The SHIMATSUSHO Structure and Cultural Degeneration: Mechanisms of Submissive Reproduction in Japanese Organizations

This paper analyzes the structural mechanisms underlying the reproduction of the “obedient meme” and the “silent meme” within Japanese organizational culture, focusing on the institutionalized SHIMATSUSHO structure—a system of written apologies and reprimand rituals. Introducing the Formality–Sanction Loop (FS Loop) model, the study argues that organizations ritualize apology and punishment through formal procedures and symbolic sanctions, thereby avoiding substantive problem-solving. The SHIMATSUSHO structure, when internalized as a cultural norm, leads to metacognitive paralysis and accelerates cultural degeneration, reinforcing systemic obedience and silence. Drawing from the author's field observations and prior research (Sato, 2011; Nakamura, 2008; Yamada, 2014; Althusser, 1971; Dawkins, 1976; Luhmann, 1995; Hiraoka, 2025a–2025d), this study demonstrates how the SHIMATSUSHO structure operates as a performative device of pseudo-reflection and sustains institutional inertia in Japanese workplaces.