Every time any subject contains "Japan", it always devolves into cultural explanations. There are plenty cultures around the planet that are hierarchical, consensus based, or both.

It's baffling to me that Japan is always singled out in these situations. If the same news was about any of our neighbours (South Korea, China, Taiwan) the amount of cultural explanations would be much smaller, and the discussion would be much more focused on the fundamental principles of the problem.

I understand that we are guilty of furthering this sort of discussion, but it is really frustrating to me.