Thesis
Necktie-alcoholics: Cultural forces and Japanese alcoholism
Washington State University
Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
2000
Handle:
https://hdl.handle.net/2376/38
Abstract
This thesis is an anthropological investigation of Japanese "necktie-alcoholics (nekutai-aruchu)," white-collar workers who have an alcohol dependence syndrome but are not considered alcoholics by Japanese society. The thesis explores why, and with what social consequences, necktie-alcoholics are not recognized as alcoholics. I examine the function of drinking in Japanese society in terms of the anthropological concept of "communitas," a conceptual world induced when communication on an emotional level (honne) lets people become more intimate with one another (uchi [inner] relationship). The significance of alcohol is that it lets a person's mental state become ego-centered (honne) rather than society-centered (tatemae), and if this sentiment is shared, it has a great potential of inducting communitas. This thesis discusses how this works in Japanese society by considering work-related drinking from the perspective of the Japanese concept "amae (feeling of seeking care, to be cared for by somebody)." Due to this function of drinking, which unites people on a more intimate base and is linked to the "productivity" of the group (company), necktie-alcoholics are not recognized as alcoholics as long as they play their roles as a worker. However, in Japan, on top of the basic function of drinking (inducing communitas), drinking occasions have become an institutionalized strategy so that people intentionally drink to become favored by people of higher status and so effectively satisfy their amae (i.e. toriiru). Often, people blindly follow the belief "sacrifice is good" and employ tatemae (superficial) behavior. It is this value of self-sacrifice in the name of "productivity" that prevents Japanese from realizing necktie-alcoholics' physical and mental discomfort that comes from drinking. In Japan, many people experience stress because of the high value the society puts on productivity. The phenomenon of necktie-alcoholics is hidden behind the materially prosperous society; but economic prosperity and necktie-alcoholism are different sides of the same coin. The admired "economic growth" with its side effects is not limited to Japan but a trend in many industrialized societies today.
Metrics
Details
- Title
- Necktie-alcoholics
- Creators
- Keiko Kato
- Contributors
- Linda Stone (Degree Supervisor)
- Awarding Institution
- Washington State University
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology, Department of
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), Washington State University
- Publisher
- Washington State University; Pullman, Wash. :
- Identifiers
- 99900525027801842
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Thesis