Comment by throwaway2037

    > I doubt people in Japan care more or less than anywhere else.

They do care more than most countries where I have visited or lived. There is a real send of "excellence" about their public behaviour that is hard to replicate. For example, when you queue to board a train, people stay to the side to allow passengers to exit. After others have exited, they board the train. (Tourists sometimes make the mistake of rushing into the train when the doors open, but it only takes one try to figure it out!) Ask yourself: Why do they do it? I don't why, but I observe it on the daily, and the incentive to behave well in public is pretty low in a modern ("selfish") society. I feel the same about littering -- the amount of litter in public places is astonishingly low in Japan. Another tiny thing that you may notice: When in a busy public place where two groups of people are crossing one another's path, people in Japan make an effort to allow one person to cross from each side. It is like watching a ballet performance when you see it.

    > Japan is right to discourage foreigners from moving and living there.

This is a myth. Japan (and, coincidentally, Germany) welcomes three groups of foreigners: (a) students (language and university, mostly), (b) low skill workers (factory, farm, retail), and (c) high skill knowledge workers. I would say it is much easier to get (and keep) a work visa in Japan compared to the US.