[jvm]

I was just trying to point out cultural differneces in a tongue-in-cheek manner. I think Japan is the least Europeanized wealthy country (the other Asian tigers count too but are less renowned for shocking westerners). As a result, it's often a lot less valid to generalize from Japanese culture to American culture than, say, Australian or German.

There's a world of difference between pointing out cultural diversity and racial stereotyping. I guess the fact that I'm actually kind of into Vermillion Pleasure Night blinded me to the fact that some people might have interpreted my comments as derogatory.

[rhizome]

They're not necessarily derogatory, just ignorant. For instance, "least Europeanized" is indeed a generalization to Western culture, just a negative one.