Japan is interesting.  They are so polite and civilized, but after a long time I realized that their social structure has a fatal flaw.   In US culture, it's common to see the well being of the kids as being more important than the well being of the parents, but in Japanese culture just the opposite is true.   While both the USA and Japan are screwing over their younger generations for the sake of the older generation.   The US culture has a far more likely chance of breaking out of their stagnation and moving forward because of that difference.