[steven]

dogsbody70, I can't speak for other people, but I find your contributions very interesting. Your observations are great to hear about.

In fact, I think we had similar feelings about that part of the article that talks about apologizing. It's a very generalizing statement. Considering America is composed of many different cultures and peoples (as is the UK), I think it's hard to really pinpoint what Americans are or aren't. I found that statement the author made about Americans to be disrespectful, actually.

The more I discover forums about Japan on the internet, the more I run into people who once loved Japan, but are now sick of it. They usually cite things such as Japanese people constantly talking about the 4 seasons and things like that. I feel people think the Japanese are almost elitist in a sense. I think it may be part of their awareness of their own culture, and their ability and willingness to try to share it with other people. On the other hand, you have people like the person who wrote this article (an American) who, when comparing Japan to America, can't simply praise Japan, but somehow feels the need to slight America at the same time. It's people like him that I've grown tired of.

When Japan was isolated from the rest of the world as they once were I imagine there was no outsider to influence the Japanese way of doing things.
It's funny you say this, because Japan does have a history of isolationism. Someone else here probably knows more details about the situation than I do (I imagine a search on wikipedia might give you an overview). Although they had influence and contact with westerners before the Meiji period, that is usually considered the time when Japanese were most influenced by the west. I get the feeling, although it's an assumption, that during the Taisho period certain government involved Japanese people wanted to bring back some of the Japanese traditions and may have taken that idea too far.

However, what you don't read about too often in history books is rural Japan. The more I talk to elder people around where I live, the more of an understanding I get. A lot of these people have seen way more in their lifetime than I probably would care to (as they are about 80, 90+). While they are certainly influenced by western culture, such as TV, certain food, and some technology, a lot of them have never really seen a foreigner with their own eyes before. Some of them seem to be living just as they always have, and not too unlike how their parents would have lived (as farmers).

We are told that the japanese people are workaholics working very long hours. I do not know if this is still the case. My japanese friend certainly feels she must work constantly at her studies here-- and feels guilty if she takes time off school.

That is certainly the feeling I get. I have coworkers (who are all above me) who get in at around 7AM and don't leave until 10 or 11PM. They also come in on weekends and probably work a regular 8 hours (for a day). That's certainly more drive than I have! You can't say that for everyone though, and there are certainly some peopl that stick mroe or less to their contracted times.

It's funny you say that about Japanese and school. While colleges are generally considered harder and better (this is just hearsey though) in America than Japan (on the whole), whenever Japanese people came to my college, they would dominate. Theirs nothing like an ESL person getting better grades than you can haha. It should be realized that the reason they get to come to America is because they either have money or they were the cream of the crop as far as studies go.

About family life-- you may know that Japan is somewhat known for multi-generation homes. Grandparents-parents-children-and sometimes even grandchildren. That model has been deteriorating for a while, supposedly. As a teacher, I can most of the time see the difference between kids who were raised that way and kids who do not live with their grandparents. You hear the word standard of living a lot-- but I think those kids who grew up in multi generation homes seem happier. I'm sure they get a good education from their grandparents. With that model in mind, maybe people felt the ability to work long hours to support their family. If the grandparents are at home to take care of the children, why not? Now-a-days, if those grandparents aren't around and the parents are still working long hours, then who raises the kids? TV and the internet and whatever the kids want to be raised by. That's what that article should be about... not more fodder for what westerners who are interested in Japan want to hear about Japan.

It's all about sampling. This guy sampled people from what appears to be Todai. Maybe if he painted his picture with real life color, we'd get a real life image. According to globaluniversitiesranking.org, Todai is ranked 3rd in the world.

He took a small sample of a very smart university, asked questions about a culture that he may or may not be qualified to talk about (looking at his books, I doubit it), and then drew conclusions that are quite synonymous with the "doing business with Japanese" style books that he bashed in his introduction. What a waste of time. At least it sparked an interesting conversation.