ABSTRACT
When measured against the usual standards of political and economic development, Japan has come a long way in a very short time. In a short time, barely two decades, not only were its cities and industries rebuilt and its political institutions transformed but Japan came to assert itself again on the world stage and to occupy a prominent position among the world's major powers. Much has been made of Japan's extraordinary economic development and political resiliency since its defeat in the Second World War. To outside observers the Japanese are perceived as possessing a unity of purpose that derives from their value system. A particularly strong aspect of this system is a submissiveness to authority; those who possess authority by virtue of their sex, family status, social position, or political office command deference. Thus Japanese capitalism has a strong "social" consciousness.
