h yields to pressures from any direction but which is ultimately the most powerful of the natural elements. As a vision of good, Western notions of advocacy on behalf of one individual sound shrill and appear shortsighted to most Japanese.
A second force that pushes Japan away from individualism is the efficacy of the group orientation. It is the pragmatic argument of superior work and greater productivity. For the Japanese, this orientation is integral to their ideas about work, loyalty to their country, and notions about the future.
A third force that sustains the more conservative group orientation in Japan is quality of life. To Americans, for whom living space and personal freedom are among the highest priorities, Japanese claims to particular qualities of life may seem absurd. Population concentrations several times greater than those in the United States, not only in the cities but the countryside as well, place severe constraints on qualities of life in Japan, even as the birthrate declines and population growth stabilizes. The Japanese often say, however, that population pressures alone may be the major factor explaining their group-oriented value system, because individualism simply cannot survive with so many people concentrated in such a small area.
The sense of time correlates with the sense of history. In the United States, the country's short history and historical illiteracy explain the short-sightedness and short-term approaches to labor-management relations in that country. By contrast, the longer view of time that prevails in Japan correlates with Japan's longer history and its greater sense of the past. Correlations can also be made between views of time and views of the individual's relationship to society. A highly individualistic person tends to be shortsighted. Her or his concerns are limited to the perceptions and demands of one person. Highly group-oriented people tend to have a longer ...