Japan is an odd case, as what you describe seems to be culturally/socially enforced by tradition, &c. rather than directly and explicitly by a central power. O

Japan is an odd case, as what you describe seems to be culturally/socially enforced by tradition, &c. rather than directly and explicitly by a central power. Other than that though, are you talking about the distinction between totalitarianism and democracy? There has been a (imo very odd) tendency in the US to confuse Communism with totalitarianism and Capitalism with democracy (despite counter-examples like Chile), and I've seen same rhetoric in Eastern Europe (where Communism-branded totalitarianism is a recent experience) but this tendency isn't universal.