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Play for the Win or Play for the Game: A Note on Cultural Differences | Alyona Shimberg
from Issue 9 Games
Alyona Shimberg
Play for the Win or Play for the Game: A Note on Cultural Differences
Lively music starts playing. Children begin to walk around chairs arranged in a circle. Some stroll carefree, while others slowly and methodically move from chair to chair, prepared to react at any moment. Then the music comes to an abrupt stop, and everyone rushes to the closest chair in an attempt to claim a place for themselves, prepared to fight for it if necessary, so as not to get eliminated. Each round, one chair is taken away, until finally, only two players and one chair remain, and the winner of the game is decided. That’s how the popular game of musical chairs goes – an activity enjoyed in educational environments and at parties alike. While the origins of musical chairs could be traced far back, the modern version formed in 19th-century English parlors and quickly gained popularity. Simple rules, high levels of engagement, and the need for constant vigilance ensured that the game left the salons of the upper class and became a true party hit that is played to this day.
However, musical chairs is not the only game of this kind. Its Japanese equivalent is called fruits basket. It is very often played in classrooms and therefore, most Japanese people know it. The game begins with the same setting: a group of people (usually children) and a set of chairs in a circle. But, one player stays in the middle, while everyone else sits on a chair and each is assigned a fruit. The players end up forming a whole “fruit basket”: a few strawberries, a couple of bananas, some pineapples, etc. After that, the player standing in the middle names a fruit, and whoever is called out must stand up and move to a different spot. The person in the center also attempts to sit on one of the freed chairs. The player left standing has to say another fruit name, and so the game goes on. It’s also possible to exclaim “Fruits basket!” and then everyone must stand up and find a new spot.
The main difference between musical chairs and fruits basket lies in the basic structure of the games’ mechanics: musical chairs is first and foremost a competitive game, where the main goal is to become the last person sitting on the chair. However, in fruits basket there is no elimination, no winner, and no prize. The game doesn’t encourage rivalry, and the main objective is to unite the players. At the same time, it can be seen as a reflective model of society: every child belongs to a smaller group of a certain fruit, while all of them together are part of the basket – just like in society, where social groups of different sizes exist.
Both games are used in schools to help socialize children. However, the fundamental difference between their designs corresponds to different goals of socialization in American and Japanese cultures. Children begin their education at a very young age and that’s when they first encounter the concepts of competition and cooperation. American pupils tend to have a more competitive mindset when playing games. They’re eager to win and stand out to such an extent that they sometimes create additional rules to prevent others from winning. Using musical chairs in classrooms forms exactly that kind of attitude, as it promotes independence, ambition, and selfsufficiency. These traits are all desired in American society. Comparative studies of American preschools showed that teachers and parents view individual development and achievements as the most important reasons for early schooling. Acquiring social skills is considered important, but is still perceived mostly as an addition to individual development.
In Japanese games, however, children cooperate so that everyone can win or receive a prize, whether tangible or not. Instead of eliminating players to determine one winner, as is often the case in the U.S., school games in Japan are usually curated to involve everyone and avoid leaving players out of the process. The design of the games is not individualistic, but oriented towards creating group identification. Socialization is believed to be the single greatest task of the earliest years of schooling. Thus, the goal of the game usually involves letting every child in the class participate or connect with others.
As Diane Hoffman, an anthropologist of education, argued, many differences between the two educational practices stem from different cultural understandings of the individual, with Japanese education leaning towards a focus on individuality and American education – on individualism. The former is defined by the inner cultivation of unique individual qualities and creativity, and at the same time – by acceptance of certain social obligations. The latter can be described as assertiveness and agency of the self that continuously draws a line between the individual and the people and structures around them, which allows the individual to act according to personal interests and desires, unrestrained by social boundaries or expectations imposed by others.
In Japanese schools, group activities are preferred and much attention is given to ensure that children learn to adjust to the classroom’s collective life. American educators, on the other hand, often regard whole-group exercises as contradictory to individual needs, implicitly conformist and teacher-centered. A comparative study found that students in American classrooms spend the majority of their time working alone on individualized tasks, while students in Japan spend comparatively less time on seatwork and much more participating in group activities. At the same time, even the concept of group work is understood differently in the U.S. and Japan. For Americans, a group is defined by its task or central interest, and so this goal comes before relations to each other. For the Japanese, however, the feeling of belonging becomes more important than the task itself. As one Japanese teacher remarked in the same study: “Everyone doing the same thing at the same time is not the same as real group life, is it?”
The various tendencies in education are closely tied to the understanding of the individual and the self. In Japanese culture, the self is conceptualized as multilayered: one’s true feelings and thoughts are located on the inner level, while the outer level is geared towards interactions and is adjusted depending on social circumstances. While being able to change your selfpresentation to match the social situation is considered a mark of maturity, Japanese early education offers children the space to develop dimensions of the self that are difficult to cultivate at home. At the same time, it is encouraged to create a private domain of the self that can grow and flourish separately from the demands of social life. Although Japanese schools stress the importance of group activity and conformity, this is not contradictory to the notion of independent and autonomous self, but complementary to it. Meanwhile, the U.S. views the self more as a monolith consistent across different situations. Social behavior is supposed to align with inner thoughts and feelings, which is reflected in the all-American traits of honesty, frankness, and forthrightness. This is exemplified by the cultural emphasis on independence, self-expression, and individualism.
There is a concept in Japanese education that reflects a distinctly Japanese approach: it’s called ibasho – literally “place to be”, but its actual meaning is described as a place where you can be yourself and be accepted. Many Japanese educators hope that school can be an ibasho for their students, and so they become children’s companions or partners instead of simply being their instructors. And while the concept of ibasho is uniquely Japanese, the desire to make schools a safe space isn’t. This practice, along with some of the Japanese educational activities and games, can be a benchmark for other cultures.
