He also vows to emulate US business culture by forcing heavily-indebted banks and firms to go bankrupt, ie the process economist Shumpeter termed the creative destruction of capitalism. But this sensible, long-overdue policy will encounter two major roadblocks. First, the LDP gets its main financial support from farmers, banks, construction, and small shop keepers the very sectors that stoutly resist reform. Second, and even more important, Koizumi s efforts to import US-style business culture to Japan may not succeed. To understand why, think of Japan as a rice-growing village writ large.
Villagers work together under the guidance of an informal council of elders.
A central feature of Japan s psychology is refusal to accept defeat. For Japan, not so long ago a courageous warrior nation, the samurai code of personal honor, public face, and clan loyalty remain important. In one of history s most remarkable events, Japan abandoned medieval feudalism in 1871 and transformed itself in a few decades into a modern industrial society. The samurai, Japan s warrior caste, put away their swords and went to work as government officials and, later, leaders of major corporations. Japan s big companies became replicas of the old feudal clan structure, where the most prized virtues were loyalty, cooperation with other members, and placing the group above individual interests.