A very interesting fact is that, even with vastly different cultures, there is a trait surprisingly common in both Spanish and Japanese cultures: family. Both cultures have parents and kids stay together until the kids mid-20s, and both take care of the parents when they become older. It feels very weird when watching USA movies for most Spanish people as there's almost a business relationship between parents and kids (and don't even get me started with the military "yes sir" style).

Now I don't know if it's related or not to life expectancy, but it's a very curious common bit in very different cultures otherwise. This probably also affect to many other parts of life/politics in more subtle ways (safety nets, depression, health culture/care, etc).