ABSTRACT
Critics of the concept claim that Japanese have used the vague idea to exaggerate the unique in their lifestyle. Many Japanese have gone on to imply that foreigners can never really understand their way of life. In good Freudian and post-Freudian style, foreign analysts took clinical findings related to Japanese individuals and lifted them to the status of national averages in order to account for puzzling traits. In traditional Japan, the group or collectivity received the primary consideration. The concept of group duty, rather than individual right or privileges, determined the basis for action and behavior. Japanese resolve the paradox by often focusing on achievement generated through groups, which most often remain objects of devotion and determine rewards. Of attitudes and behavior, attitudes are more measurable. They are revealed in opinion surveys and the emergent patterns are often called kokuminsei by the most skillful Japanese pollsters.
