Opinion divided on value of teaching Edo-era etiquette in schools
A page from the government-approved morals education textbook 'Watashitachi no Doutoku' ('Our Morals'), for fifth- and sixth-graders, describes behaviors said to be from the Edo Period. | EDUCATION, CULTURE, SPORTS, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MINISTRY

Opinion divided on value of teaching Edo-era etiquette in schools

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Staff Writer

Perhaps every country has something to learn from its ancestors. But when the roots of time-honored wisdom are dubious, should such wisdom still be taught to schoolchildren?

Now Edo shigusa, or actions and behavior apparently practiced and handed down from ancestors in the Edo Period (1603-1868), have sparked controversy amid recent moves by schools to introduce such etiquette.

Proponents of Edo shigusa say its lessons, which they believe were practiced by merchants during the period, embody the compassion and humbleness inherent among Japanese.

Such acts show “the way for diverse people in society to live in harmony,” said Izumi Tsurumi, executive director of Tokyo-based nonprofit group Edo Shigusa.

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A page from the government-approved morals education textbook 'Watashitachi no Doutoku' ('Our Morals'), for fifth- and sixth-graders, describes behaviors said to be from the Edo Period. | EDUCATION, CULTURE, SPORTS, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY MINISTRY

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  • The practice of “kasa kashige” (umbrella leaning) is not so much to avoid getting other pedestrians wet in narrow circumstances as to avoid hitting other people’s umbrellas so that rain water is not knocked onto oneself. It is selfish more than altruistic. But because it looks courteous, which is its single most important feature in Japanese culture, it can be nominated as an example of the virtue of selfishness. Values are not “inherent” they are learned. The “Edo shigusa” movement seems like very active mythologyzing. Don’t people ever get tired of it? Apparently not.

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      I am not sure you can claim that people tilt their umbrellas away from each other just to avoid getting water on themselves. It may be a side effect, but how can you know it is the primary motivation, rather than to help? What about doctors who try to cure diseases – are they also motivated by the selfish desire to avoid getting ill themselves rather than to help others?When a single action has several consequences, some beneficial to others and others beneficial to oneself, it is nonsense to assert that the selfish motivation is “the motivation”.

      I would think the people willing to overlook the historical problems with this tract do so because they think it improves society.

      • The analogy with doctors is unfitting and therefore
        inappropriate because it doesn’t synchronize with what the newspaper story
        relates. Comparison analogies should be drawn from other similar or
        comparable social customs and habits, like holding doors open for others, or
        even simple unsolicited offers of help. Why not talk about other
        “Edo shigusa” like spitting and urinating in the streets? Why
        not teach those to our young people? Among Japanese these seem similarly
        “inherent” as tipping umbrellas.

      • The practice of umbrella leaning also is not very effective because it requires that we expose our bodies to the rain even more than if we didn’t do it. So we would actually stay drier if we did not lean our umbrellas to one side but instead just rudely crashed together. The core of the umbrella leaning custom is the cosmetic appearance of it, which is its most important feature. Leaning umbrellas makes no sense, but it’s a kind of cherished or maybe petrified street theater, exposing the lie of “Edo “shigusa” advocates that it is a kind of social virtue. I don’t mind people lying to me so much as people lying so poorly. Do we want such blatant (and poor) liars teaching our children? It’s mostly a pretense, and I cannot tolerate pretense.