ch the Japanese linked Confucian values to achieving material success. The other benefit imported from Confucianism and adapted specifically by the Japanese is its ability to harmonize power and loyalty with aggressive competitiveness. This was the essential tenet that has aided Japan from an economic development point of view. The blending of feudalism and Confucianism produced a more purposeful, goal -directed concept of power in Japan than in the bureaucratic "virtuocracy" of either imperial or Maoist China.11 Essentially the Japanese have been able to maximize loyalty and competitive competence which aided its economic development.The Japanese actively sought to find the best practices world wide and utilize and improve them, they also saw this use of Confucianism a means not only to confront the West but to beat it on its own ground.12 In Japan, Confucianism was evoked to assert Japanese superiority and Nationalism. It has been successful in this regard and it is little wonder that Western Scholars and academics have attributed the economic success of Japan and other Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs) to some inherent quality based on Confucian values, lest they may be forced to admit that they were beaten at their own game. The economic success of Japan and the 'mini-dragons' can be more accurately attributed to the post World War II context. The role Japan played in the American containment strategy is central. Japan's 'Peace Constitution' with the famous Article 9 renouncing war meant that external security was no longer a concern for Japan as the United States took on the role. The American aid and domestic markets were opened and extended to Japan. The advent of the Korean war also facilitated this process as did the needs arising from the Vietnam war a decade later.12 Certainly Confucian values, unique to Japan, have been moved from the 'family model' to the industrial sector and values such as worker loyalty, and the depe...
