Gaman (term)

Gaman (我慢) is a Japanese term of Zen Buddhist origin which means "enduring the seemingly unbearable with patience and dignity". The term is generally translated as "perseverance", "patience", or "tolerance". A related term, gamanzuyoi (我慢強い), a compound with tsuyoi (strong), means "suffering the unbearable" or having a high capacity for a kind of stoic endurance.

Gaman is variously described as a "virtue", an "ethos", a "trait", etc. It means to do one's best in distressed times and to maintain self-control and discipline.

Gaman is a teaching of Zen Buddhism.

Analysis
Gaman has been attributed to the Japanese-Americans and others held in the American internment camps during World War II and to those affected by the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in northern Japan. In the internment camps, gaman was misperceived by the non-Japanese as introverted behavior or as a lack of assertiveness or initiative, rather than as a demonstration of strength in the face of difficulty or suffering. Gaman and the related term yase-gaman are, in Japanese society, closely related to complying with conformity and silent heroism, which seems to be hidden pride for compensation for sacrifice and being satisfied to pay reciprocal service in advance or to being seen themselves as victims by folks. Gaman toward authority, 'unquestioning obedience' or 'blind obedience' is supposed to be unfit to a healthy democracy.

The mentality of gaman seems to be derived from the strong conviction of Japanese way of fatalism, which was reinforced by Buddhism mujo, impermanence, nihilism,  tradition of self destruction, the collective nature of its society, and the forced attitudes of resignation  and submission under the Edo feudal period. Those world-views were depicted in The Tale of the Heike, the works of Yoshida Kenkou, Kamo no Chomei. The sequence of events of Japanese fatalism seems to be explained as dormant, ceaseless accumulation of self-righteousness, which is justified by accusing other's faults rarely explicitly, mainly in their thought, and sudden manifestation of aggression if suppression (gaman) fails.

After the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, the resilience, civility, lack of looting and ability of the Japanese to help one another was widely attributed to the gaman spirit. The 50 to 70 heroes who remained at the damaged and radiation-emitting Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant despite the severe danger demonstrated what was regarded as gaman as well.

Gaman is also used in psychoanalytic studies and to describe the attitudes of the Japanese. It is often taught to youth and is largely used by older Japanese generations. Showing gaman is seen as a sign of maturity and strength. Keeping private affairs, problems and complaints silent demonstrates strength and politeness as others have seemingly larger problems as well. If a person with gaman received help from someone else, they would be compliant, not ask for any additional help, and voice no concerns.