I think it’s true that sex crimes are underreported, but that’s cited as a problem in just about every country in the world. People in Japan, though, tend to have a very high opinion of the police and trust the police almost implicitly. For crimes that don’t bring embarrassment on the victim, reporting seems to be rather high.
I agree with most of what Shawn says, but it might be oversimplifying to say that everyone in Japan is either a workaholic or a cockroach. Most of the people I know are far from either extreme.
I also think there’s something to be said for the rigor of Japanese education – it’s a cost/balance between discipline and innovation. Is America’s innovation really worth the shamefully low academic achievement of most of the population?
