I would like to hear other people's opinion about the way Japanese morals works, as it seems radically different from anything in the West.

1) Watching Japanese movies, drama (jidai geji) or anime, it seems that Japanese believe that the winner (of a battle or war) is always right. This is very probably why they accepted so easily changes brought by the American occupation after WWII, while becoming so Americanised without being forced to for such things as sports (baseball...), cinema (Hollywood movies and US TV series), fashion, food and above all language (katakana words).

It seems that the moral that the winner is right has always existed in China since ancient times as well. In wars, the deflection rate was extremely high, with troops from the losing party suddenly switching side with the winner. No later than the post WWII civil war opposing Communist and Nationalists did this happen. Most people accept the winner as the "good one" whatever their previous thoughts/convictions.

2) Japanese morals do not have a concept of right and wrong like in the West or Muslim countries. Nothing can be right or wrong by itself. It always depends on the situation and how other people see it. Kenneth Henshall also pointed this out in his book "A History of Japan" when he said that Japanese have avoided judging what is good or evil since ancient times, prefering to equate "wrong" with disrupting the social order or disobeying formal authority.

This explains why samurai could give their lives to their lord without having to think how morally defendable their actions were.

In modern times, it seems that Japanese politicians do not see corruptions as wrong/evil in itself. The problem is to be caught and lose face in front of the public. Apologizing sincerely with a deep and humiliating bow is often enough to be forgiven. The same happens for company presidents responsible for the death of innocent people due to defective products (eg. Mitsubishi cars in recent years), or such cases as the Green Cross knowing infecting thousands of people with AIDS by transferring untreated blood.

In everyday life, I have been told by Japanese friends (of both sexes and all ages) that cheating on one's partner is not wrong as long as they don't know it. This was the decisive blow in my understanding of Japanese morals. After comparing this with what happened among business leaders or politicians, I came to the conclusion that for Japanese "wrong/evil" only exist as long as it causes bad feelings or damages to other people. Hiding reproachable bahaviour from the people it could disturb is seen as a necessary way to avoid evil (which means they believe it isn't evil before that). Japanese have indeed a very practical and down-to-earth approach to life.