There are a range of arguments made by scholars who have attempted to explain the reason behind Japan’s economic success in the late 20th century, and these vary considerably. One of these reasons is that Japan’s economic success has been solely as a result of the culture and traditions of Japan. This conference is based on the assumption that culture is the main contributing factor of a nation’s economy. Morishima has emphasized that in the context of Japan’s economic success, the Confucian tradition of Japan has played a key role, arguing that “religious and ethical systems shape human economic behavior and consequently the nature and doing of their economies”. Other ideas have been used to understand Japan’s rise to success in the late 20th century such as market regulation, for example, Japan’s response to market signals, bureaucratic regulation by selecting and fostering strategic industries and political, economic and group conditions in Japan.

Japan’s flourishing economy started to decline in 1973 while the oil crisis, when the price of oil quadrupled, acting as a catalyst for economic failure in Japan. Effectively, the high price of oil had negative effects on the Japanese manufacturing industry. Japan responded by focusing its attentiveness from vigor dependent business to a more knowledge-based industry, thus averting the emergency from worsening, and enhancing the condition of its economy. Japan experienced a ‘bubble economy’ in the years 1987 – 90. This had come about as the result of asset prices rising far beyond their actual value, particularly those of land and shares. Land prices fell sharply in 1990 when the Bank of Japan increased the lawful interest rate, thus triggering a huge sell-off of shares. Since this time Japan has faced challenges such as an aging population and the currency emergency in Asia, but has recovered considerably and today still has a strong economy, rivaled by only the United States, China and the European Union.

Almost every enterprise procedure that the Japanese are familiar for is as a result of the post-World War 2 economic reconstruction in Japan. The first root factor of the contemporary Japanese supervision theory is a sense of national identity. This is mainly due to the fact that Japan is an isolated, island nation. Actually, this sense of national identity has existed since feudal times in Japan. The second factor of the contemporary Japanese supervision theory is the belief of Confucianism; while imported from China long ago, the Japanese have their own version of Confucianism, which is central to comprehension the contemporary Japanese supervision system. Confucianism in Japan has three main aspects; loyalty, filial piety and respect for learning. Loyalty and filial piety in Japan are reflected in Japanese supervision with honne and tatemae, or one’s own feelings and one’s group stance, which may and often differ between each other according to the individual.

Loyalty is also seen in very large associates in Japan, where on graduating from high school or university and entering into employment with a Japanese company, one will normally gain ‘lifetime employment’ with his or her company, thus reflecting the Confucian aspect of loyalty. In this sense, Confucianism plays a major role with Japanese supervision practices.

Group orientation, or shudanshugi also plays an prominent role in contemporary Japanese enterprise supervision practices. This is also a prominent attribute in Japanese society, for example to see a group of Japanese tourists in a foreign country, one will notice that the population in the group will all the time stay close together. This aspect of Japanese culture is of procedure also very apparent within Japanese companies, and has been deeply ingrained into Japanese society itself since the Tokugawa period. Shudanshugi can be seen with almost any group aspect of Japan, thus it is obvious with both large and small Japanese companies.

Although this desire to be part of a group may be also apparent with other countries, Japan in particular sees this group mentality as natural, not an face phenomenon as it may be seen with other cultures. Personel accountability is not prominent in Japan, as it is in the West. Instead, groups are given the responsibilites. This is an additional one example of the group-orientated ethics of Japan and the Japanese workforce.

There are also two types of attitudes towards authority in Japan: kengen and ken’i, or simply, formal authority and personal influence. As such, Japanese associates both small and very large tend to be run on ken’i, personal influence, which is different from a general Western perspective, where emphasis is normally placed on delegated authority.

The fourth prominent aspect of Japanese enterprise culture is based on regional competition, something that has existed in Japan since feudal times. This is not so much an synthetic building of contemporary Japan, but something that has been rooted in Japanese culture for a long time. For one example, the competition between firms in Japan in the kantou and kansai regions in contemporary times reflects the regional competition between these same areas as far back as the beginnings of the Tokugawa period. This cultural aspect of contemporary Japan is probably reflected more visibly in the enterprise supervision systems more often with very large companies, than smaller associates in Japan.

There are two basic forms of compulsion in Japanese society, which can be seen in the enterprise culture of Japan. On refers to a debt that is not able to be repaid, for example one’s debt to their parents or the debt incurred from salvage another’s life. While it cannot be repaid, one will try to repay it. This type of compulsion is also apparent with entering into lifetime employment with a very large Japanese company, and is tied in with the Confucian belief of loyalty. The second form of obligation, giri, is incurred from receiving a favour, such as leasing an apartment to a tenant.

Along with the aforementioned aspects of Japanese culture, there are many more aspects gift with Japanese culture, and along with it the Japanese supervision systems of both small and very large companies. In simple terms, Japanese enterprise supervision styles are a by-product of the Japanese national culture, as such, each type of supervision theory is not much far removed from the other. In fact, we see such cultural aspects in almost any facet of society in Japan.

It is immediately apparent that culture influences enterprise practices and in result enterprise supervision systems. Entire theses have been written nearby this idea. One such example is Kahn’s ‘Confucian Economic System’, used to relate Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore and Korea’s cultural links to enterprise practices. Kahn describes the features of these ‘neo-Confucian’ economies to be connected to a estimate of factors, together with sobriety, a high value for education, a desire to succeed, seriousness about life and a hard-working ethic. Along with a culturally ingrained, Confucian sense of loyalty, there is also a sense of harmony in the Japanese workplace, as there are with the group-oriented mindset of Japanese society. This is evidenced by strike-free workplaces in contemporary Japan, thus placing an emphasis on co-operation and mutual obligation, rather than equality.

The cultural values, relations and structure of contemporary Japan clearly affect how Japanese society operates, and this is also the case with contemporary Japanese enterprise supervision systems in both very large and smaller Japanese companies, as has been proven in this essay. Japan is a very unique country, in that its culture does not fully look that of any other one nation, although Japan has borrowed much from other countries to originate its own national identity.

It is apparent that Confucianism plays an prominent role in Japanese culture and in result its society, enterprise practices and so on. What has been covered in this essay is only a brief descry of the involved and detailed Japanese enterprise supervision world, together with such cultural aspects as group orientation, authority, regional competition, obligations, and overall, the Confucian-based enterprise culture of Japan, which in itself has many prominent aspects which are used in Japanese group practices and enterprise supervision systems alike.

The reason why the prevailing image of Japanese supervision systems in very large associates and small associates is very similar, if not the same, is because the Japanese economy, and with it the enterprise structure of virtually any kind of enterprise or large enterprise in Japan is directly influenced by Japanese cultural values, relations and structure, in particular, those of Confucian origin.

Many scholars have argued about the reason why Japan has become so flourishing in the late 20th century, in an attempt to relate the Japanese ‘Economic Miracle’. The first conference that is normally presented is that Japan’s recent economic success is as a result of her culture and tradition. While it has not been proven beyond doubt that this is the only reason behind the ‘Economic Miracle’, it is surely a compelling conference and clearly demonstrates the mighty affect that culture has over the structure of a national society such as Japan.