Alcohol:  Traditional Presence, Modern Threat

Jessica Levy
Japanese Civilization
3 December 2001

     Whether holding traditional, potent sake or modern beer, Japanese glasses have been filled and emptied for centuries.  The relaxation and merriment granted by a glass of alcohol is nothing new or atypical in Japan.  What is a modern phenomenon, however, is the pervasive occurrence and increased popularity of drinking to the extreme, especially among younger generations.  Drinking has always had its own set of cultural rules, like all Japanese customs and rituals – when, where, how much, or by whom alcohol was to be consumed – to which it was understood everyone would adhere.  But now, the customary acceptance of drinking plus modern societal factors are a dangerous combination, and today the Japanese are realizing they will need some new rules if they wish to regain control of this enjoyed pastime.

     Many studies have examined the deeply imbedded norms about drinking that are unique to Japan.  As with most customs, age and gender are the key determinants of the acculturation of proper beliefs and behavior (Kitano et al. 34).  Kitano and associates studied differences in the norms and alcohol consumption of Japanese in Japan, Hawaii, and California and discovered that widespread Japanese attitudes deteriorate in second- or third-generation emigrants.  Findings specific to the Japanese included the highest acceptance of heavy drinking by males between the ages of 21 and 60.  Only in Japan were norms about women’s alcohol ingestion shared equally by men and women, and these indicated that moderate drinking was somewhat acceptable for adult women but less permissible than a man’s drinking at any age.  Important to note is that the only sector from the three sites that provided substantial support for the “Getting drunk is alright” category were Japanese norms for male drinking (Kitano et al. 35-37).

    These results reveal several significant points.  First, the gender discrimination so prevalent in every-day Japanese life, often regarding pleasurable activities, is applicable to alcohol as well (although diminishing slightly today).  Second, getting drunk – not just drinking – is inherently practiced and accepted in the Japanese culture (if by a man).  Finally, the variations in responses between different geographical locations are accounted for by Japan’s specific socialization, since beliefs altered as the Japanese moved West.
 Another study of persons 18 and older from the same regions examined how degrees of appropriateness of drinking altered with circumstances.  Overall, alcohol intake in Japan was more common for younger generations and urban residents.  More specifically, moderate or heavy drinking was deemed more permissible for Japanese than Japanese Americans if with friends at a bar or at home, at a party at someone else’s house, and as a parent spending time with children.  It is practically expected that a man will drink with his co-workers after work or at least after his bath (Wada et al. 381).  Conversely, abstention rates were higher for Japanese during working hours, driving a car, and with others at sport or recreational events (Tsunoda et al. 372).  Interesting was the finding that “although the Japanese sample was more heterogeneous demographically... drinking attitudes for Japanese were more homogeneous” (Tsunoda et al. 375-376); Japanese’s heavy emphasis on conformity indicates that the above drinking norms are universal.

    Wada et al. discuss the family’s role in the drinking socialization process.  As noted, children may observe (or share in) their parents’ drinking, and the latter hold some responsibility to convey an understanding of acceptable drinking behavior.  Although getting drunk is accepted, part of dutifully obeying societal rules includes the ability to be drunk without becoming violent or obnoxious.  Those who fail and repeatedly overstep the appropriateness barrier may be labeled a shuran, or pathological drinker (Wada et al. 381).  Researchers surveyed 12-15 year old Japanese in urban, coastal, and mountainous regions.  The percentage who drank more than once in their lifetime was 80.4 of the boys and 75.9 of the girls, higher than lifetime prevalence rates of the same age group in the United States.  Around half of the subjects said they drank on ritual (especially Shinto) occasions, and 39 percent drank with their family in the evenings (Wada et al. 384).  The authors conclude that “youngsters are introduced to alcohol early on in Japan and are gradually socialized into the adult drinking culture” (Wada et al. 385).  As the teens got closer to the legal drinking age of 20, they were more likely to drink in social situations with their friends.  Wada et al. propose that the strict societal rules and family socialization regarding drinking are what prevent high rates of adult alcoholism despite the widespread alcohol use (Wada et al. 387).

    Another factor typically credited with maintaining moderate levels of Japanese drinking is biology.  Some individuals of Asian ancestry exhibit a flushing response to drinking that involves a set of facial and cardiovascular reactions.  Scientists have discovered that a deficiency of acetaldehyde dehydrogenase type I (ALDH-I) elicits symptoms such as headache, nausea, and anxiety after alcohol ingestion (Nakawatase et al. 52).  Such unpleasant results may possibly deter heavy alcohol intake for these individuals – but not always.  Surveys comparing Japanese American college students (58 percent in the Greek system) and Japanese American community residents investigate the influence of social situation on the flushing response’s effects.  Although subjects were Japanese American, the results can be applied to Japanese since they consider biology versus environment.  The important find was that the students, immersed in a lifestyle where alcohol is often a weekend essential, drank significantly more than their neighborhood counterparts.  There was still weak evidence for flushing-induced restrictions when comparing the Japanese Americans’ to other ethnicities’ intake, but situational variables played the greatest role (Nakawatase et al. 51).

