> My honest opinion of "Japanese society works great because the whole society is formed by a unique strain of humans who lack any sense of individualism" is a

> My honest opinion of "Japanese society works great because the whole society is formed by a unique strain of humans who lack any sense of individualism" is a pretty shallow take in my opinion, where most of the corroboration are other clueless people repeating the same basic stereotype. It's not just a stereotype though, but a long held opinion and observation, literally the subject of study and research. To an extent more than other countries, this claim is objectively true - or at least I would have said that before seeing your links which reveal the idea to be one that is debated somewhat. > The other commenter mentions the huge impact of Japanese pop culture and technical innovation, which somehow isn't legitimate proof of individual expression, I was never denying individual expression can exist, but that doesn't mean most of society can't still be less individualistic than western countries. Everything you have written is interesting, and I don't doubt that the stereotype can be exaggerated, over-repeated and misused, but it is a long-held observation about Japanese culture that has been intensely observed and studied. For that reason I think it is wrong to just dismiss it as an incorrect stereotype.