The Japanese are totemists, like a lot of people were once all over the world. I have emmigrated to Japan and my son is, culturally, Japanese.
What became of all the other totemists? What became of the mighty Sioux, nation of first Americans?
Europeans came and wiped them out.
I could write a disclaimer about this but, no one reads this blog anyway, much less members of the Sioux.
Who were the Sioux? Afaik they were one of the most populous, influential, powerful nations in North America. Alas the Wikipedia page about the Sioux is almost entirely about Sioux interactions with Europeans. Apart from noting that they controlled a large area of North America, and some ethnography regarding their political structure there is very little information about who the Sioux were. The Sioux still exist. But it is almost as if they never existed for us computer users, and Wikipedia readers. Perhaps the Sioux themselves do not give a rats arse about the fact that they do not appear on Wikipedia.
Is there ever going to be a Sioux revival? Does revival mean anything other than becoming Westernised? Does Westnerised mean anything other than 'advancing'? Is there only one form of (re)vival, 'advancement' the growth of, the spread of technology? Are there cultures in the plural? Is there a different path, are there paths plural? Is the notion of "path" with the inherent suggestion that their should be movement - a path, a geographic term, suggests movement- a culturally universalable notion?
Anyway, I live in Japan, once mighty Japan that now seems to have problems. I am sure that there were problems for a long time but...what will become of mighty Japan? What will become of my Japanese children? Will their success be measured in terms of the extent to which they conform, their culture conforms to some universal human, or some Western cultural, measure? Is there a Japanese path? What will become of, once?, mighty Japan?