At present, individualism, the concepts of private property and free enterprise are highly fashionable in Russia. The vast majority of Russians believes that Japan has capitalism to thank for its great success. However, since coming to Japan, I am convinced that the Japanese version of capitalism has very little in common with European-style capitalism and even less with its American counterpart. It widely uses the concepts of groupism, of shared wealth, and government planning and regulations. Frequently, I think that there is more socialism in Japan than we had in Soviet Russia.
Many people think that paganism hindered Russia's economic and social progress.
It was a great surprise for me to learn that the majority of Japanese practice two religions too. Different religious traditions coexist peacefully within the religious practice of one family or even of one person a person can belong both to Shinto and one of the main branches of Buddhism or another religion simultaneously. But at the same time, they observe religious holidays and conduct at least two ceremonies - a wedding ceremony in the Shinto style, and a burial ceremony in the Buddhist style. Thus, the phenomenon of dual religious beliefs has not hindered Japans progress , while in Russia the effect has been the opposite. In the 1860s, Russia and Japan started modernizating at the same time, but Japan has left Russia far behind.