The first comparative survey in contemporary China (n=2, 000) and Japan (n=483) found vastly different patterns of cultural values. In highly modernized Japan, most traditional cultural values have remained intact. In China, after thirty years of class struggle including the Cultural Revolution, many of the same traditional values were cast in doubt or rejected. Even those traditional values that were still upheld in a limited way did not form a core, but were fragmented. In Japan, in addition to the traditional majority, we found a parallel group of counter values that deviated from traditionalism. Those deviants seemed to experience social conflicts and psychological tension in the process of cultural change. In China, the trend was the opposite. The minority of Chinese still following traditional values experienced more social conflicts and psychological tension.