[Nyororin]

I am going to strongly strongly second the rarity of drugs bit. I love that there are so few drugs, a virtually non-existent drug culture, and that there are pretty much none of the problems in society that are linked to them. This is huge in my eyes.

I also love that people are viewed as living things. It is kind of hard to explain exactly what is meant by this, but... A good example is related to nudity. Everyone is human, everyone has a body, all of that is natural... So it`s not taboo. A lot of people cite this as openness in terms of sexuality, but I think it is something that comes at least a step before that. Humans have emotions, regardless of their gender, age, etc... It`s natural. This is something that doesn`t tend to jump out at you until you are accustomed to it and come face to face with the opposite. (ie. Boys don`t cry! You should stop him before he ends up gay from acting like a little girl! OMG your little girl has seen her dad naked?!?! What is WRONG with you sickos?!? etc)

This is a rather personal one, but I tend to feel that I could accomplish most anything I set out to do in Japan. Sort of what is usually called the "American Dream" - but definitely not in America. If I wanted to start a little shop, I would have a decent chance of making it work with effort. I did not feel this way in the US. That said, it`s not necessarily that things are different - it`s just how I perceived them.

I like how the majority of people are considerate in daily life. They don`t go out of their way to inconvenience others because it is their right to be able to do so. People seem to automatically make the connection between how they are treated by others to how they treat others - and in turn tend not to do the things they wouldn`t want others to do to them.

I love that you actually have to put work into learning to drive, that it is considered a privileged - and that vehicles are required to be in decent shape... And that people generally take care of them in other ways. You almost NEVER see incredibly dirty cars with trash, spilled drinks, sticky floors, etc.

Oh, and I love the general quality of life.

Obviously there is a lot more - I wouldn`t have chosen to spend the rest of my life here on just a handful of things - but they are things that don`t really come to mind as they`re normal to me now.