I don't think this and many other myths about Japan have been debunked nearly enough yet. For instance, the "there is zero crime in Japan" myth which I still se

I don't think this and many other myths about Japan have been debunked nearly enough yet. For instance, the "there is zero crime in Japan" myth which I still see and hear repeated almost daily both by Japanophiles and the Japanese themselves. Actually, I don't think there is any other culture in the world today where the reality differs so much from the myth-based image, and in almost every single aspect. One reason is that the focus of serious Western journalists has shifted towards China nowadays, and Japan has fallen to the wayside, mirroring its economic slump. The gap that this created has been filled with the views of American teens and twens who became interested in Japan through its pop culture. And of course, if you are an impressionable young person from a rural part of the US who moves to the center of Tokyo, you'll think you've moved to the future. But on close inspection, the technological prowess in Japan often begins and ends with little speakers and screens blaring a 24h loop of ads. Most of what is written about Japan nowadays is the work of Japanophiles with very little interest in actual research or comparison. There are only a handful of books about Japan worth reading: "The enigma of Japanese power" by van Wolferen (quite long and dry), and "Japan - A reinterpretation" by Patrick Smith (more to the point and more casually written), as well as "Demons and Dogs" by Kerr.