This series looked at Japanese society from a foreign perspective.
It started with a small personal experience.
About 25 years ago, when I was living in Nagoya, I drank too much one night.
I ended up falling asleep under an overpass.
When I woke up, my wallet and phone were still there.
Nothing had been taken.
What I remember most clearly is something else.
A homeless woman was sitting next to me with a bottle of water.
She didn’t say anything.
She was simply sitting there.
Even now, I sometimes think she might have been watching over me.
That night stayed in my memory.
It made me feel something about Japan.
Throughout this series, we explored several aspects of Japanese society.
People line up in an orderly way.
Lost items are often returned.
Public spaces are relatively calm and orderly.
For people living in Japan, these things may feel ordinary.
But from a global perspective, this kind of society is quite unusual.
In many countries, social order is maintained through systems.
Laws.
Surveillance.
Punishment.
But in Japan, culture itself plays a major role.
One of the key elements is often called social pressure.
The expectation to behave in a way that aligns with others.
This concept is often criticized.
People say it limits individuality.
People say it makes society restrictive.
But there is another way to look at it.
Social pressure also helps create social trust.
People follow rules.
Public spaces are respected.
Taking someone else’s property is widely unacceptable.
Over time, these behaviors create a society built on trust.
Trust has an important economic effect.
In a high-trust society, the friction of economic activity is lower.
Contracts are easier to enforce.
Business transactions involve fewer conflicts.
Institutions function more smoothly.
In that sense, trust becomes part of the foundation of an economy.
Stock markets, companies, and investment environments are all influenced by this foundation.
Japan is not necessarily a country where people are very enthusiastic about investing.
Many people still view investment cautiously.
Yet international investors participate in the Japanese market.
This creates an interesting contrast.
Domestic investors tend to be cautious.
But the society itself has relatively high levels of stability and trust.
In other words, Japan can be described as a high-trust society.
Trust is not something that appears clearly in statistics.
It is difficult to measure.
But it quietly supports the structure of society.
Japan does not have abundant natural resources.
Its population is declining.
Even so, the country possesses an important intangible asset.
Trust.
Perhaps that is one of Japan’s most valuable strengths.
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