Abstract

The present work aims to underline the role played by cultural variables on the development of social processes, both at micro and macro-social level. Specifically, I want to focus on the role played by the philosophical current of Confucianism in the process of medernization of Japan, which shows how the cultural aspects, both in terms of intenalized values, both in the form of cultural norms and models approved by the group have influence on the development of social processes. Japanese society has succeeded in renconciling the fundamental elements of the confucian tradition with the modernization, elements that represent a variable that has turned out to be of significant importance in the process of development of Japan