[Nyororin]

Originally Posted by RealJames

If your uncle is Japanese he's a very rare breed of Japanese to have strong opinions about politics or religion.

This is where I find it hard to think that you`ve had that many truly honest conversations with Japanese. People have VERY strong opinions about politics and religion. It`s not uncommon at all. High school / university age tends to be apathetic, but once you hit the workforce it changes pretty quickly. The thing is, people aren`t likely to talk frankly about these things with anyone outside of very close friends and immediate family. (Until they`re old men and just don`t care anymore.)

I meant in Japan.
I very frequently discuss religious and political differences in parts of the world and also within Japan. I've not once yet actually come close to a debate, let alone upsetting anyone.

If you have upset or offended anyone, they certainly aren`t likely to come out and say it... Their opinion of you has probably changed, or they`ve just written it off because you aren`t Japanese.
Those with Japanese family will know what I`m talking about when I refer to people coming home and going on about how shocked they were to hear that such and such thought such and such about something, how irritated they were that they had to listen to it, and then go on and on about how wrong that person is, and how poor their manners were to talk about it in the first place.

If I start talking about the role of women in society, though, it can get personal. Or if I talk about how to deal with elderly, those two topics I tread lightly around depending on who I'm speaking with.

These things are also related to politics, in my opinion.
I think you`ve hit the nail on the head here with the comment about it being personal. People aren`t likely to expose their opinions on something when it isn`t personal enough to illicit an immediate reaction. General politics and religion are things that aren`t considered that personal by most.

But even the most religious of Japanese people still engage in healthy conversation about it without getting defensive or worse, pushy.

That`s because religion in Japan is something different than what it is in the west. I`ve found Christians in Japan to be very much like Christians outside of Japan - I think it really does matter what the religion is and it`s attitudes.