Kazakhs and Japanese. Fortitude and perfection. Almaz Braev

that, everyone knew Japan by its world-famous electronics. In the late 70s and early 80s, nothing better than Sony and Toshiba items were produced in the world, or so all Kazakhs thought.

      For the mass of viewers, Japan was known for films such as “The Death of Japan”, “The Legend of the Dinosaur”, and “The Legend of Narayama”. If the film “Legend of Narayama” was a wonderful illustration of feudal Japan, then movies with the participation of Takeshi Kitano showed the Japanese character of all times.

      In 2003, the Warner Bros company film “The Last Samurai” was released with the participation of Ken Watanabe and Tom Cruise. The last samurai, Moritsugu Katsumoto, was interested in the exploits of the Indians against the Americans from Captain Nathan Algren.

      Despite all the pathos of the film, the Japanese could repeat the fate of the Indians. However, the samurai lost to the emperor’s forces in the Boshin War. Is it possible to say that modern Japan is a blessing than the folklore savagery of the past? All modern Kazakhs will say with one voice that modern Japan is cool; you can’t think of a better one. What happened in Japan that Kazakhs lack? Some Kazakh patriots would dream of a Japanese fate for the Kazakhs. Such Kazakhs are ready to blame Russia and the USSR for why Kazakhs did not become like the Japanese.

      But is this really the case?

      Could Kazakhs follow the path of Japanese Meiji and create a “Kazakh miracle” long before the world-famous economic miracle in Singapore, Taiwan, South Korea, and Hong Kong, or at least repeat the path of the “Southeastern tigers”?

      Why did the people of pure blood lose to the people of pure reason?

      The principle of pure blood is suitable in the fight against pure blood when a tribe opposes another tribe. If the people of blood do not have a seer to overcome the voice of kinship, the voice of blood is bad for folk. To do this, every person must have a monarch and undivided authority. If a person of blood has many littler leaders, these people will never break out of primitiveness. The Japanese had an emperor in 1867. Visionary officials gathered around the emperor. They went to Europe and the USA and returned to Japan, and the Japanese began to wildly copy everything European, all the creations of pure reason.

      The Japanese have no less personal vanity than the Kazakhs. But the emperor’s power limited the personal anarchy of every Japanese, not so that each Japanese could show off an expensive dress or a katana from a famous master. The Japanese have turned into one samurai. The Japanese have become a nation in one generation. This incredible leap from savagery cost the Japanese many victims, but the Japanese turned into the Japanese that the world knows today. The Japanese have no problems with the language. No Japanese person would ever think of asking guests to speak Japanese. The Japanese know when to use the voice of blood and when to use the voice of reason. This balance is also familiar to Kazakhs, but the existing Kazakh inertia is not the merit of the Kazakhs; it’s as if we continue to roam like former nomads even living in cities today.

      Moreover, there is a current of nationalists who want to put the voice of blood ahead of the voice of reason. In the 21st century, this means only one thing – the bad way of the Indians. This means control by the external Western mind of the Kazakh instincts of the voice of blood.

      Chapter 6

      Adequacy and efficiency of the Japanese elite

      On July 8, 1853, the American squadron of Commodore Matthew Perry anchored in Uraga Bay near Edo. Japanese officials already knew about the approaching threat, but they did not have time to prepare. The bureaucratic apparatus of the Tokugawa Shogunate is mired in formalism and the inactivity of officials. The old shogun entrusted the affairs to his minister.

      Why did a formidable military squadron land on the shores of Japan?

      Japan continued its self-isolation regime. The closure of Japan – the Sakoku regime – happened because of aggressive, arrogant behavior – according to the shogun of the Portuguese Jesuits in the XVII century. Since then, foreign ships could not enter ports, replenish food and water supplies, whaling ships were shipwrecked, and the Japanese arrested the surviving sailors. Now, Commodore Matthew Parry had instructions from President Millard Fillmore to force the Japanese to trade by force.

      Japanese were surprised for the first time and saw innovative American ships releasing black smoke. For the Japanese to understand everything, the Americans made an empty hall of guns "for suggestions". Of course, after such a show, the Japanese accepted Perry’s delimitation – according to all the canons of Japanese diplomacy. However, they first played the game “Who are you?”When minor officials talked to Perry, Perry realized this, so he ordered the Peisan cannons to be uncovered.

      What to do? The Japanese tried to save face – they referred to the shogun’s illness. Perry agreed to wait one year.

      But the natural death of the elderly shogun hastened the events. Perry sailed back to Uraga Bay exactly six months later. What for the Japanese to do again?

      The head of the Bakufu, Abe Masahiro, did not dare to assume a responsible role and called an All-Japanese Meeting. Abe Masahiro soberly assessed the situation – resistance was impossible. On the contrary, representatives of the emperor, Bakufu, and regional nobility, Daimyo, were conservative. The agreement with the Americans, then with the Russians, was, of course, signed. With the help of the Dutch, Abe Masahiro immediately began to modernize the fleet, cast new guns, and even founded an intelligence agency to study new technologies and information from abroad. But Abe Masahiro didn’t have enough time. His compromise with the Americans, Russians, and British was a signal for other representatives of the opposition nobility. They accused him of cowardice and betrayal.“He signed a humiliating contract!” After the British shelled Kagoshima with cannons in 1863, everything became evident to everyone. Because the British were usually not enough for one trade agreement, they needed a bonded contract of the same type as the Chinese one, which they signed with the conquered China in 1860.

      If the samurai power could not protect the homeland, this meant the shogun and his people had lost divine mercy.

      That’s how the salvo of Matthew Perry’s squadron became the signal for a new era in the history of Japan. Those samurai and daimyo who felt humiliated did agree to change the old course of self-isolation. Everyone already knew what had happened to China, that China had lost its independence, and something had to be done. The invaders will soon come to Japan.

      Who will save? Of course, the emperor.

      The emperor is the son of the sun, which means hope, so in the spirituality of  emperor, there was a new way out for the new Japan. A group formed around the emperor against the shogun and Bakufu. It took another thirteen years for the shogun to agree and proclaim the power transfer to the emperor.

      So, the emperor is a sacred figure. The Japanese, of course, first found spiritual reserves for the new government; this is a distinctive feature of the spirited Japanese. After all, when necessary, they always find a way out. Also, the Japanese have never closed their doors to talented people. Power is, of course, important for everyone, but not for the Japanese. Power itself was not an end for the Japanese – thanks to the soul synthesis of Shintoism and Buddhism.

      Thus ended the two-hundred-and-fifty-year era of the shoguns. The executive power was returned to the son of the sun, Emperor Mutsuhito. An era called Meiji was born. So, the warriors were replaced by pundits. Isn’t this an indicator of Japanese adequacy and efficiency? The traditional power level is very important for the government to be adequate to external and internal challenges. The level of the elite is important, hence morality, what kind of people, and such is the power.

      Chapter 7

      Always on the right track

      “Japanese morality does not encourage the appearance of outstanding personalities. Like a hammer, it immediately hits a nail, the head of which sticks out too much from the board.