The uniqueness of the Japanese character is the result of two seemingly contradictory forc

es: the strength of traditions, and the selective receptivity to foreign achievements and inventions. As early as 1860s there were counter movement to traditional orientation. One of the fan, us spokesmen of Japan's "Enlightenment" claimed "the Confucian civilization of the East seems to me to lack two things possessed by Western civilization: science in the material sphere and a sense of independence in the spiritual sphere." Another break of relative liberalism followed World War I, when the democratic idealism of President Woodrow Wilson had an important impact on Japanese intellectuals and, especially, students; but more important was the Leninist ideology of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution. Again, in the early 1930s, nationalism and militarism became dominant.

Following the end of World War Ⅱ, substantial changes were undertaken in Japan to liberate the individual from authoritarian restraints. The new democratic value system was accepted by many teachers, students, intellectuals, and old liberals, but it was not immediately embraced by the society as a whole. Japanese traditions were dominated by group values, and notions of personal freedom and individual rights were unfamiliar.

Today, democratic processes are clearly evident in the widespread participation of the Japanese people in social and political life. School textbooks emphasize equality over hierarchy and rationalism over tradition; but in practice these values are often misinterpreted and distorted, particularly by the youth who translate the individualistic and humanistic goals of democracy into egoistic and materialistic ones.

Most Japanese people have consciously rejected Confucianism, but leftovers of the old order remain. An important feature of relationship in many institutions, including political parties and universities is the "oyabun-kobun" or parent-child relation. The corresponding loyalty of the individual to his patron reinforces his allegiance to the group to which they both belong. A willingness to cooperate with other members of the group and to support without qualification the interests of the group in all its external relations is still a widely respected virtue. The "oyabun-kobun" creates ladders of mobility which an individual can ascend, rising as far as abilities permit, so long as he maintains successful personal ties with a superior in the vertical channel, the latter requirement usually taking precedence over a need for exceptional competence. As a consequence, there is little horizontal relationship between people even with the same profession.

The spokesman of Japan's "Enlightenment" thinks that

A．the traditional culture should be replaced by western civilization.

B．Japanese ought to forsake the Confucian civilization of the East.

C．the Confucian civilization in Japan should be revived.

D．Japan should introduce western civilization.