Australia will recover from its recent bushfire tragedy damage. But can it recover from the shock of discovering how much of the damage was due to arson? Japan could provide some answers, though not all optimistic.
Societies have several ways to hold themselves together and make people behave. One is strict Taliban-style punishments, with fear as the binding agent. Another is more ideological, cerebral even, with religion (Islam), post-revolutionary legitimacy (China, Vietnam), nationalism or good, intelligent government (Singapore, Scandinavia) as the binding agents.
But there are also societies where the binding agent is more instinctive — a simple gut feeling of belonging. Japan is the best example, both at the national and group level; someone once described Japan's enterprise loyalty as "a longing for belonging."