Alessandro Gerevini, an Italian writer and translator who has lived and worked in Japan for 16 years, believes that Japanese and Italian cultures have a lot in common.

Gerevini notes that, for example, the idea of family and the unique culture of food are important in both countries. Also, the notion of humbleness exists in both cultures.

In Italy, "people should always try to minimize themselves according to Catholic ethics," and in Japan, "humbleness" seems to be embedded deeply in its culture, he says.