[joelfried]

> I see no mention of race or location

Location: "Think about Japan", "Compare that to the US" - this is a pretty straightforward comparison by location about culture based on location.

It presumes a bunch and I'm grunching (and showing my age by using that term), and I'm not trying to disagree with you . . . just highlight the comparison you said you could not see.

[simplify]

No, that isn't right. It's the culture differences, not locations, that are being compared here. Location is only correlated to those differences; being in Japan vs being in the US doesn't guarantee the comparison.