"It's not strange that people's perception of Japan is so out of whack with reality, it's mainly because this country is still very closed." I think it has mor

"It's not strange that people's perception of Japan is so out of whack with reality, it's mainly because this country is still very closed." I think it has more to do with the inaccuracy in reporting that the author mentions more than anything. There's a large selection bias in reporting on foreign countries; Japan is an exotic land of technology, so reports tend to focus on exotic technologies (LED eyelashes? Come on.) With other places, like, say, Iraq or Pakistan, you tend to get war-centric reports rather than things about up-and-coming companies or various charitable events. This particular paper seems to be very linked with this article posted earlier: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/world/asia/28generation.html http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/28/world/asia/28generation.ht...