ABSTRACT
Using extensive international comparative data from the Asian Barometer Survey and the World Values Survey over a 20-year period, this chapter examines whether the Japanese are unique in Asia and the world – which is often the claim – and whether such uniqueness is linked to Japanese people’s social capital and their support for democracy. The Japanese are outliers in the Asian value system, which consists of the two dimensions of “vertical emphasis” and “harmony orientation” in the sense that they are weak in these characteristics. Additionally, Japan is not uniquely positioned on the Cultural Map of the world that comprises the two dimensions of “secular values” and “self-expression values.” Nevertheless, Japanese people’s attitudes and actions are influenced by Asian values in terms of generalized trust and political participation, which are formed through social interactions with others, whereas this is not the case in terms of support for liberal democracy, which is enculturated by the postwar formal education system. In the Cultural Map, no globally unique deviations in value effects were found. Overall, Japanese citizens may not be necessarily capable of making political and social decisions in a value-consistent manner, which may have a negative impact on the process of politics.
