It implies an ethical imperative to behave as expected by the society. At the core of Japanese behavior patterns is the notion of reciprocity - the idea that people are not good or bad in any absolute sense but good or bad in light of their relationships with others. For Japanese, the supreme source of guilt is the sense that they have hurt someone else by failing to behave as that person expected. His mother, Satsuki, is very angry with her son for his rebellion. She condemns him so fiercely, that he contemplates suicide.
Japan is one of the world's most homogeneous modern nations.
Marriage to foreigners or minority groups is discouraged. E. Gender Issues. Women in Japan, historically, hold a subordinant position. One can gain a sense of the extent of male privileges already existing in the 13th century by reading Monogatari's The Captain of Naruto. In this story Captain Naruto's beautiful wife catches the attention of the emperor, who summons her to appear at the court.