Achieving Social Justice – Zurui and the anatomy of Dependence

Nakako Kondoh

Japan, which very nearly defines itself by its egalitarianism, is experiencing a widening gap between the haves and have-nots. Emblematic of this “new reality” were the arrests of two ambitious entrepreneurs who openly questioned what was “wrong with making lots of money” as long as one did not break the rules. The comment sparked off anguished debates – of which the foreign media observed, that “the  commentators seem[ed] less offended by the entrepreneurs’ alleged flouting of securities laws than by their drive for profits.” The unfairness claims did not concern the “crime” – partly because most are unfamiliar with securities laws – as much as it concerned something much more intangible – founded on the general “sentiment” of the people. The senior Tokyo prosecutor investigating the arrested entrepreneurs made an official comment that

“We cannot let this become a society where people who sweat from their labour, or who want to work but can't because of restructuring, can be taken advantage of.”

              Zurui is a word used in Japan to express an emotive response to perceived injustice; it concerns what ordinary people in Japan perceive as unjust or unfair. Literally translated, zurui is defined as cunning, sly, or crafty. A functional definition – depending on the specific situation – is “that is unfair!” or “that’s cheating!” The difficulty in defining zurui, lies not only in locating the usage – for instance, though defined “cunning” in English, zurui would not be used where cunning would be in English – but also in substantiating the sentiment zurui seeks to convey. Very much embedded in the cultural context, zurui is unique to Japan; however it is also unique “within” Japan. For while expressing negative emotions is hardly ever justified or approved in Japan, expressing frustration, unhappiness or anger through zurui is often (more often than not) considered “legitimate.” Zurui is heard everywhere (by the people who are governed and by those doing the governing; by defenders, victims, jurors and the media in the courtroom; between friends, strangers, neighbors, roommates and spouses, and between parents and children, employees and employers, students and teachers) but there are no clearly defined foundations of its claim. For this, focus groups were conducted to explore as many facets of zurui as possible to depict the concept and its foundations in its entirety. 

Procedurally, the strength of focus groups lies in their ability to explore topics and generate hypotheses. As Morgan(1990) points out, focus groups are useful not only when it comes to investigating what participants think, but they excel at uncovering why participants think as they do. Using Japanese students at the University of Tokyo as participants, the specific instructions were to describe as many situations that “zurui!” apply and why, and to tell what would have to happen to make it fair. The Japanese students came up with 116 instances of zurui. The situations described as zurui stretched over many categories that deal with specific “differentiating” – often stratifying or discriminatory – factors like gender, credentials and status, birth order / age, and appearance; “women” were thought to be zurui, ex-patriots (returnees), the rich and the educated were all zurui, a younger brother or a parent were zurui, and good-looks were also thought “worthy” of the label. Many others were related to internal traits and personality of others – like ability and effort, acts of reciprocation, and the problems of responsibility – a perception deeply related to one’s self-esteem and the understanding of “shrewdness.” Zurui concerns not only the characteristics of those prone to being labeled zurui, but also the inner sentiments of those doing the labeling. The focus groups also revealed the various “purposes” zurui serves. Sympathy, acceptance and authorization were important as they supported the sense of togetherness whilst “proving” to the labeler that responsibilities lay elsewhere. Another major end to which zurui was utilized was retaliative – to “lessen” the status of one labeled as zurui. Looking at the cultural implications of zurui, one overarching characteristic – not explicitly mentioned by the participants, but presented itself through the “way” participants spoke – was that it was a collectivistic sentiment. For while one may feel the emotions of zurui individually, its expression was almost solely dependent on the others “feeling the same.”

Dependent on the others’ expression of “sympathy,” zurui may be considered the ultimate in “collectivistic sentiment.” Consensus is the ultimate authorization to all claims of “zurui!.” One must note, however, that these claims rarely go under the scrutiny of rigorous logic not to mention that any “shared” understanding of zurui must, first and most of all, be a sentiment. Thus zurui claims – especially under its cognitive guise – are misleading; for it is perfectly possible for these claims to be founded upon an individual’s self-interest, jealousy or revenge. It does not necessarily require deep, analytic comprehension of the topic under interest to reach the consensus, “zurui” – herein lies the mechanism of how an individual’s emotional microcosm permeates the macrocosmic experiences of Society.

Zurui is a Japanese word that epitomizes and encapsulates the sentiment of commonsense unfairness. The logic of zurui is based, and emphasized in the ultimate politics of a “sympathetic majority” – a literal democracy. It was this “rule” of sentiment that Mr Murakami violated first, by proclaiming “what is wrong with making lots of money as long as you don't break the rules? You all hate me because I made big profits.” The focus groups attempted to explore as many facets of zurui; and while some perceptions of zurui overlap with other known concepts – like unfairness, cunningness and dishonesty – they were valuable in configuring the notion of zurui as a whole.

日常的公正　−　「ずるい」のメカニズム

「ずるい」−この言葉は日本において何らかの「不公正」が知覚されたときに発せられる。ここで言う公正観とは人々が日常的な意味において理解している正・不正に依るもので、権力や富に服従すること意外の行為基準が存在することを示している。日常の論理に基づいた公正観は根強く、しばし感情的であり、個人ばかりでなく社会全体に大きな影響を及ぼす。だがその日常的公正観はその根拠となるものが曖昧であり、ずるいと言われるものの中には必ずしも客観的にそう理解されないものも多く存在する。そもそも「ずるい」とはいかなる意味を持つ言葉なのか。またどこまで広く適用されるのだろうか。フォーカス・グループを通して「ずるい」によって喚起される感情、それを取り巻くコミュニケーションなどに踏み込み、英語に訳すことも難しいこの言葉の定義を生成した。