.... an immovable set of rules that govern what is and what is not accepted
as acceptable behavior or thinking in japan ... In reality, there are many “Ways” to do most things in Japan, although each
group will have a tendency to claim that its pattern is “the Way.” As a
medical researcher who has participated in procedures and experiments at
many dozens of Japanese hospitals, universities and the like, I know that no
two groups ever will follow exactly the same patterns. Each, however, will
have a tendency to explain that its way is “the Way,” usually because the
most senior person in the group will have come to that conclusion after
having learned it to be the thinking of some other person ... that the senior person respects. (Also, one must be
very careful in suggesting that a competing group might have a better way
which contradicts the opinion of a senior member of group). Every group in
every culture does this, but what is unusual in Japan is the inflexible,
almost mechanical way the system operates. The emphasis on proper “Kata”
(Boye de Menthe has a wonderful, hard to find little book on this) in
Japanese society is reminiscent of any conservative, tradition based
culture, though unique in the way is has developed to permit a functioning,
industrial society.