Learning through Film: Mushi-shi

Mushi-shi is an animation series based on a best-selling Japanese manga or graphic novel.

Set in an ambiguous time frame - it looks like the past, but feels contemporary - this series follows our hero Ginko, a wanderer who studies mushi: ghost-like creatures who live on the continuum between plant and animal.

Most people cannot see mushi, and are unaware of their existence, but they can affect humans greatly. Ginko can see them and he attracts them, so he has become a Mushi-shi.

This series has an X-files feel. In each episode we are presented with a problem or mystery that only Ginko can understand or address.

The series unfolds like a Japanese scroll, revealing secrets at its own pace. There is little action, yet each episode moves quickly. The feeling is philosophical and contemplative, the art is stunning, and the music is beautiful. Mushi-shi is, in simple terms, a masterpiece of its genre. A quick search on the internet will show you the universal acclaim it has earned.

You can learn quite a bit about Japanese culture from almost every episode. One of my favorites is episode #23, "The Sound of Rust". A young girl has an unusual singing voice that attracts a species of mushi. This mushi acts like rust and clings to everything in her village, including people (but is invisible to everyone except the girl and eventually Ginko). The girl stops singing or talking.

When Ginko enters the story, she is a young woman. The villagers are crippled my the mushi, and Ginko arrives to help. Ginko thinks he knows the cure and resolves to solve the problem.
In a scene we've all watched in movies a hundred times, the villagers now understand the cause of their problem, and rush to the young girls house, angry at this 'monster' for causing their pain.

Do they want blood? No.
Do they want revenge? No.
What do they want? An apology...

You know, just like in Frankenstein when the villagers rushed the castle with torches and asked for an apology!

This is a very Japanese phenomenon. Japanese love apologies.
If you mess up on your taxes, or any kind of government paperwork (I was once late for visa renewal) you must write a "gomennasai" (apology) letter.
"I'm sorry I caused the good people of the government so much difficulty due to my lack of consideration... blah, blah, blah...."
When you've shown proper humility, the process can move on.

When I lived in Japan, it seemed we were forever attending these "gomennasai" meetings with customers.
"I'm sorry we charge so much"
"I'm sorry the manuals are in English"
"I'm sorry your engineers broke the machine"

And so on... I actually became quite good at looking and sounding remorseful.

A couple of years ago, Hideki Matsui of the New York Yankees broke his wrist on a diving attempt to catch a ball. He would be out for the season. He called a press conference and apologized to his team, the fans, and his Japanese fans for letting them down by being so vulnerable as to have a season-ending injury.
The New York media was stunned by this apology... they'd never seen anything like it.
This article in the Japan Times nicely summarizes the 'apology' gap.

Bottom line: Next time you have a problem working in Japan and you want to resolve it - you might want to start with 'gomennasai'.