The mental bond between mother and child seems to be more valued and
apparent in Japanese culture, though rather not in the U.S. or the West.  In
this regard, the theory of psychology developed in the U.S. or the West
should appropriately be reformed so that it can reflect the Japanese state
of minds.  From that viewpoint, several new ideas have been researched.
     The first is the Essence of Child Rearing (ECR).  Child rearing repeats
the task of “removing unpleasantness from and supplying pleasantness to a
child.”  In our culture, this task has naturally been conducted by the
mother/woman because of breast feeding.  If ECR is continued properly,
Shyness To Others (STO) will be developed around six months after birth.
The significance of developing STO in a child is the mental bond between
mother and child is formed, and it is the sign that the child has been able
to recognize dependence on the mother.  After that period, the child wants
to be loved, cared, and secured by his/her mother exclusively.  Such
behaviors of the child are collectively called Amaeru, a well-known word in
Japanese.  Once STO is formed and ECR is continued, a conditioned reflex
among the components of “unpleasantness-mother-pleasantness” is eventually
established.  The author calls this Conditioned Maternal Reflex (CMR), the
sign that the mental bond between mother and child is established.
     Because of the existence of CMR, being cared for by his/her mother,
father or others engenders entirely different states of mind in the child.
Take feeding for example.  Because the child wants to be cared, loved, and
secured by exclusively his/her mother, the mother and only she is able to
satisfy the child’s needs.  Others can only satisfy his/her empty stomach
physically, but not emotionally.  If the mother is tender to the child and
continues the ECR, the emotional feelings for reliance and allegiance on
his/her mother develop in the child.  This is the mental bond between mother
and child, and is specifically acknowledged and valued in Okinawan culture
as uyachinagi-kwachinagi.
     Taking CMR into consideration, A. Maslow’s theory, the hierarchy of
needs, can be considered as follows.  Maslow showed five kinds of
fundamental needs, which constitute a hierarchical structure.  These are (1)
physiological needs,  (2) safety needs, (3) belonging & love needs, (4)
esteem needs,  and (5) self-actualization needs.  A characteristic of those
fundamental needs is when a lower need is appropriately satisfied, the next
need appears spontaneously, implying the human’s mental development.  No
mother would dissatisfy her child’s physiological needs usually, though the
rest may be treated.  Consider a latchkey child.  His/her safety needs
cannot be met.  His/her mental state remains that state until the safety
needs are met.  If that situation continues, another behavior based upon
other needs may evolve by mimicking another’s behavior.  The regression
occurs if the child shows a behavior driven by physiological needs, the
lower needs, and the progression occurs if the child shows behaviors driven
by other fundamental needs, the upper needs.  Here, the definition can be
made that those behaviors are driven by substituted needs.  The substituted
needs appear when a fundamental need is unmet.  No mental development can be
expected until the origin of the substituted needs is met.  If a mother
tries to unknowingly and continuingly satisfy the substituted needs, the
child may eventually be spoiled.  This situation is called amayakashi in
Japanese.
     The mother-child relation can be treated in the Freudian sense also.
Although a child wants amae from his/her mother, there exist several factors
hindering it.  The first problem is that his/her father sleeps with the
mother and therefore excludes him/her at night in western life-style.  This
eventually causes an emotional feeling in the child, “I want to kill my
father to get my mother.”  This disposition is called Oedipus Complex.  The
second is when his/her mother engages in sexual relations which excludes
him/her from sleeping with his/her mother in Japanese life-style.  This
eventually causes the disposition, “I want my mother not to become
 female.”  This is called Ajase Complex proposed by Dr. H. Kozawa.  Other
components causing problems are the job, the siblings, and social activities
especially religion.  If a mother extensively engages in doing her job,
caring for his/her siblings, and is highly involved in a religious activity,
not giving amae to her child, the child may eventually develop the
dispositions of hating her to engage in a job, disliking his/her siblings
and rejecting religion.  These can be called Hippie Complex, Siblings
Repression Complex, and Kamidari Complex, respectively .
     The combination of the extended Maslow theory and the extended Complex
theory well illustrates humans’ behaviors and explains how to get rid of
mental problems.  Among those, specific attention should be placed on the
importance of the mother’s role in child rearing.
     For instance, if an appropriate mother-child relation is not
established, he/she may not be satisfied with maternal love, which does not
create pleasantness, reliance, and allegiance.  If a person lacks pleasant
emotional feelings, this may be substituted for by getting sexual pleasure,
leading to the occurrence of juvenile sexual problems such as juvenile
pregnancy and abortions.  It is presumable that the in western life-style,
the mother and father sleeping together exclusive of their children, causes
from that situation.  On the other hand, a mother-child relationship is
established following the Japanese life-style in which family members sleep
together until their children become 6 or 7 years old, not needing to follow
the western life-style when the child becomes full-fledged .  Another
significant aspect is that the feeling of reliance and allegiance to the
mother will gradually be reflected and expanded to other persons, eventually
to the society in which we live.  This seems to present the difference of
public peace between the U. S. and Japan.  It is well known that society is
more secure in Japan than in the U.S..
     Further, for a latchkey child who has no chance of mimicking his/her
mother or father in a extreme case, he/she is unable to get a sense of how a
male should be or a female should be, leading to the loss of self-identity
and gender clarity.  The loss of self-identity and gender clarity may
possibly lead to the emergence of transsexuals, though there lies other
cause for that.  The number of transsexuals in the U.S. is far greater than
that in Japan, and they are accepted.
     The author asserts that if the significance of the mother-child
relation remains unrecognized, the next generations must live in a worsened
society, ultimately leading to the extinction of humans.

(April 5, 2001)

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Masaharu Matayoshi, MSc.D., CP.
Born in 1947 in Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan.  Dr. Matayoshi was
conferred his Bachelor’s Degree in Electrical Engineering by
Shizuoka University in 1970 and finished the Bio-Medical Engineering
Course at the Institute of Medical Engineering, Tokyo Women’s
College of Medicine in 1972.  Then he was conferred the Degree of
Medical Science in Bio-Medical Engineering by the Faculty of Medicine,
The University of Tokyo in 1980.  After becoming registered as a
Certified Clinical Psychotherapist in 1997, he started the Family Therapy
Research Center and works as Professor of Asian Studies at the
University of Maryland, Asian Division.  He worked as a Visiting Research
Associate at the University of British Columbia (1980-1982), Adjunct
Lecturer at the Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus (1983). He
received the Academic Award for his research in Bio-Medical Engineering
(1978), and became a member of Editorial Board of the Japanese Association
for Medical Electronics and Biological Engineering. Also, he became the last
disciple and worked with the late Professor Koichi Ogino of Keio University
for two years, finally presenting the paper, “The Function of Family
Therapy Seen in Shamanism (Ancestors Worship),” which became his first
start in the field of anthropology and cultural psychiatry.  He published
the Series, The Psychoanalysis of Okinawan Culture: The World of Mabui
(Spirit), The Ancestral Curse and Services, the Succession of Ancestral
Tablets, the Psychological Differences Between Man and Woman, as well as
Human Relations and Counseling (co-authored), The Correct Bond Between
Mother and Child to Heal Mental Diseases, Ancestors Worship (Sosen Suhai)
co-authored with Dr. Joyce Trafton, and many others.