Difference in cultures.

 I have lived in Japan for 3 months now and the difference between here and the United States is unbelievable.

So is the culture in Japan better or worse than the U.S.?

My Take:

So I am going to start this one with a single paragraph that perfectly explains the difference, then I will elaborate:

Two identical trash cans. One on the US Naval Base, one in downtown Yokosuka.

Look at the one on the Naval Base. Its almost completely covered in cigarette burns from people putting out their cigarettes. There is also a lot of cigarette butts all over the ground next to the trash can, not inside.
Now look at the one in downtown Yokosuka. ONE cigarette burn on it and there is NOTHING on the ground next to it. Chances are that cigarette burn was probably from an American anyways.

I personally noticed this and it struck a nerve. You can sum up this entire blog post in that one paragraph. However I feel that I need to bring up some other points.

If you walk around in Japan you will have to try VERY hard to find any trash on the ground. This is because you will consistently see people cleaning/picking up trash. It is also very embarrassing for business/homeowners to have trash on their property so its almost always immediately removed. You will actually be scolded by every day people if they see you drop anything on the ground and not pick it up. Ive seen some Japanese people walk by a trashcan that was full and some stuff had fallen on the ground. They picked up the stuff on the ground and took it with them or to another trash can.

Another thing. I saw a landscaping crew doing yard work and there were 2 dedicated people that held up screens next to the guys who were weed-eating so that if the weed-eaters threw rocks or anything it wouldn't hit peoples cars. How awesome is that? Ever see that in the states? Hell no. Why? Because we don't care. If its not affecting anything we personally own or care about then it doesn't matter to us.

Next. It is extremely rare to see an obese Japanese person. I mean you really have to be looking to find one. I'm not saying that all Japanese are in incredible shape, but most are in good, healthy shape. Why? Because they aren't lazy. If you watch them, everything they do whether its working, walking, etc they do it with intensity. Constantly moving fast. The U.S.? Ya right. We are some lazy sobs. Even if we have to go pick something up off the printer, we sigh, get up slowly making some lame ass remark, then slowly walk over to the printer. What would take a Japanese person 5 seconds to do we take like 2 minutes, and we complain while doing it.

Lastly. It doesn't matter if its McDonalds, a janitor, or a CEO of a large company, the Japanese take their jobs VERY seriously. Awesome service everywhere you go no matter the business and if something is wrong usually 3-4 of them will jump through hoops to make sure its fixed. This is because they actually still have honor and morals in this country. I really wish we could incorporate some Japanese living into out society. It would really help us out.

I have learned alot in my time so far in Japan but I have learned one thing in particular. Americans are a bunch of lazy, fat, rude, un-motivated, whiny people. Seriously we are. Anyone who disagrees with me is probably someone who falls into one of those categories I just named.

We could learn ALOT from the Japanese. Unfortunately we are on a downward spiral of crap and because we are allowed to abuse our Constitution nowadays there really isn't any way to fix it.