"If you do not contribute to the army, you are not a man" I was shocked to hear this from my Korean friend's mother. I had been in South Korea last year as an exchange student to Ewha Womans University. Ewha is a woman's school as it can be seen by the name, but men can also study if they use exchange program. A few months had passed since I arrived at Korea and I was beginning to realize many similarities between Korea and Japan, so I felt a feeling of discomfort. For example, in terms of language, word order is the same, and particle such as wa, ga, wo, mo are used the same. The concept of "man" however, is quite different in Korea and Japan. Then, why is "man" perceived different?
Some people analyze that one reason for this difference lies in the army.
Korea has a history of national division and Korean War. Although the war has already ended, military service is still continuing. In Korea, when a man turns to 19 years old, they take health diagnostic and if they are permitted to serve to the army, it is a duty to serve for 26months before they turn to 30 years old. South Korea arranges regular troops near the borderline, so Korea is in a tension to be ready whenever a war breaks out. This can be seen by the a commercial sign near the division line that says "We can beat the opponent if a war breaks out here now." Even in dairy life, Korea is in a tension to be ready for a war not having centerline in the middle of the road so that a caterpillar can go through easily in times of emergency. Japan, on the other hand, owns self-Defense Force, but does not hold an army. Needless to say, military service is not a duty, and women can also participate in the self-defense force. In Japan, however, to contribute to defending Japan is not valued compared to those in Korea. It may be because nationalism is perceived as negative perspective influenced by the loss of World War II.
From my experience in Korea, I felt an image of masculine man protecting women and children is stronger than Japan.
Some people also say that the influence of Confucianism is related to the difference of masculinity in Korea and Japan. Although Christianity is becoming to be a trend in Korea, Confucian tradition and custom still remains. In Confucianism, role share by sex is clear, and people hold an image of man as predominant more than Japanese. For example, Korean couples sustain their surname even after marriage, but they have to name their child's name from husband's name. In the scenes of dairy life, Korean men generally pays all when couple goes out even if the man is younger than the woman. Moreover, I heard that Korean women use honorific forms when they talk to their boyfriend even if he is younger than her. Judging from this perspective, it can be inferred that Korean men has a heavy responsibility for their high social status.
In Japan, likewise, from the effect of Confucianism, role share and heavy responsibility of men is strong. Men are expected to graduate "good" school and work at "good" company and earn salary to raise his family. On this point, circumstance in Korea and Japan is similar.
However, in Japanese masculinity, it seems concept that men serving to thearmy in order to protect his country are not included.
How do Korean men feel about this masculinity? Some of my friends told methat they were able to grow up after serving to the army. Other Korean, onthe contrary, wants to avoid bullying in the army, and they break their shoulders on purpose so that they would not pass the health diagnosis.
Some Woman thinks men should protect a country and women, while other woman criticizes people who are back from the army are stubborn.
During my stay at a womans university in Korea for ten months, I thought about the experience of being told "If you do not contribute to the army, you are not a man" from Korean woman and masculinity. Do I lack masculinity? Or, considering Korean men who do not want to serve to the army and Korean women criticizing stubbornness of men who are back from the army, I should not be masculine? Why is only men related to the contribution to national defense? If women is included to the protection of nation, women who do not serve to the army in order to contribute to a country is not a citizen? And what is the incongruity when I am not affirmed as a man?
Having been an exchange student to Korean womans university, it was agreat experience to think about Japanese masculinity.
(ICU Student : Nakajima, Satoshi)