The local group in Japan, the hamlet, has a clearcut social unity with special
ceremonies for entry and exit and a whole series of rights and obligations
for its members. Each man must sooner or later assume the responsibility of
being the representative of the local group, each must assist on occasions of
hamlet cooperation such as road building or funeral preparations. In Thailand
the hamlet also has its own identity and the members also have rights and
duties, but they are less clearly defined and less strictly enforced. Exchange
systems are less clear cut. Thus in Thailand, with its mobility of population
and lack of emphasis on long term obligations, we do not find the financial
credit associations (KO) which extend over twenty years or so in a Japanese
farm community. But they are found in China and Vietnam, areas in which we
find societies similar to Japan in the sense here used.21