of all, notice its shortcomings. But a poor man, who has nothing to be proud of, grabs the only thing possible and is proud of the nation to which he belongs; he is ready to defend all its shortcomings and stupidities with a feeling of tenderness

      © Almaz Braev, 2024

      ISBN 978-5-0059-7060-2

      Created with Ridero smart publishing system

      – Arthur Schopenhauer

      Chapter 1

      Kazakhs and Japanese

      What can unite such different and, to the same extent, very similar folks?

      There is a gap of distance between us (eight thousand kilometers). The Japanese live on islands. Modern Kazakhs live in cities. The ancestors of the Kazakhs traveled thousands of kilometers because they were nomads. The Japanese have never in their history been able to have such luxury, and they did not have such unbridled space. After all, islanders live differently than on the mainland. This greatly affects behavior.

      Despite such a remote residence, Kazakhs and Japanese are somewhat similar (in what? – an explanation will be given in the course of the book). Even outwardly, Kazakhs and Japanese are more similar than Kazakhs and Chinese, for example. Our common ancestor lived a very long time ago, ten thousand years, in caves near Beijing. Then, our paths diverged altogether.

      Japan was settled three times. The first settlement occurred 23,000 years ago during the Ice Age. But these “Buryats” were not modern Buryats at all, although their remains were found at the sites of ancient hunters in Buryatia. The common ancestor of the Japanese and Kazakhs settled on the islands ten thousand years ago, and he came from China. It is because of this ancestor that we are so similar in appearance. Then the Japanese accepted Buddhism and stopped eating meat, and we Kazakhs ate meat non-stop – which Kazakh does not eat meat? (Only Kazakh from the community of Krishna, probably. This is his personal business). That’s why the Japanese stopped eating meat and switched to rice, and they became so miniature. But still, you can notice something Kazakh in this miniature … (There will be even more of this Kazakh if you read to the end). But in general, there are a lot of differences between Kazakhs and Japanese. It is not necessary to look for something in common in one Shintoism. Shintoism influenced Japanese spontaneity. And so the Japanese are very disciplined and hidden. Kazakhs in this sense are always clumsy gaper and “ashik auzdar”.

      So.

      Everyone who visited Japan at different times noticed that there seemed to be no place on the islands where the hands of the Japanese would not reach. This does not mean that the Japanese have dug down all the mountains and fenced off with buried stones from the continuous Pacific typhoons. No, the Japanese did not touch the mountains. (As, however, the Kazakhs did not touch their steppes). All foreigners note the Japanese participation in all inhabited places; they say that every pebble, every meter of land, every bush, and even every leaf from the bush was processed by a Japanese for contemplation so that it was harmonious and then practical.

      On the contrary, Kazakhs did not touch anything along the way of nomads. Unless cattle eat grass – this is a natural “creativity”, but it is not the fruit of aesthetic Kazakh desires. Kazakhs did not touch the natural landscape. They hid in tents and yurts from rain, wind, blizzard, cold, and snow. Somehow, it would be absurd to interfere with the misfortunes of continental nature. Thus, we discover the first factor – landscape- which determines the type of economy and the character of the locals living in such a climate. (The influence of landscape on the character of people has been known for a long time, but we should be interested not only in the influence of nature and the influence of a person on himself and on his people. The workaholism of the Japanese, as everyone understands, was forced. To survive, the Japanese had to work hard. Every year, they had to wait for typhoons and prepare a sowing campaign).

      In this respect, the Kazakhs trusted nature more and again and did nothing… The climate in the Kazakh steppe is not a typhoon, which is even worse. These are more powerful forces. Therefore, the Kazakhs looked philosophically at all such events outside the yurt. Well, a blizzard will blow, it will blow, and it will pass by itself. Is it snowing? So what? The same thing – will pass. And the cold will pass. For almost eight months a year, Kazakhs had to sit in a yurt, drink mare’s milk (tea), and listen to each other under the motto “Everything is past, and this too pass.” Therefore, Kazakhs are great masters of oral creativity and dreamers. Every Kazakh wants to surprise first with an outfit, then with conversations.

      The Japanese are great conservatives in this sense. When they eat, it’s indecent to talk. Drinking tea with them is a whole exercise; this is a world-famous tea ceremony. Only in the third phase, when sake is served – Japanese vodka (or beer- whoever likes it, because sake has a weak strength), when the host makes a welcoming speech (that is, at the third hour of gatherings!) and serves the guest to drink sake first, mutual relaxation begins. This is, of course, if the guest is a stranger the first time he comes to the house. And how can there be strangers among Kazakhs? Who wants to wander around in such a cold winter, for example? Only relatives live everywhere. Therefore, everything was happening faster. When a “stranger” from distant relatives appeared, it was a great joy – he could tell a fresh story. And so it’s everything that happens sedately. During the absorption of meat, you can talk about anything. (This is what Kazakh journalists like to do today. Corrupt officials eat a lot of meat, as if they hadn’t eaten for a long time, and got lost in the steppe for years …)

      Yes, under the influence of climate, the behavior of Kazakhs and Japanese is sometimes diametrically opposed. However, this bad weather has affected the powerful forces of nature; therefore, the Japanese are Shintoists. Shinto is one of the main religions of Japan. There are Kazakhs who see this as the prerequisite for the same success. If the Japanese could, why can’t we? We can! This gives hope for some kinship. In fact, there are moments when the Japanese and Kazakhs are very similar. And there is a lot that distinguishes us.

      Chapter 2

      Meeting at Stalin’s station

      How did you see the meeting of Kazakh and Japanese through Soviet writers of the bestseller “Golden Calf” of the 20s of the 20th century – Ilf and Petrov.

      Let’s start, perhaps, with the scene at the train station.

      According to the novel, the scene of the Kazakh and Japanese meeting took place during the construction of the TURKSIB in the 30s of the last century.

      “A wide field of activity opened immediately outside Orenburg when passengers saw the first camel, the first yurt, and the first Kazakh in a pointed fur hat and with a whip in his hand, at the stop where the train was accidentally delayed, at least twenty cameras aimed at the camel’s muzzle.

      The exoticism began with the ships of the desert, the camels and the riders, the freedom-loving sons of the steppes, and other romantic burdens.

      The Japanese diplomat was standing two steps away from the Kazakh. Both looked at each other in silence. They had exactly the same slightly flattened faces, stiff mustaches, yellow patent leather, and eyes that were swollen and narrow. They would have passed for twins if the Kazakh had not been in a sheepskin coat belted with a calico sash, and the Japanese in a gray London suit, and if the Kazakh had not started reading only last year, and the Japanese had not graduated from two universities twenty years ago – in Tokyo and Paris. The diplomat stepped back, bent his head to the mirror, and clicked the shutter. The Kazakh laughed, sat on his rough horse, and moved into the steppe.”

      The authors of The Golden Calf knew for sure that the Japanese graduated from