Gaman (term)
Encyclopedia
is a Japanese
term of Zen Buddhist origin which means "enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity". The term is generally translated as "perseverance" or "patience". A related term, , a compound with tsuyoi (strong), means "suffering the unbearable" or having a high capacity for a kind of stoic endurance.
Gaman is variously described as a "law," a "virtue," an "ethos," a "trait," etc. It means to do one's best in distressed times and to maintain self-control and discipline.
Gaman is a teaching of Zen Buddhism.
and to those affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
in northern Japan. At time, Gaman has been misperceived as introverted behavior or as a lack of assertiveness or initiative rather than as a demonstration of strength in the face of difficulty or suffering. Gaman is passive and focuses on enduring and not complaining as part of the process in which people collaborate to achieve their goals.
After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
, the resilience, civility, lack of looting and ability of the Japanese to help each other was widely attributed to the gaman spirit. The 50–70 workers that remained at the damaged and radiation-emitting Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant
despite the severe danger demonstrated what was regarded as gaman as well. The word gaman is the origin of the corollary concept of ganbaru
.
Gaman is also used in psychoanalytic studies and to describe the attitudes of the Japanese. It is often taught to youth and largely used by older Japanese generations. Showing gaman is seen as a sign of maturity and strength. Keeping your private affairs, problems and complaints silent demonstrates strength and politeness as others have seemingly larger problems as well. If a person with gaman were to receive help from someone else, they would be compliant; not asking for any additional help and voicing no concerns.
Japanese language
is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an...
term of Zen Buddhist origin which means "enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity". The term is generally translated as "perseverance" or "patience". A related term, , a compound with tsuyoi (strong), means "suffering the unbearable" or having a high capacity for a kind of stoic endurance.
Gaman is variously described as a "law," a "virtue," an "ethos," a "trait," etc. It means to do one's best in distressed times and to maintain self-control and discipline.
Gaman is a teaching of Zen Buddhism.
Analysis
Gaman has been attributed to the Japanese-Americans and others held in United States' internment camps during World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and to those affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
in northern Japan. At time, Gaman has been misperceived as introverted behavior or as a lack of assertiveness or initiative rather than as a demonstration of strength in the face of difficulty or suffering. Gaman is passive and focuses on enduring and not complaining as part of the process in which people collaborate to achieve their goals.
After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami
The 2011 earthquake off the Pacific coast of Tohoku, also known as the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, or the Great East Japan Earthquake, was a magnitude 9.0 undersea megathrust earthquake off the coast of Japan that occurred at 14:46 JST on Friday, 11 March 2011, with the epicenter approximately east...
, the resilience, civility, lack of looting and ability of the Japanese to help each other was widely attributed to the gaman spirit. The 50–70 workers that remained at the damaged and radiation-emitting Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant
Fukushima I Nuclear Power Plant
The , also known as Fukushima Dai-ichi , is a disabled nuclear power plant located on a site in the towns of Okuma and Futaba in the Futaba District of Fukushima Prefecture, Japan. First commissioned in 1971, the plant consists of six boiling water reactors...
despite the severe danger demonstrated what was regarded as gaman as well. The word gaman is the origin of the corollary concept of ganbaru
Ganbaru
, also romanized as gambaru, is a ubiquitous Japanese word which roughly means to slog on tenaciously through tough times.The word Ganbaru is often translated to mean "doing one’s best", but in practice, it means doing more than one's best...
.
Gaman is also used in psychoanalytic studies and to describe the attitudes of the Japanese. It is often taught to youth and largely used by older Japanese generations. Showing gaman is seen as a sign of maturity and strength. Keeping your private affairs, problems and complaints silent demonstrates strength and politeness as others have seemingly larger problems as well. If a person with gaman were to receive help from someone else, they would be compliant; not asking for any additional help and voicing no concerns.
Further reading
- Kennicott, Philip. "'The Art of Gaman': Life behind walls we were too scared to live without," Washington Post (US). March 28, 2010.
External links
- Smithsonian Institution, The Art of Gaman: Arts and Crafts from the Japanese American Internment Camps, 1942-1946