[hn_throwaway_99]

> Where the people seem to have a sense of joy and fun.

I'm going to take issue with that one. Of course "a sense of joy and fun" is subjective, but the extreme social conformism of Japan definitely has its drawbacks.

I mean, take one measurable metric when it comes to "joy and fun": sex. Much as been written about Japan's extremely low birth rates, but that also extends to sex and even just romantic relationships. Decent article: https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/07/japan-m...