ABSTRACT
The most significant thing about Japan is that it is the only non-western country to have fully industrialised. Many characteristics of Japanese society are a clear reflection of the patterns which existed in urban and village life under the Tokugawa administration. The organisation of the feudal village with its strict and formal hierarchy of households can be seen in the way Japanese companies group together and in the way they organise their internal divisions and departments. It should come as no surprise to find that the Japanese have approached many of the problems of modern industrial organisation in a fundamentally different way from the West. The whole structure of the Japanese business world is an intricate and complex network of connections and business relationships which defies clear analysis. The modern history of Japan has, in fact, seen a continual series of government-inspired changes of direction.
