"In short, a moral decision is a decision respecting the social consensus which is not for the individual to check or change. Change might come in a ground swell like the turn of the tide, but it is never left to the discretion of an individual.

This general attitude shapes an understanding of ethics in temporary Japanese society. The Japanese ethical expectation is that any societal decision should be made on the basis of consensus including minorities and groups lower in the hierarchy. It has been a long-standing tradition in Japanese villages to proceed in such a way in any decision-making process, and procedures in modern business companies are rather similar.

´Lonely decisions´may be a trademark of western hero-hagiography, but they do not have the ring of ethical authenticity in Japan. Lonely decisions imply rational analysis and separation from the life-community; in contradistinction the Japanese interpretation of what makes decisions ethical includes loyalty and trans-rationality... - negating the ultimate importance of the individual..."

Literatur zum Thema:
Japan in Transition – Comparative View on Social and Psychological Aspects
Trommsdorff, G.; Friedlmeier, W.; Kornadt, H.-J. (Eds.)