How Confucian traditions have shaped styles of being modern in Japan, challenge. Explorations of Confucian network capitalism, meritocratic democracy, and liberal education have practical implications for a sense of self, community, economy and polity. Seventeen contibutors, of varying fields of study, here bring their differing perspectives to a consideration of the Confucian role in industrial East Asia. Confucian concerns such as self-cultivation, regulation of the family, social civility, moral education, well-being of the people, governance of the state, and universal peace provide a general framework for the study. The Confucian "Problematik" - how a fiduciary community can come into being through exemplary teaching and moral transformation - underlies much of the discussion. The contributors question all unexamined assumptions about the rise of industrial East Asia, at the same time exploring the ideas, norms and values that underlie the moral fabric of East Asian societies. Is Confucian ethics a common discourse in industrial East Asia? The answer varies according to academic discipline, regional specialization and personal judgement.