Social and linguistic/communicative culture, as pointed out in chapter 2, are two of the
main areas of concern in the academics’ nihonjinron. These two types of culture also
predominate in the business elites’ discussions of Japanese uniqueness. In what ways,
then, does the businessmen’s concern with the uniqueness of Japan’s social and
linguistic/communicative culture promote their sense of cultural nationalism?
Social culture, as discussed by businessmen, refers largely to the distinctive
characteristics of Japan’s business culture covering such subjects as group-oriented
management, decision-making and industrial relations. The distinctiveness of Japan’s
social culture tends to be associated with Japan’s highly productive economic
performance and, as such, widely recognised as a source of national greatness. Social
culture is, therefore, an obvious source of cultural nationalism in contemporary Japan,
and the business elites’ emphasis on the strength of Japanese social culture is an obvious
manifestation of cultural nationalism. Also, international diffusion of Japan’s social
culture as manifested in management and employment practices is now widely discussed.
There has been a great deal of discussion among business executives (as well as
academics) as to which aspects of Japanese-style management can and cannot be diffused
to other countries. For example, Sakuma Masaru (1983), a research-oriented manager of
Mitsubishi Heavy Industries Ltd, discusses the possibilities and limitations of the
application of some aspects of the so-called Japanese-style management in other
countries on the basis of case studies.
Whereas social culture can be a source of universalistic national sentiment,
businessmen’s concern with Japan’s linguistic and communicative culture is more likely
to enhance the particularistic sentiment that the Japanese are intrinsically different from
non-Japanese