[cranks]

If you allow me to be so cocky to say this, I think MMM and GoNative both have a point. It's just different parts of an elephant imo. But...

In my experience, English speaking people who openly say Japan is backward or behind are always Antipoders. I don't think they mean ill, it's probably just how they simply felt, but people from other parts of the world usually think twice before saying that.

Internet, for example, is much faster in Japan than any other countries in the world and although the advent of i-phone turned the table, i-mode had been the most advanced mobile technology for a decade. It's just what you are used to and how you look at things. I've seen an Aussie lady on the web who was saying that Japan was backward because their houses didn't even have ovens. Well, yeah, Japanese are not really into ovens, but they are really into rice and knifes and all other things that SHE can't care less.

I like to-the-point people more than politically-correct-but-sneaky people though. It was really cool talking to her. It's just that kind of attitude can be prone to misunderstandings in an international setting.