oximately 108 million Japanese are adherents of Shintoism. Thus, approximately 88 percent of the Japanese population share the same religious orientation. Buddhism is not incompatible with Shintoism, and approximately 93 million Japanese practice Buddhism. Obviously, a significant overlap exists between the country's Shinto and Buddhist adherents. Rather than divide the country's population, however, the Shinto/Buddhist overlap further unifies the country. While a variety of folkways and accents are found in Japan, these differences are not causes of divisions within the population. A sharp division among the population along language lines, such as the division between Gaelic and English speakers in Britain, is not found in Japan.
The "need to give direction to government is universal and persisting. Every country a must maintain political institutions that enable a small group of politicians to make authoritative decisions that are binding on the whole of society" (Rose 61). The ways of organizing the direction of government are numerous. The distinctions between democracy and totalitarian states are evident. Just as significant, however, are the different approaches to government found within the family of democratic states.
Within any particular governmental system, the approach to leadership also tends to vary. Westerners tend to favor highly partisan political, where there are clear winners and losers, and where the winners force their will on society to the extent a particular political system permits. Asians, conversely, tend to favor consensus politics, where there are no clear winners and losers. Within such societies, decisions are often much longer in coming than they are in western societies; however, they also typically also enjoy a much broader base of support than that found for most political decisions in western societies.
While groups other than senior government bureaucrats, major business fir...