• From "Understanding Japanese Women: Taking the Mystery Out of the Mysterious Women of Japan" by David J. Radtke:
A few years back, while deeply entrenched in running a private English school here in Japan, I had the opportunity to work with a very unique individual from New York City. He was the kind of guy that almost all men were jealous of: great build, six-pack abs, the face of a movie star, and not to mention tall, dark, and handsome. In other words, the perfect man.
He had come to Japan in search of adventure, easy money teaching English, and, of course, to meet the ladies (which he did with great ease). But he had this rather annoying habit. He treated the Japanese people the same way he treated, well, everyone else — he never bothered to learn about Japanese culture. He acted, interacted, and reacted in the same way towards Japanese people just as he would towards a friend from the States, his own mother, or a cabbie from New York. His philosophy was: Everyone is the same no matter where you go. Which, in some ways, is true. But it is not all-encompassing.