To me, Japanese culture seems the anti-thesis of the persmissive strain that has taken over America - but with a parallel fucked up effect.
In the U.S., kids are allowed to act up in order to not bruise their self-esteem - the unintended consequence being that real self-esteem is never developed. In its place we have self-indulgence without a moral core - iow, decadence.
In Japan, the individual is suppressed in order to conform to society and "save face". Excessive discipline causes a lack of self-expression. The suppressed individuals then turn to perversion as an escape.
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