Harmony or assertiveness / individuality? We can learn something from AKB48.

The day before yesterday, the so-called general election of AKB48 was held. Surprisingly, the result appeared in not only tabloids but also major general newspapers. As you may know, AKB48 is a Japanese idol girls group. The group is very popular to the point where it's been said that it has been contributing to the Japanese economy. The members' stage positions, the issue of who always can appear on TV shows as the representatives of AKB 48, and other important issues completely depend on how many votes are cast by their fans in the general election. You can get one vote for each CD you buy, although I've heard that there are other ways to obtain votes, as well. Some fans who really want to get their favorite members to become popular try to buy as many CDs as possible. The members, on the other hand, are required to improve their skill and appeal to their fans to obtain their votes. In other words, all the members are required to cooperate and work closely together to maintain the popularity of AKB 48 while they are competing against one another for surviving in AKB 48. Although the system has been controversial, I think that there are things we can learn from the system ( I don't know about AKB 48 well, but I've been paying attention to it as a sort of business model).

After the massive earthquake and tsunami hit Japan on the 11st of March, a lot of people worldwide seemed to be impressed by the typical Japanese people's behavior, cooperation and perseverance. I think that we may be proud of these things. On the other hand, some people, especially Japanese people who are living outside Japan, were taking it with mixed feelings.

Culturally, Japanese people are group conscious. They often put a higher priority on harmony, fairness and equality than individual interests and things like this. I think that it has to do with the fact that Japan was a closed-off agricultural village society. Because of this, keeping order, banding together and working cooperatively aren't difficult in Japan. However, it's difficult for you to insist on different opinions from the majority of people since even today, people still tend not to listen to different or minority opinions no respect different decisions made by others. 

With the globalization of business, it's been said that you should pay more attention to developing your individuality, expressing yourself and accepting different things. However, people haven't yet gotten used to it yet. On the contrary, some people are confusing selfishness with assertiveness since they feel like they are allowed to do anything they want. To make matters worse, people tend to avoid competition, especially at school. Because of this, I often feel that more attention is being paid to harmony, fairness and equality now than a few decades ago. 

When I see the government and people struggling with the immediate crisis, I can't help but feel that we have to accept more assertiveness, individuality and competition. If we can strike a balance between the conflicting elements--working cooperatively and keeping group harmony while competing against one another by expressing yourself and respecting different opinions--, it'll be the best. In this sense, I think that we can learn something from AKB48.

http://www.akb48.co.jp/