Failure as Viewed in the U.S. vs. Japan

In America failure is viewed in perhaps transformational terms, with examples of people overcoming calamities, physical, emotional, and financial, and coming out better for it in the end.

Japan draws a distinct contrast to the American model. Peter Goodman, reporting in the NY Times 09-06-09, writes that in Japan "failure traditionally carries a deeper stigma, an enduring shame that limits the appetite for risk in the view of many of the nation's cultural observers. This makes the Japanese form less comfortable with choices that increase the prospect for failure, even if they promise greater potential gains."