One thing the article failed to mention directly is the shared monoculture. Their culture is such that some aspects of it are observed by most people there.<p>As they mention, young children are involved early on with community work. They also have instilled compliance from an early age --ever notice all the voice commands everywhere? In school, at the subway, at the combini, at the depato, at the escalator. It's pervasive and it results in a society homogenous in many aspects. Of course, there are dissidents and outcasts and otaku and non-conformists, but most observe core attitudes.<p>I think this contributes to the way they can have a degree of dependability on others. That's not to say there aren't deviants and people who take advantage of the norms. But to borrow from their vocabulary, they are unique, in some ways, and I don't think it's transplantable.