In Japan you stay in the office all day and night, not because you're doing work but because everyone is too self-conscious to be the first to leave.

This is less true for the newer generation, especially since they don't have full time jobs in the first place.

>I think people in the USA work crazy hours and take no vacations.

You may think that but it's far from universal, including in the tech industry. [ADDED: The US does rank fairly low on average on the amount of vacation people take but Japan is as low or lower.]

IMO from what I have heard from folks working at Japanese offices of big tech companies: people work harder in SV.

The people/times when I seen crazy hours worked are those doing paperwork or working on a death march for some project they didn't think when accepting it.

I don't know how people manage without at least 5 weeks of holidays per year. I know i have troubles without at least 7.