Time is structured with a beginning, Genesis, and an end. It is an unfolding story given meaning by a transcendent God, progressing along a straight line from the past into the future without repetition. Time advances from the familiar past to a new and unfamiliar moment. In the Exodus, a choice is made to leave slavery behind and continue forward to a new, clearly defined goal, The Promised Land. In the Japanese tradition, time has no beginning and no end, only infinity and repetition.
Time is a succession of events extending from the present.
The whole continuous thread of history is not broken down into parts and periods. Defined only by the present moment and the vague mists of infinity, time does not lend itself to structure. No master story has been authored by a transcendent being, or traced in a grand, comprehensive theory. These differences between Japan and America in the perception of time are reinforced by the conception of space. America's basic cultural pattern is individualism.