At the Tokyo Tower
Whenever I see Western people in Japan, I feel that they are the people who have never learnt propriety in a sense of Japanese tradition which is rooted in ancient Confucianism.
(Chinese have not been taught propriety of ancient Confucianism for centuries. Only Japanese have kept this tradition of discipline.
Ordinary Koreans without receiving proper education were forced to observe biased propriety by noble-class Koreans for centuries.)
This propriety is called "Rei" or "Reigi" in Japanese. It begins with learning how to practice a bow to others, since what is formed inside must take a concrete shape outside.
There are of course bad guys and not-bad guys in Japan, too. But, even bad guys are supposed to understand and practice any little degree of propriety. If they do not respect this unspoken authority, they will be regarded as savages and lose any compassion when they are tried.
No matter how much modernized and Westernized Japan is outwardly and in terms of social systems, this underlying moral code remains. It is just like unchanged existence of the Shintoism, Shinto shrines, and the Imperial House.
Now, Confucius said about himself:
"At the age of 15, I decided to concentrate myself in learning."
"At the age of 30, I decided to live independently only relying on my learning."
"At the age of 40, I decided to establish my school of learning."
"At the age of 50, I decided to follow a mission given to me through my learning."
"At the age of 60, I decided to forgive what others say against my learning."
"At the age of 70, I decided to behave as I wish since I know my behaviors do not however betray my learning."
Even today, like in the samurai era, when Japanese learn these words of Confucius, they all respect Confucius.
(But, in China, no such education has been provided for farmers and ordinary people for centuries.
And, in Korea, till the annexation to the Empire of Japan in 1910, no such education has been provided for farmers and ordinary people for centuries.)
Originally, this "learning" mostly included work to know how old Chinese kingdoms were governed by rulers of virtue.
But, to know wisdom and history of old Chinese kingdoms, men have to learn letters and get by heart names of things and contents of events. Accordingly, this kind of mental work became the basics of learning and study in ancient China, ancient Korea, and ancient Japan. Yet, the spirit of the contents, namely propriety, was lost in China and Korea as time went by. It has been only respected, preserved, and observed in Japan. That is why the tradition and the spirit of the ancient Chinese Civilization live in Japan more purely than in China and Korea of today. Incidentally, wars and disasters in China and Korea destroyed many old precious books and other cultural assets; yet Japan has also saved many of them after having imported them from China or Korea.
Now, back to Confucius himself:
At the age of 71, Confucius lost one of his disciples.
At the age of 72, Confucius lost one of other disciples of his.
At the age of 73, Confucius lost again one of other disciples of his.
At the age of 74, Confucius lost his own life.
His disciples observed mourning for three years.
One of his disciples observed mourning for three more years.
Confucius (called "Ko-shi" in Japanese) married at the age of 19 to have a child (called "Ri" in Japanese), though his wife (from a clan called "Ken-kan" in Japanese) is not mentioned in related books. However, it is said that there can be four million direct/indirect descendants of Confucius among Chinese people today.
Yet, there can be 125 million spiritual descendants of Confucius in Japan (at least in theory).
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Note that this is an answer to some academic question regrading why only Japan, as a non-European-race-dominant nation, could build a rich nation and a strong military system in the late 19th century competing with Western powers and why Japan could recover so drastically after WWII.
Note also that this is an answer to some practical question regrading how the Japanese people would observe, measure, and assess leaders in the society and politicians to lead the nation.
Now, get back to your seat!