@article{oai:nichibun.repo.nii.ac.jp:00000322,
 author = {HAMAGUCHI, Eshun},
 journal = {Nichibunken Japan review : bulletin of the International Research Center for Japanese Studies},
 month = {Jan},
 note = {Thus far Japanese studies conducted from sociological and anthropological viewpoints have used several key concepts such as "shame culture", "vertical society", "group ego", "amae (dependency)", all of which denote a lack of individual autonomy and independence in a social action.  In these studies the Japanese are seen as group-oriented people who totally devote themselves to the organization to which they belong.
Such analyses depend on methodological individualism in the comparative study of societies and do not necessarily reflect the emic nature of the Japanese.  This paper aims to correct a methodological problem in Japanese studies by shifting the paradigm from methodological individuum-ism to methodological relatum-ism.
After discussing the concept of "paradigm" and "model", two types of actor-subject, that is, the "relatum" and the "individuum" are differentiated.  The former is the system constituted by the human nexus itself, and forms a referential "holon" or self-organizing system in a universal pattern.  Here the concept of "holon" as discussed by Arthur Koestler and Hiroshi Shimizu is reexamined.  The latter, the "individuum", is thought to be a specific form of the "relatum".
From the ontological point of view, the "individual" as a mere unit of society has a fictitious nature in itself and its existence cannot be presupposed without any reference to a specific "field" composed of the crossing of human model called the "contextual" as the "relatum" is proposed instead of the usual "individual" model of person as the "individuum".
Lastly the ontological foundation of the "relatum" is sought out, based on arguments by Nāgārjuna and Tokuryu Yamanouchi on ancient Buddhist philosophy.},
 pages = {41--63},
 title = {A Methodological Basis for Japanese Studies : with Regard to "Relatum" as its Foundation},
 volume = {9},
 year = {1997}
}