Positives and negatives of Japan

Positive: People, culture, and transportation Negative: The Government (they have not yet sincerely apologized to all victims of WWII). Rape, tech development within city. and Racism.

As architectural student, i must say I really like their old wooden styled houses with the screens. but modern architecture looks wicked too: Kengo kuma is one of my favorite japanese architects: https://www.google.nl/search?q=kengo+kuma&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMIzOOUz-D7xgIVSFcsCh1a7QqP&biw=1440&bih=690 Junya Ishigami is a pretty cool architect too: https://www.google.nl/search?q=junya+ishigami&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAWoVChMI-6_Vg-H7xgIVwwgsCh1MHgW2&biw=1440&bih=690 As for negatives.... I dislike the sacrifice family and health for work/boss attitude. or the high pressure to perform they put on the youth, followed by them suiciding or becoming a Neet.

Positive: An rich and interesting culture, and manga/anime. :p Negative: After reading a bunch about Japan and Japanese society in general, I think that while it's a great country to visit, it would probably rather horrible to live in. Due to the homogeneous culture you'll pretty much always be considered an 'outsider', even if the people in your immediate surrounding are accepting of you. :/

Pros: They have a really colorful culture. Because I look towards their building designs and creativity as reference and inspiration, it's done me quite a lot on my art sprees. Their traditions are deep - some strange, but yes-- deep. The people I've had the pleasure of exchanging mails with were very knowledgeable and friendly. Very professional, very intellectual, very accommodating (one helped me trace my geneaology). <<< These acquaintances are open-minded. Cons: No matter what, there seems to be a bit of awkwardness between Japanese and 'outsiders'. They have this 'we won't take you unless you have something we cannot do' aesthetic when it comes to work and business; same way with Chinese, but that's to personal vibe I'm getting from my travel years back. It gives you an impression that they don't really trust people not of their ethnicity 100%.

Pros: Japan is wonderful and the quality of daily life is AMAZING Cons: Individuality is hammered down and tons of people kill themselves because of it. Also rampant lolicon.

Positive: Japanese people are very polite and reserved. Negative: Japanese have a gaijin mindset and don't truly or easily let outsiders into their 'circle'.

I wonder if the untrusting/unaccepting mindset towards foreigners is racially based or if it stems from a nationalistic outlook?

Yeah, good question. It's probably based on a nationalistic outlook because all outsiders are treated like that. Thanks to everyone that has taken part in this lively discussion ;>)

Well, where do I start. I suppose positives would of course be anime, manga and games. That and the fact that the people are polite as well as the culture in general. Negatives I can think of a few. One I guess would be the fact that Otaku prejudice is still pretty strong there, though it has died down a bit and more people are identifying as Otaku, thank god. Another negative is that sexism is pretty high in Japan. I'm sure some of you have heard of the chikan thing> If not then here's a link explaining it: http://howibecametexan.com/2013/08/29/things-i-hate-about-japan-chikan-perverts/ Not to mention the amount of smut in the "red light districts" of cities (especially Tokyo) from Hostess Clubs where men basically pay for company while having a drink, (trust me, it's not a innocent as it sounds as it involves sex as well) to stores selling school uniforms and even used school girl's underwear, which are actually purchased by men (I kid you not). It's not just the chikan and red light districts either. Women in general a sexually objectified constantly. Anime, manga and games aren't the only culprits. You can find many books and magazines in Japan where women are depicted in a sexual manor, from the gravure idol books and videos to pornographic magazines and videos. Many of which can be picked up in a supermarket and in full view of children. But by far, the biggest chip on my shoulder is the relationships between Japanese men and women and it's affect on the population. Couples are spending more time away from each other which has also lead to divorce. Pretty much all of the negatives mentioned above play a part in this. Japanese women are pretty picky about men. Otaku men are considerd to be out of the question to them. Some of their reasons are understandable but there are those who simply have no desire to even get to know an otaku. Simple things like wearing an anime t-shirt or carrying bags of anime goods can be an instant turn off (again, refering to Japan's otaku prejudice) is one reason a woman will draw the line under the premise that the otaku in question is a creep. Although there are some otaku who aren't exactly any better. I've recently leaned that at least 70.1% of Japanese otaku would shun love in favor of their hobbies. Another problem is that Japanese in general put a pretty high expectation on people, both men and women. There is way too much emphasis on physical appearance among other things. I could go on but I think Gaijn Goombah does a pretty good job on explaining things. Check this out: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7PKwcJVa3dU Well, that's all I got. Sorry if this came across as more negative it just there's a lot that bugs me. Also check out the BBC Documentary "No Sex Please, We're Japanese" on YouTube for more information on Japan's population decline.

All the beautiful historical buildings in Kyoto can be seen as a positive. Natural disasters like tsunamis and earthquakes are definitely negatives.