http://cs.newhampshire.com/blogs/new_hampshire_to_japan/archive/2008/01/13/The-nail-that-sticks-up.aspxThe nail that sticks up gets hammered down. Some consider it the proverb that most describes the Japanese mindset, and it was quoted to me more than once during my 10 days in Japan. The words came to me as I stood overlooking the broad sweep of a mountainsideenCommunityServer 2.1 (Build: 60809.935)http://cs.newhampshire.com/blogs/new_hampshire_to_japan/archive/2008/01/13/The-nail-that-sticks-up.aspx#6555Sun, 13 Jan 2008 11:21:28 GMT7b375189-dcc7-4af7-b4d3-2fc751a0220e:6555Richie in MI"Don't make waves...it's better to conform than to stick out." This meaning of the 'kotowaza' (proverb) at the top of the post would describe a mindset that values being harmonious over being right. Seems different from us...or does it? Do we not also put partisanship before principle at times of need? Lots of folks fancy themselves as having stayed true to a just cause. How many really did? Cultivating rice in Japan nowadays actually sounds a bit like mending the wall in the poem mentioned. I see a youthful 'Frost-san' there standing in a tiered rice paddy, feeling a tad transcendent, complaining (in Japanese, of course) to his elderly neighbor: "Don't we have anything better to do on a Sunday? Like shop for groceries...." But the old, faithful traditionalist only says, "'Deru kugi wa utareru'." (The nail that sticks up gets hammered down.)http://cs.newhampshire.com/blogs/new_hampshire_to_japan/archive/2008/01/13/The-nail-that-sticks-up.aspx#6646Wed, 23 Jan 2008 18:14:26 GMT7b375189-dcc7-4af7-b4d3-2fc751a0220e:6646ItaloSuaveSherry, I enjoyed your featured exploration of Japanese and New England community values, experiences, and culture. Our two Countries have been engaged and connected even across vast distances, in various ways, for more than a Century now. Those connections become even stronger with time. Japanese modernity melded with time honored traditions and values looks very good to me, an American. I wonder how they do that, when we seem to forget anything more than a decade ago in our own American experience? If you visit my blog website noted here, Sherry, you may enjoy new music by a very enjoyable J-Pop Singer I am certain you have heard of in Japan: Utada Hikaru. She sings in both English and Japanese, and has new songs and a new album coming out soon. Utada makes for a new and marvelous case of "East meets West."