Practical-Mindedness
In American folklore, there are jokes and stories describing Swedes as being practical-minded but stupid, in othre words, technically capable, but not clever. Swedes are people of craftsmen, writes Austin (1968:17), and he quotes an interview with film director, Ingmar Bergman: "The fact of the matter is that we Swedes are above all craftsmen. We like to work with our hands. Less concrete problems are apt to confuse and baffle us." The Swedish technical sense seems to have been applied within the Swedish social organization, as well - for better or for worse (see Huntsford 1971). On the other hand, Swedes are not philosophers, abstract thinking is not for them, which is what Bergman indicated in the interview quoted above, and which Sundbärg also stated early on (1911).
The Japanese have never shown their strong-point to be in speculative thought, writes Kishimoto (1981:111). "The Japanese mentality is, in most cases, unfit for abstract thinking, and takes interest merely in tangible things", writes the Nobel Prize winner in physics Hidei Yakuawa (1981:56), "The (Japanese) language does not have any fully established method of composing abstract nouns", writes Hajime Nakamura in a chapter on "non-rationalistic tendencies" in Japanese culture (1964:533). Time after time, Japanese scholars return in their writing to the practical mentality and see in it - as do many Swedes in a comparable manner - one of the reasons for the nation’s industrial success. Also, Swedish travellers in Japan probably feel at home in an environment which is characterized by rules and regulations, law and order - all too orderly from the perspective of many other cultures.
This similarity between Japanese and Swedish mentality is behind many of the similarities between the two societies, but the similarities have their limits. It is said to be characteristic of Swedish governments that decisions are regularly made on the basis of factual matters, without difficult emotional barriers (Anton 1975). In one special respect Japanese people living in Sweden say that they have a hard time fitting in, and that is due to the lack of something comparable to the so-called Japanese irrationalism. In Sweden, you are always required to give rational arguments for what you feel and think, said Noriko Kurube, doctoral student at the Stockholm School of Social Work, who had lived in Sweden for eight years. A similar view was presented by the artist Ken Sato, who had lived in Sweden for 17 years, but for the most part, found it easy to live here.
Yuhkihiko Nakayama, techinical consultant and translator, who previously worked in Sweden, commented on the same subject: "When Japanese think, there are various things involved, facts and feelings. In Japan, you use feelings or intuition when making a decision, even when deciding whether or not to produce new technical devices. In Sweden, you have to present statistics or a new market study in order to make a decision."
Prominent Japanese scientist have continually maintained that Japanese neither can nor want to think logically (Smith 1983:111), which can be illustrated by the following quote from one of Japan’s leading ethnologistsm Eiichiro Ishida (1974:117):
…(T)he Japanese do not emphasize the European logical premises which claim to classify and categorize objects. The Japanese mode of thought does not set up classifications and categories such as good and evil, self and other, man and nature, of life and death with which to structure concepts. Consequently … logic and rethoric did not develop in Japan.
It should be added that "logicalness" here is identified with classification in terms of discrete categories. Ishidas statement means that the Japanese mind prefers to work to neutralize the contrast. This is not the same thing, however, as being "illogical" with the meaning of the term "illogical" in general language usage.
