Recently, I heard the term "noodle harassment." A French visitor in Japan complained in a restaurant about the custom of slurping soba or ramen. Frankly, my reaction was: “Then don’t come to Japan, don’t enter a soba shop.”
In Japan, slurping noodles is natural and part of the culture. But from another cultural perspective, it may feel unpleasant or incomprehensible. This is already the seed of friction.
Festivals are not just "fun"
We often see festivals only as enjoyable events. But originally, a festival also had the aspect of a "demonstration." It is a declaration: “We live here. We worship our gods. This is our territory, our culture.”
That is why, when another religion’s festival is brought into one’s living space, it is natural to feel cautious. Japan, with its acceptance of many deities, tends to overlook this. Yet, the side of cultural assertion and potential cultural invasion is real.
A Buddhist view: "Together" and "Boundaries"
At the same time, I once wrote this: The adornments of the Pure Land described in the Amitabha Sutra are all transformed expressions of Amida Buddha. If so, then buddhas and even the gods of other religions are, at the root, “together.”
I still hold this view. In faith, I feel that at the root we are one. But “being together” is not the same as “accepting everything without caution.” Differences between cultures must be respected with boundaries. This is the stance of “harmony without blind familiarity.”
"He didn’t kill anyone" – The shock
Recently I saw a court case in the news. A foreign defendant repeatedly committed sexual crimes against young girls. In the courtroom, a woman believed to be his relative shouted: “He did not kill anyone, why such a punishment?”
For those living in Japanese society, this is unacceptable. Yet, for her, it may have been justice according to her cultural values. Facing this gap, one cannot easily speak of “coexistence.”
Coexistence: Ideal or Reality?
From a Buddhist view, all people are bonpu—ordinary beings—and equally embraced by salvation. That is why I wish to live together with others. Yet in reality, boundaries must be drawn. Living with both ideal and reality means keeping “courtesy” and “buffer zones.”
Coexistence is not about “accepting everything.” Rather, it is about “respecting differences as they are, without crossing each other’s lines.” Only then, perhaps, does coexistence become real.
日本語版note:異文化と共存について思うこと―「麺ハラ」から、祭り、宗教、そして境界へ―
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