    As shown by the above, the forces directing a Japanese to drink or not to drink are far from constant amid varying cultures and environments.  Even biological influences can be stifled if social cues are strong enough!  Japanese drinking norms have survived for centuries, yet they are simply insufficient for navigating modern circumstances, and, although still discernable, they are fading fast.  Perhaps the system has broken down, or holes in its logic may be allowing adolescents to slip through the cracks.  Today’s contradictions might understandably confuse or mislead youngsters; they smell alcohol on their fathers’ breath after work and are given drinks at home yet are considered juvenile delinquents if they drink with friends in junior high school.  If these are the terms, the Japanese delinquent population is expanding rapidly.

    Currently in Japan, especially in its cities, increased alcohol consumption is just one of many problematic behaviors soaring in popularity.  While not an issue in every household, a number of today’s youth have completely abandoned traditional roles and values.  Theories suggest that the driving impetus for this revolution is a mixture of Western influences and discontent with the strict educational system that predetermines their remaining years by the time they reach junior high school (Hills, 39).  However, there is no consensus on the transition’s precise development.  Perhaps Japanese youth have always possessed discontent, and today it is simply their audacity to complain that has increased.  Whatever the case, “international surveys show that Japanese youngsters are more discontented with their materialistic society than kids in other countries,” and a recent poll found that only 44 percent of Japanese under 20 were happy (Hills 39).  The claim that the American Occupation after World War II was largely responsible for adolescents’ resenting their “inadequate” individuality is frequently an exaggerated assumption.  Nevertheless, the astute description of teens by television commentators as shiji machi sedai, roughly translated to “a generation awaiting instruction,” has a sharp ring of truth.  However the Japanese youth chose to manifest it, their mounting disgruntlement – regardless of whether it drives them to rebellion or apathy – most likely generates a casual stance towards alcohol.

    Japanese adolescents may not fit the description of alcoholics per se, but the presence of alcohol (not to mention drugs or prostitution) is skyrocketing.  More specifically, in 1992 a survey of 14,000 high school students revealed that 80 percent drank regularly, with 25 percent of boys and 11 percent of girls claiming to experience blackouts from drinking more than once a week.  “These numbers represent a 10-fold increase compared with 10 years earlier” (Meiko 136).  A study by Takakura et al. shows that drinking is often present in a cluster of risk-taking behaviors, and that cigarette smoking, alcohol use, and sexual intercourse increase together (26).  Surely some parents are overwhelmed at viewing behaviors they never dared to commit in their youth and, maintaining their conservative, decorous roles, are at a loss for words.

    While the threat of alcohol misuse is pervasive, research distinguishing rebellion prone sectors of society brings to light possible social forces triggering or exacerbating this so-called risk-taking.  Takakura found a lower prevalence of health-risk behaviors in public high schools than among vocational high school students and the growing number of vocational dropouts (30).  In addition, an article in Time International paints a colorful picture of the hippie-like subculture budding in Tokyo.  Mariko Fujiwara, director of research at Tokyo’s Hakuhodo Institute of Life and Living, believes that the new pop-culture phenomenon is “the result of affluence.... Families who are willing to pay have made [children] reluctant to settle for something that requires a lot of...work” (quoted in Parker 41).  What enchants these particular teens are their beloved majikku masshurumu (magic mushrooms), whose surprising loophole making them legal may soon be overridden.  This “neo-psychedelic” microcosm frequents raves and flaunts Austin Powers-like vinyl purses shaped like lips or Mad Hatter outfits (Parker 41).  Pejoratively termed furyo, “good-for-nothings,” these partiers want to stay as far away from a business suit as they can.  Although these images are nowhere near representative of all of Japan, they are nevertheless indicative of the same dynamics inducing heavy drinking on the milder end of the continuum; Tokyo’s alternative nightlife is an extreme example of what can result from the current mix of international, political, economic, and societal influences.

    Risky attitudes and wild subcultures are isolated, but increased alcohol intake is increasing everywhere.  There is no longer a distinction between a typical day and a special festival, and often drinking, not viewed as misconduct, evokes no sense of remorse.  In one school, the nurse described how students “innocently came seeking sympathy and a remedy for their hangovers, as if what they had was a simple cold” (Meiko 140).  Many feel no need to drink in moderation.  Maybe hoping to wipe out all memories of their stressful schooling, they partake in the common game of ikki-nomi, or chug-a-lug, where the aim is to guzzle completely and swiftly (Meiko 140).

