Passage 2
"The whole concept that we can turn this around right now is patently ridiculous,” says an American trader who has lived and worked here since 1952. "The vested interests are being shaken and slowly moved, but at a pace too slow for t

Passage 2
"The whole concept that we can turn this around right now is patently ridiculous,” says an American trader who has lived and worked here since 1952. "The vested interests are being shaken and slowly moved, but at a pace too slow for the eyes to follow.”
That view is echoed by a U. S. diplomat closely involved in the efforts to open Japanese markets to American goods, Washington's stock solution to the ballooning trade imbalance.
"Japan is a relationship society rather than transactional society,” he says. "You cannot alter that kind of a system with a television speech or a batch of general proposals, no matter how well intentioned they are.”
Japan is a relationship society rather than a transactional society. "What's your understanding of this sentence?

It implies that in Japan, people are very loyal to the established relationships and practices, and their ways of doing things are not easily changed by some new ideas or policies even if they might be better or more rational than the tradition.