Positive Deviance for Building a Better World

2021/03/15

I became hooked on Kabuki seven years ago, and until February of last year, I attended both the matinee and evening performances at the Kabuki-za Theatre every month. Both the east box seats on the third floor, where I could look down on the entire stage and was amazed by the beautiful sight of a slain onnagata lying there, and the first-floor seats next to the hanamichi where I could hear the rustle of the actors' costumes and smell the incense, were comfortable. Recently, I watched the final day's performance at the Shinbashi Enbujo Theatre via live stream at home. It was my first time watching Kabuki in a while, and I was able to experience the sensation of watching from a first-floor seat.

On a TV program, a disciple of a certain actor commented that they worked part-time at a convenience store when performances continued to be canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Consequently, that actor reportedly went on a regional tour starting in the fall. Even now, the hardships continue for professionals in Kabuki, the performing arts, music, and the staff who support them.

I conduct research on corporate purpose and responsibility. Every time the vaccine development by major Western pharmaceutical companies is reported during the pandemic, I am reminded of the words of Professor Ian Maitland, a business ethicist who once came to Mita from the University of Minnesota for overseas research.

The meaning of corporate social responsibility differs depending on the business field. It was said that pharmaceutical companies should not spend money on social contribution activities but should instead invest everything in research and development and focus on their core business, which is different from that of confectionery companies (some of which engage in educational and production support activities in cocoa-producing countries).

In considering how companies contribute to building a better world, I have been interested for several years in "positive deviance," a concept found within the academic field of Positive Organizational Scholarship.

The word "deviance" is generally perceived as negative, but there are also instances of deviance that bring about positive impacts related to corporate behavior. A famous case is Merck & Co.'s free provision since 1987 of a treatment for river blindness, which became well-known through Dr. Satoshi Omura's Nobel Prize in Physiology or medical sciences. Recently, I compiled the progress of my research into a book titled "Competition for Building a Better World: A Study of Corporate Behavior as Positive Deviance" (Chuokeizai-sha).

While the live streaming of Kabuki can be called a positive deviance, I hope this will serve as a starting point for Kabuki to spread throughout the world like opera, and I pray that many people will be able to experience that atmosphere of the Kabuki-za Theatre again as soon as possible.