Whereas Americans pride themselves on a studied informality and
openness, their Japanese counterparts employ formality and complexity.
While Americans value time, the Japanese treasure space. Americans have
always enjoyed a sense of continental scale, employing metaphors of size to
describe both the natural environment and industrial production. Japan, on
the other hand, has exerted its genius on the diminutive and the miniature.
America produces the world’s airplanes, while Japan creates cameras and
transistors.
Yet Japan and America share, to differing degrees, some large
experiences and broad skills. Both for example, have transplanted cultures.
The “mother” society China has influenced the daughter Japan in countless
way. Great Britain has similarly influenced the United States – in everything
from language to political structure, literature to cultural values. Americans
have highly developed the business of buying and selling, of advertising and
mass producing. Japan has likewise developed this commercial spirit to a
high degree. Both peoples have always emphasized the importance of work
and are paying penalties for their commitment to development and
modernization.