Often the way symbols came about was because of the limited phonetic pronunciation which characterizes Asian languages. An example is from the Chinese language. Written, the characters for the two words are different, but pronounced, they have the same sound. This is very similar to our western homonyms like read and reed , or sea and see . As far as the ordinary being revered, it has to do with the idea that every blade of grass is imbued with a spirit.
Conformity is valued politically.
Politically, the Japanese society was under the rule of an emperor whose power was based on a divinity. The Japanese person's number one responsibility was to the ruler. His number two responsibility was to his parents, and individuality was pretty far down on the line as a priority. But art is the one way in which one could express his own individuality. In art, it's okay.