I&#x27;m ready to take all the downvotes.<p>You have lived a very privileged life in Japan, my friend.<p>I have travelled to Japan and have a fiancee who is Zainichi North Korean.<p>I urge you to stop interpreting Japanese culture with such extreme rose-coloured glasses and tone down your extreme positivity because it is blinding you from having the &quot;balanced view&quot; you say you have of Japan. Furthermore, it is insulting to minorities in Japan, which has a racist, insular, homogenous culture that so rigidly controls what is &quot;true&quot; and what is &quot;false&quot;. The difference is that racism in Japan manifests itself in less violent and direct ways, as the culture of honne and tatemae is so prevalent. So it&#x27;s difficult for foreigners to distinguish these things at face value.<p>If you compare types of crimes and the types of &quot;bad things&quot; in the US to Japan, you will see Japan has very little of the &quot;bad&quot; things the US has. That is not the point, however.<p>For example, I read an article that car accidents are up there as the leading causes of most deaths in the US. The Japanophile will remark how great Japan is because cars are not the leading deaths in Japan. But what the Japanophile will not tell you is that Japan has a high suicide rate, Hokkaido residents have the highest rate of heart disease in the world due to their consumption of sodium, and other issues that are probably specific to Japan.<p>There are very few robberies in Japan, but sexual harassment and sexual assaults are so common that there are specially designated areas and classes for women only. The sexual predators known as &quot;chikan&quot; have targeted foreigners, as well. It is so widespread that there are public service announcements advising women to be cautious. Does this happen in the US? Yes, but not to the degree that it happens in Japan.<p>I&#x27;m sure you don&#x27;t know what it feels like to be eating at a sushi restaurant with your family and an old Japanese &quot;steward&quot; interrogating you about why you don&#x27;t pay taxes and still leach off the government like Zainichi North Koreans have felt. These stewards&#x27; reasons are unfounded, of course, and an explanation of this would be too lengthy to write in this box.<p>Homelessness? Please tell me what your thoughts are on Kamagasaki: <a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;viewfind.com&#x2F;story&#x2F;fruits-of-his-labor-or-lack-thereof" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;viewfind.com&#x2F;story&#x2F;fruits-of-his-labor-or-lack-thereo...</a><p>For reference:<p><a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tofugu.com&#x2F;japan&#x2F;nishinari&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.tofugu.com&#x2F;japan&#x2F;nishinari&#x2F;</a><p><a href="http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.japantimes.co.jp&#x2F;news&#x2F;2014&#x2F;03&#x2F;24&#x2F;national&#x2F;nations-biggest-slum-cannot-be-found-on-maps-or-at-osaka-film-fest&#x2F;#.VyD339QrLs0" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.japantimes.co.jp&#x2F;news&#x2F;2014&#x2F;03&#x2F;24&#x2F;national&#x2F;nations...</a><p>Japan has many wonderful things, but what I have learnt is that Japan has specific problems related closely to their unique culture. It&#x27;s tempting to consider Japan as the better country simply because it lacks the bad that the US has. But I believe the wise thing to do is consider the opinions of those Japanese that want to leave their own country and their reasons for doing so. This way, you get a more balanced view. It is definitely a trade-off, and it is about your priorities.