Does not surprise me at all. I remember being in Japan in the service for only two weeks. Two things I remember:
1) I left a noodle restaurant and left a little too much for the bill. The owner ran me down on the street and handed me the change. She would not accept it as a tip even after I begged her to keep it for her honesty.
2) A policeman on foot simply has to waive an orange baton at you if you were speeding. Offenders just pulled over.
There is much to admire about Japanese culture. Really what it comes down to is, the USA is a ME-first culture. Japan is an US-first culture. I always say the way to get back at Japan and most of Asia is to westernize them.
1) I left a noodle restaurant and left a little too much for the bill. The owner ran me down on the street and handed me the change. She would not accept it as a tip even after I begged her to keep it for her honesty.
2) A policeman on foot simply has to waive an orange baton at you if you were speeding. Offenders just pulled over.
There is much to admire about Japanese culture. Really what it comes down to is, the USA is a ME-first culture. Japan is an US-first culture. I always say the way to get back at Japan and most of Asia is to westernize them.