I guess one of the big differences I've encountered in Japan compared to Australia is that the Japanese themselves are rarely overly critical of their country. In Australia people are continuously discussing political issues and problems they have with their society. They are very self critical. Even if a foreigner criticises something in Australia you'll generally find a fair portion of the population will agree with the criticism wholeheartedly. Here not so much. People on the whole just seem to accept things in my experience. There is what appears to be a very powerful imperitive to not rock the boat. Even if they are not that happy about certain things they generally appear to have an attitude that nothing can be done to change anything anyway so there's no point getting worked up about it and speaking their mind. You see it in the media as well. In countries like Australia and the US the media is often incredibly scathing of the government. Here not so much. In fact most popular media here appears to keep the people in such a state of ignorance that it's hardly surprising they aren't really into politics. Ignorance is bliss!
With all this in mind I guess it's not surprising that the Japanese seem very sensitive to any criticism by foreigners. They get so little from their own populace that it's very hard to accept any from foreigners. I sometimes think this is one of the main reasons that Japan is so reticent to allow more foreigners to immigrate to this country. We don't just accept things, we are outspoken and rock the boat. Certainly not traits encouraged in this culture!
