You are right. I have only witnessed Japanese people abroad, and Japan through the media. Do you live in Japan, and are you Japanese?
NN
i have been living in Japan for many years,my wife is japanese so i think i have a little experience about this place..

look, i did not mean to sound like an ass; at this time emotions are high right now and when you read comments here of morons that are happy that such tragedy happened to Japanese people just because of their ignorance about them gets to you.
i am sorry but i think it's unfair to judge people only by what the media decide to portray or by a few youtube videos that show some stupid tv shows..
ppl think that japanese act like ants or robots which is an oversimplification based on bias,ignorance,closed-mindedness and not facts..
i have my pet peeves with japan but i think i can speak out of experience, there are things that dont work well and i dont like (just like any other country,including my own) but overall this is a very good place to live.
things that seem strange to westerners actually hold a logic behind them; things that one would understand a bit better if one were willing to open up a little and consider other ways.
I understand that for you (and for many others) it's difficult to see through them;Japanese themselves like to keep things a little unspoken,a little unclear even between each other..but that's why one cannot just go around and judge and generalize what one doesnt understand
i appreciate your honesty and BustinAss has said some really interesting stuff,overall this is a good thread