    As alcohol was transforming from something that had always been present and (sometimes) permissible into a weekly party tool, the Japanese unfortunately provided teens with a conceptualization of it as attractive and easy to attain.  Despite any possible concern felt at large, a number of structures in society failed to provide drinkers with incentive to slacken their pace.  The first of these is alcohol availability.  The culprits are hundreds of thousands of nationwide vending machines providing a beverage for anyone with a few yen.  In addition, bar and restaurant owners do not falter when trading their booze for teens’ cash, and why should they when no law requires them to check IDs (Meiko 140)?  A second area of encouragement that would be an atrocity in the United States are the media.  Without the existence of any supervisory laws on portrayals of drinking, approximately 10 percent of the commercials on five Tokyo-based TV stations between 6:00 P.M. and 12:00 A.M. in 1995 were for liquor.  One example of an advertisement glamorizing alcohol had a young, popular actress opening her beer-stocked fridge and vowing, “I cannot feel completely secure without them” (Meiko 144).
The Japanese’s final, and perhaps worst, missed opportunity to take hold of drinking is in a lack of education.  A survey conducted in 1990 disclosed that fewer than 45 percent of the Japanese interviewed claimed to know the danger signs of alcoholism, versus 80 percent in the white sample (Tsunoda et al. 376).  In 1995, after a college student died from a vigorous game of chug-a-lug, it was discovered that neither his father nor his college buddies had known that alcohol could be fatal when taken in excess (Meiko 1410).  Even if an alcoholic is aware of his disease, he is likely not to disclose it and to decline the little government aid that exists because of the term’s social stigma.  It “tends to be seen as a moral rather than a medical label,” and “carries implications of being weak-willed” (Hendry 186).  A mere fifteen years ago, the trend was for doctors to only diagnose “alcoholism” after a social disruption such as violence and, even then, maybe classify the patient as psychotic and send them to a mental hospital (Hendry 185).

    Only very recently have the Japanese begun to amend some of these elements that seem to encourage alcohol consumption.  For example, in 1987 the AA Youth Meeting was established, a special program for drinkers in their teens and twenties.  With 100 members in 1995, including 30 percent girls, the group was founded by a young man who had drunk himself out of numerous jobs and close to death (Meiko 138).  After the World Health Organization’s Inter-regional Meeting on Alcohol-Related Problems in Tokyo in 1991, various governmental organizations called for the removal of the iniquitous vending machines, although this is yet to occur.  Lastly, in 1992 schools were ordered by the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture to teach the problems of drinking in health education classes (Meiko 143).

    This evidence of improvement allows for optimism, but it is too soon to tell what the future holds.  While many industrialized nations are far along in their fight against drugs (or at least in their acknowledgement), Japan has only recently abandoned its passive role in alcohol related issues.  In the past, an established system existed that managed to successfully initiate youths into their liquor-filled environment.  However, Japan failed to follow suit with new educational and legal policies when the modern blend of alcohol availability, international fascination, and societal pressures incited teens to take matters into their own hands.  Hopefully the Japanese will be able to direct their path into the future and integrate drinking issues into their society on their own terms, despite any responsibility for the current dilemma the West may hold.  All that matters is that they deal with it, now.  It would be foolish to persist in their traditional manner of hushed shame and propriety.  Like a bloated stomach ready to burst with heavy beer, the threat of troubled adolescents is swelling, ready to erupt at any moment.

Hendry, Joy.  “Drinking and Gender in Japan.”  Gender, Drink, and Drugs.  Ed. Maryon McDonald.  Providence: Berg, 1994.  175-190.l

Hills, Ben.  “Tokyo’s Teen Tribes.”  World Press Review.  V43.  Jan 1996.  p.39.  Expanded Academic Index.  7 November 2001.  <http://web6.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/session/>.

Kitano, Harry H.L. et al. “Norms and Alcohol Consumption:  Japanese in Japan, Hawaii and California.”  Journal of Studies on Alcohol.  53.1 (1992): 33-40.

Meiko, Hashimoto.  “Intoxicated Youth.”  Japan Quarterly 42.2 (1995): 136-45.

Nakawatase, Tomoko V., Joe Yamamoto, and Toshiaki Sasao.  “The Association between Fast-Flushing Response and Alcohol Use among Japanese Americans.”  Journal of Studies on Alcohol 54.1 (Jan 1993): 48-53.

Parker, Ginny.  “Tokyo Takes A Trip:  Japan’s Beaten Generation is Turning on, Tuning in and Dropping Out with A Legal Dose of ‘Shrooms.”  Time International.  V158.  9 July 2001: 40+.  Expanded Academic Index.  7 November 2001.  <http://web6.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/session/>.

Takakura, Minoru et al.  “Patterns of Health-Risk Behavior Among Japanese High School Students.”  Journal of School Health.  V71.  Jan 2001.  p.23.  Expanded Academic Index.  7 November 2001.  <http://web6.infotrac.galegroup.com/itw/session/>.

Tsunoda, Tooru et al.  “The Effect of Acculturation on Drinking Attitudes among Japanese in Japan and Japanese American in Hawaii and California.” Journal of Studies on Alcohol 53.4 (1992): 369-76.

Wada, Kiyoshi, Rumi Kato Price and Susumu Fukui.  “Reflecting adult drinking culture: prevalence of alcohol use and drinking situations among Japanese junior high school students in Japan.”  Journal of Studies on Alcohol.  59.4 (July 1998): 381-7.
 

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