Public

…Nevertheless, while the public in the West maintains continuity with individual interests by emphasizing openness and commonality, the public in Japan is characterized by the individual's immersion in the group. In Japan, the word "public" (Oyake) is said to have originated from the fact that ordinary Japanese people were called "koyake" (small family) and the Imperial family was called "oyake" (big family) (Nakamura Hajime, "The Way of Thinking of Orientals"), or "oyakegoto" (public affairs) is said to have meant the service of the family members to the head of the family (Ariga Kizaemon, "Public and Private"). In any case, it can be said that the traditional Japanese concept of the public naturally included the idea that the entire group to which an individual belongs is superior to the individual, and that the individual serves the whole unconditionally (self-sacrifice). …

*Some of the terminology explanations that mention "Ooyake" are listed below.

Source | Heibonsha World Encyclopedia 2nd Edition | Information

…それにもかかわらず，欧米における公共は，公開性や共通性を重視することによって，個別的関心との連続性を保持しているが，日本における公共は，逆に個人の集団への埋没を特徴とする。　日本では，公共(おおやけ)とは，一般の日本人が小家(こやけ)であるのに対して，皇室を大家(おおやけ)と呼んだことに由来するとされ(中村元《東洋人の思惟方法》)，あるいは公事(おおやけごと)とは，家長に対する家人の奉仕を意味したとされる(有賀喜左衛門〈公と私〉)。いずれにしても，日本の伝統的公共概念は，個人の帰属する集団全体が個人に優位し，個人は全体に無条件に奉仕する(滅私奉公)ことを当然の帰結として含んでいたといえよう。…

※「おおやけ」について言及している用語解説の一部を掲載しています。

出典｜株式会社平凡社世界大百科事典 第２版について | 情報