The Japanese political system is said to be admirable to the foreign eyes. Japan is a constitutional democracy and some believed that the Japanese system should be stimulated. However, they were unaware of the true conduct of Japanese politics. Even though the Japanese had a strong tradition of group cohesiveness which led to strong nationalism, we cannot avoid a realist principle that each individual has their own interests and that each would give importance to itself first than others. In other words there is independence among groups.
Rashomon is Japanese film by Akira Kurosawa, which depicts the story of a woman who was raped and her husband murdered. The story went through with an detective seeking out the truth behind the mutual contradictory perspectives of the different characters involved or are witnesses in the crime, which are the woodcutter, the travelling Buddhist priest, the bandit, the samurai through a medium and the samurai’s wife.
The various perspectives in the Rashomon story correspond to the three employment classes in Japan. The metaphor is relevant to the three segments which are history, culture and politics, which compel the Japanese economic, political and social policies. Repression in the Japanese government or in other words misleading the people from the truth in order to keep their honor and to pursue their own interests is portrayed by the character the “woodcutter” in Rashomon.
Yeah,,actually Japanese government can be portrayed as the character of ‘woodcutter’ in the film. He knows everything but doesn’t say anything because he also hides something. I think that not only Japan but also other countries can be compared with ‘woodcutter’ in order to keep their own political interests. That can be for their countries or just for themselves.
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