Indulgence – Restraint
The Japanese are known as savers (Hayashi, 1986), so much so that the government is considering
financial services and social security reforms focused at persuading the elderly to release some of their
¥1,500 trillion in household savings (Economist, 2010). The U.S. is a country where it is not frowned
upon to enjoy oneself. Overspending on cars and luxury is considered part of life. Because this dimension
has no previous measurement, we cannot judge the movement of this cultural dimension over time.
However, we do propose that Japan demonstrates values that resemble those described by indulgence and
that the values of the U.S. are much more representative of restraint.