Drawing on an essay by Hiroshi Takeuchi published in Sankei Shimbun’s Seiron, this article examines “Katanagi,” the archetype of Japan’s steady common people who have sustained social stability through diligence, integrity, and trust.

If one were to depict Japan’s steady common people as an ideal type, it would be “Katanagi.”
2016-12-23
The following is taken from an essay by Hiroshi Takeuchi published on December 23 in “Sound Argument” of the Sankei Shimbun.
If Japan’s steady common people are portrayed as an ideal type, it is “Katanagi.”
“Katanagi” refers to grassroots people who have sincerely devoted themselves to their daily work, drawing inner support from the belief that they are “not ashamed before the sun” and that they are “doing honest work.”
They are people who made orderliness, cleanliness, and honesty habits of the heart, and who practiced them silently and steadily.
They are the people who have supported what are called Japanese virtues, such as diligence, seriousness, keeping time and promises, and meticulousness.
“Katanagi” are not utterly inflexible hardliners like Ishibe Kinkichi made of stone and metal, but they possess a sensitivity that views smooth-talking stories and flashy performances with suspicion.
They, men and women alike, have formed grassroots conservatism endowed with a sense of balance.
Of course, such picture-perfect Katanagi themselves may not be so numerous today.
However, there exists a certain thickness of common people who inherit the lineage of such Katanagi.
One need only concretely reflect on the various people in one’s workplace or affiliated companies.
You will find that there are quite a few people reminiscent of the former “Katanagi” once called “the living encyclopedia of the workplace” or “self-made veterans.”
Why did Japanese society remain stable.
Even among university students I know, there are not a few who actively participate in volunteer activities, consider the feelings of others, and are modest yet earnest in character.
They are not taciturn like the Katanagi of old, and their communication skills are high.
In that sense they may be called “mild Katanagi,” but at heart they are dutiful and straightforward people.
That Japanese society’s order remains relatively stable, and that trust in others is higher than in many other societies, is because such people support society from below.
Young people born in the 1990s, often called the “satori generation,” who have few desires and are content, stand close to this kind of “mild Katanagi.”
Omitted.