Japanese public figures were blamed for donations
In Japan, public figures are often criticized for donating money for disaster relief, and Mr. Yoshiki, the director and founder of the Japanese band X Japan, publicly announced that he would donate 10 million yen to the disaster-stricken areas affected by Ishikawa**, which was criticized by some people. Well-known singer Ayumi Hamasaki also responded to the matter on her Instagram story:
I am one of those people who have been influenced by Mr. Yoshikiofficial's public donation has been said to be famous, but it is true that public donations can expand public support for disaster relief efforts. Besides, after all, is it really necessary for Mr. Yoshiki to donate publicly in order to become famous? Isn't his fame already loud enough? (Original text: @yoshikiofficial Sending the name of the public expression 売名 尃 広 Support Wheel between violating yoshiki 売名 necessary name bitter 売
In addition, Mr. Sugi Taro, a well-known Japanese singer, has also been reported in the news that he has donated 4 billion yen of personal property to disaster relief. When asked again in a recent interview with reporters if the donation was for the sake of fame, he replied: "I've heard enough of this kind of question. While I don't want to argue anymore, it's always good to do it, whether it's for fame or not. 」
In other words, some Japanese public figures are prepared to be criticized for their actions when they donate money for disaster relief
Helping people The evolution of culture
So why do Japanese people often have a negative attitude towards donations from public figures?
According to an article published in the journal of the Nippon Foundation, according to a survey by the Charities Aid Foundation, Japan ranks second to the bottom among 118 countries in the world in terms of whether they have made donations, whether they have volunteered, and whether they have helped strangers.
Reading this, you may wonder, isn't it true that Japanese people have never had the concept of donating money or helping others? This is not the case.
In the past, in the Nara period, Buddhist monks would collect donations from the private sector called bonga; In the Edo period, merchants would donate money to build bridges and open educational places for their children: private schools (terakoya), and the culture of philanthropy and nurturing the future was in fact deeply rooted in the hearts of the people.
However, after entering the Meiji period, with the emergence of the ** centralized system, Japan evolved into a model of policy formulation by local governments, and the Japanese people's concept changed to "public services such as social welfare should be provided", so the awareness that our society should be improved by ourselves gradually declined.
Another issue is the system. For example, in Japan, only certified NPO corporations, national public interest corporations, and other specific corporations are eligible for tax deductions after donating money. In short, there is still a lot of room for improvement in Japan, whether it is to raise people's awareness of donations or to improve the system.
Don't cause trouble to others! Be patient!
In addition to the reasons mentioned above, I think that Japanese people generally have the idea of not causing trouble to others, so when it comes to donations or similar crowdfunding activities, people often say: Go and make money yourself! Don't cause trouble to others! Japanese comedian, actor and picture book writer Ryohiro Nishino once mentioned that when he launched a crowdfunding campaign for his solo exhibition in New York 10 years ago, he received a lot of criticism and criticism.
At the same time, there are many Japanese who cannot accept being rewarded without giving and prefer to be patient . Finally, I think the reason behind the accusation that Japanese people donate money to become famous is actually out of jealousy of the rich. When Shohei Ohtani, a well-known baseball player, made a donation, no one criticized him for it; But other public figures have been criticized for donating money to become famous, which in my opinion is nothing more than personal jealousy.
However, Japan seems to be slowly adapting to the culture of donations and crowdfunding, and the behavior of criticizing donations is slowly being reversed, and I hope that Japan will become a society that expresses gratitude rather than criticism for those who are willing to lend a hand.