Considering Japanese culture, I'm not surprised. This is what happens when you have super-conservative social values backed up by a strong pressure to conform. Few people are willing to take a risk or convey honest feelings, and both of those things are inherent in a romantic relationship.
This kind of thing is exactly why my old boss went and created his own minimalist framework built around using native code: http://www.domxjs.com. Its explicit purpose is to allow developers to learn and utilize the platform, rather than learning a bunch of libraries.
If that's the case, they need to own fewer guns. I cannot think of many things more important to keep track of at all times than where one's guns are.