Why are there such significant differences in national character among China, Japan, and India? In fact, it is greatly related to their respective geographical factors.

First, let's talk about Japan, which has the most distinct characteristics. The characteristics of ancient rural Japan are as follows:

1/ Mountainous terrain, with far distances between lands, villages have little cooperation and conflicts of interest, self-sufficient.

2/ Frequent natural disasters require villagers to highly collaborate to combat disasters.

3/ Japan has a temperate climate with limited rainfall, mainly relying on irrigation and meticulous farming, which further increases the demand for cooperation among villages.

Therefore, the characteristic of Japan is: high cooperation.

In such circumstances, the developed culture is highly consistent, leading to the emergence of cultural phenomena like "village eight parts," which socially ostracizes those with divergent thoughts.

Thus, Japan thrives in highly coordinated manufacturing, developing production models like JIT (Just In Time).

Now let's discuss another extreme, India. The geographical and climatic characteristics of ancient India are as follows.

1/ Villages are naturally isolated from each other, similar to Japan.

2/ However, India has distinct rainy and dry seasons; rice mainly relies on rain during the rainy season, while in the dry season, it is often abandoned due to high evaporation rates, and there is little water in rivers. Therefore, Indian crops do not require meticulous irrigation (cooperation) and are managed independently.

In this highly decentralized/low cooperation model, land gradually concentrates, leading to the invention of the caste system to solidify classes and reduce friction.

Thus, the cooperation among Indians is quite poor.

In fact, you can observe one thing: the punctuality of trains.

Lastly, let's talk about China, which is different. The vast plain predominates, with major rivers running across the country, leading to high mobility—this makes blood ties an important connection.

Internally, villages require some cooperation, but the demand for cross-village cooperation during irrigation is higher, necessitating government power to develop water conservancy and mediate disputes (over water).

This cooperation/mobility among small collectives has led to the development of a culture of face. Face represents social status, but it is real-time and fluid. You may have face today, but if you do something "wrong" tomorrow, you may lose it.

Why do rural weddings and funerals require grand celebrations? This is about face, this is about status.

In summary, the cooperation of Chinese people in small collectives lies between that of Japan and India, but they have greater advantages in cooperation among larger groups.

This leads to a broader understanding of why rice prices in Japan remain high and why Indian fighter jets dare to charge directly as targets while operating in combat.