Australia and Japan: cultural divergence and convergence: the fiscal response to climate change instruction

[Extract] Any comparison of Australian and Japanese society is naturally drawn towards the differences in the two cultures. An Australian visitor arriving in Tokyo is confronted by an alien environment. The differences are stark. The opposite of any words that might be used to describe Australia and Australians could be attributed to a description of Japan and the Japanese: spacious/crowded, casual/formal, indifference towards authority/respect for authority, celebration of individuality/ obedience to the group, boisterous/ reserved, multi-cuIture/mono-culture, searching for national identity/steeped in tradition and so on. The peoples and their cultures might be viewed as the flip side of each other: two sides of a coin. This analogy also serves to suggest a relationship of mutual dependence, a reliance, which is certainly true to an extent. Japan has been for many years (until recently taken over by China) Australia's main export market for its raw materials: iron ore, coal and food products necessary to support the Japanese industry and workforce. In turn the trade surplus that Australia has enjoyed has contributed to the Australian quality of life envied by the Japanese as they take their annual holidays in Cairns, the Gold Coast and Sydney