Work and culture: some comparisons of England and Japan

This paper focuses on the central problem of the strong work ethic underlying capitalism. Historians and sociologists have found it impossible to determine why this arose or to what it is related. Comparing Japan and England, I first look at some social structural features common to both civilizations, in particular the large middling strata, social mobility, and the absence of family security. I then consider the idea of indebtedness and suggest that in both civilizations work is a form of repaying a debt. In Japan, this is to one's fellow men; in England, to God. Since, in both cases, the relationship is an unequal one, the debt can never be repaid. Hence there is constant striving. In the Western case, the sacrifice of personality that this involves is predominantly painful; in Japan it brings social rewards, giving a certain joy to work: