The BBC has a bit of a history (in my opinion) of zeroing in on the cultural differences between Japan and the UK and highlighting mavericks who go against the

The BBC has a bit of a history (in my opinion) of zeroing in on the cultural differences between Japan and the UK and highlighting mavericks who go against the grain and "save" Japan from itself. I have a history of complaining about it ;-) Having said that, apart from the title ... and the decision to run the article at all ... I don't really see much that fits the mould here. Actually, I would say that Mr. Saito is very Japanese in the views he expresses in the article. I was actually surprised that he was raised in the US. It's the kind of thing that I wish more westerners understood about Japan. But why did the BBC print this article? They seem to be trying to imply that he is not acting in a Japanese way and that Japan needs to be taught something new. If so, I would say that they are wrong on both accounts (well, every culture can benefit from learning something new -- Japan is not different from other countries in that respect).