To go a bit high-brow:
National identities are generally constructed things: much of what is considered Japanese national culture consists of stuff essentially put together from bits and pieces by various japanese intellectuals, educators, etc. in the late 19th century, Bushido - formerly a loose set of chivalrous ideas ever now and then (likely Chivalry in Europe) observed by the upper classes - was reinvented as an organized "code" for the nation, and new generations recieved educations with a lot of emphasis on the whole suicidal death before surrender, emperor worship, ultra-nationalism, etc. Shinto was similarly reinvented as a much more organized and systematic religion that it had been before. A bit more Buddhist kindness in the mix and a bit less Shinto warrior-worship might do the nation some good.
Bruce
PS- And if you think that national identities don't change, I've read about how visitors to Japan in the early Meiji from Europe felt that Japanese were too "individualistic" and "undisciplined" ever to manage to build a truly modern nation. Japanese of the 1930s are no more reflective of a true Japanese ur-identity than the salaryman of the 80s (the product of another major educational and social change efforts after WWII) or the video-gaming shut-ins of the 2010s.
Bruce
National identities are generally constructed things: much of what is considered Japanese national culture consists of stuff essentially put together from bits and pieces by various japanese intellectuals, educators, etc. in the late 19th century, Bushido - formerly a loose set of chivalrous ideas ever now and then (likely Chivalry in Europe) observed by the upper classes - was reinvented as an organized "code" for the nation, and new generations recieved educations with a lot of emphasis on the whole suicidal death before surrender, emperor worship, ultra-nationalism, etc. Shinto was similarly reinvented as a much more organized and systematic religion that it had been before. A bit more Buddhist kindness in the mix and a bit less Shinto warrior-worship might do the nation some good.
Bruce
PS- And if you think that national identities don't change, I've read about how visitors to Japan in the early Meiji from Europe felt that Japanese were too "individualistic" and "undisciplined" ever to manage to build a truly modern nation. Japanese of the 1930s are no more reflective of a true Japanese ur-identity than the salaryman of the 80s (the product of another major educational and social change efforts after WWII) or the video-gaming shut-ins of the 2010s.
Bruce