Re: Drunkenness and Confucianism

In those societies where Confucianism requires respect for authority and the subordination of individual dissent to group-harmony, social drinking accompanied by an exaggeration of ones drunkenness allows the individual to blow off steam and save-face by being excused due to drunkenness.

Odd that the Chinese with their Confucian traditions are more individualist than the Japanese without the Confucian traditions. . . .

In any case, you are correct about the function of social drinking in Japan, but this is a separate issue from tolerance for alcohol (though I certainly see your point, that a casual review may suggest greater drunkenness than is actually present).