ABSTRACT
Subordination of the individual to group rules and expectations in a spirit of collective responsibility had its origin in Japan’s village economy. The ruling samurai were only a small fraction of the population. Most Japanese were peasants confined to small farming communities in the countryside. Unlike the West, where cities like Athens, Alexandria, Rome, and Byzantium were the focus of civilization, the village was paramount in Japan. There were cities and towns, to be sure, and in time they grew larger and more numerous, but they were not the origin of the fundamentals of the social system.
