[karl_schlagenfu]

Except Toto toilets and the Shinkansen (which other countries like China now have) it’s not so different.

And the banking system is ass backwards compared to the rest of the world.

[aikinai]

The “country of the future” trope is not actually very accurate, but the structure of society has many major differences from any other country I’m aware of. The shūkatsu system is one decent example of that.

[nervousvarun]

All anyone said in this thread was it is different. There was no implication of superiority. Why assume otherwise?

[karl_schlagenfu]

Who said anything about superiority? I merely stated the main differences I have seen since living here. Japan isn't much different from the rest of the world, yet people here on HN seem to treat it as some kind of exotic alien world.