Which is The True Self. Public or Private?

Much of the material that we have gone through in this class has to deal with the complex and sometimes contradictory nature of the human mind. Since Japanese society is the focus, this complex nature is played out most prevalently in the concept of honne and tatemae and how different characters deal with it in their lives. I am going to explore through some of the texts and materials that have been used in class on how honne and tatemae can create conflict on how a person perceives themselves.
For those who are not as familiar with Japanese terminology and culture I will define what honne and tatemae are and its role in Japanese society. Honne refers to a person’s true feelings and desires. These may be contrary to what is expected by society or what is required according to one’s position and circumstances, and they are kept hidden, except with one’s closest friends. Tatemae which literally means “façade” is the behavior and opinions one would show in public. Tatemae is what is expected by society and required according to one’s positions and circumstances, and these may or may not match one’s honne.( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatemae)
Many other cultures have the concept of a public and private self, however, the degree and rigidity of the system used in Japan is quite unique to Japan. Here is some history on how this public and private system was created. Honne and tatemae are arguably a cultural necessity resulting from a large number of people living in a comparatively small island nation. Even with modern farming techniques, Japan today domestically produces only 39% of the food needed to feed its people so, before the modern era, close-knit co-operation and the avoidance of conflict were of vital importance in everyday life. For this reason, the Japanese tend to go to great lengths to avoid conflict, especially within the context of large groups. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tatemae)

A good example showing the duality of the public and private self in Japanese society is the short story by Yamada Amy called “Kneel Down and Lick My Feet” This story is about two sisters who work as dominatrix’s. Shinobu has been in the business longer and is therefore showing her younger sister the ropes on what to do. There is a lot of sadomasochism and sexual imagery in the story; however, at its core it is a story about how these women handle this type of life and plays with the question of what is normal and who the true self is. Firstly, I will talk about how

the women deal with having a job like this. Being a dominatrix has to deal with extremes of mental behavior that are most likely different from the person’s normal personality. So for Shinobu and Chika, the way they get into the mood to dominate these men is to treat it as if it was a play and during the prescribed time they are playing characters. So when the time is up they immediately go back to the normal Japanese woman role they would play in society. So for them they are able to turn this dominatrix side of them self on and off at will and don’t let it interfere with life outside of the club. Some of these women have children and husbands at home and so this dominatrix side of their personality is something that even the closest people to them will know about. This brings up the question, which aspect of their personality is most truly them. Shinobu brings up this eternal acting when she says, “All people are actors to some extent, except when they’re completely alone. That’s why, in my heart, I don’t believe anything about anybody. But that doesn’t mean that I hate them. It’s just obvious. No matter how much you trust somebody, that’s person’s acting, at least a little.”( Kneel Down and Lick My Feet pg.197
The story brought this aspect into view when after Shinobu had her time with one of her clients and his suit was back on she would bow to him and show him the normal respect of everyday life. Another example is when Shinobu told Chika to sit down with first time clients after a session to show them that in reality you are not truly that mean person you were a few minutes ago(Kneel Down and Lick My Feet pg.194). A quote that Shinobu says that really gets to the heart of what the story is trying to convey is “When you get right down to it, there are an awful lot of sadists and masochists in the world. People call this a perversion, but you have to wonder, if there are this many so-called perverts in the world, what is normal?”( Kneel Down and Lick My Feet pg.191). Many of the men who come into the club to be dominated are successful business and CEO’s of companies and for anyone who looked at them would seem like the elite of society and if these people are not normal, then what is? So it makes the question of standards of normality moot to have so many seemingly normal people doing this kind of activity.

Now to move on to another example of perceptions of self through the lens of “Rashomon” which was directed by Akira Kurosawa and “In a Grove” written by Akutagawa Ryunosuke which most of the story of “Rashomon” is based. “Rashomon” is all about finding out the truth of a murder by looking at how each character perceives their role in it, because as the audience we know that each character is lying to some extent but to what extent is found out only by looking at how the character perceives their role in the crime. So basically we are trying to figure out the little shards of honne among all of the tatemae that each character shows. This is what makes “Rashomon” better than “In a Grove” because in the written story there is not much mystery as to what happened because all of the characters show their true nature immediately and so the story becomes a simple recap of events instead of what it became in the movie which was a piecing together of stories of what the characters wanted other people to think their role was.
One would be remiss to not mention Neo Genesis Evangelion when talking about the private and public selves and perceptions of oneself. The entire series of evangelion is about the journey of Shinji Ikari from a boy to a man and his struggles to define himself. Near the end of the series Shinji finally has a breakthrough and is able to define himself for the first time. Shinji is presented with a host of visions, one of which is different people in his life defining who Shinji is to them. This has been the problem with Shinji throughout the entirety of the series; he was only up to this point able to define himself based on what other people perceived that he was. So basically he had only a public self and therefore felt empty and confused inside because he had no internal definition of himself. The scene ends with a voice asking Shinji, “Now who is Shinji Ikari, to Shinji.” Through this transformative moment Shinji becomes more of a balanced person because now he is just not defined by outside perceptions of himself. The public and private selves of Shinji Ikari meet and combine to create a complete person.
In conclusion, what does it mean to have a public and private self and is either one truer than the other? For me the question becomes moot because both parts make up what a person is. For example, if you are being fake with someone, then that being fake is part of what you truly are because you are doing it, if it wasn’t part of you than you wouldn’t do it. In all of the texts mentioned above, the characters in each all have to deal in their own way with their public and private selves. Each story negotiates the perceptions the characters give to the world and the internal perceptions they have of themselves and I believe that each story is asking the audience to move toward a balance of both because each part is a piece of what a person is truly.