Halal food does not belong to Japan, and it is very cruel.
> "I realized that educating the people around me was going to be a permanent part of my life here"
The entitlement and arrogant ignorance is really strong. As a German who left Germany long time ago, I really hope Japan stays Japanese. When I visit, it feels like a full system restore for me — the social harmony, the deep consideration for others, the quiet competence. It’s one of the last places that still feels good and is quiet.
It’s simple systems thinking: Japan’s high-trust culture works.
Japan is trying to protect it: comprehensive surveillance of mosques and Islamic-related organisations in Japan includes profiling, cameras, undercover agents, informants, and the collection of personal data.
It began shortly after the September 11 terrorist attacks in 2001, became public through a leak in 2010, and the Supreme Court declared it legal in 2016 (stating it was "necessary and unavoidable" for counter-terrorism).
Japan is nice because it is Japanese. And now I'm probably going to loose my hard-earned 46 karma points here on HN. ;-) worth it.
also interesting: Dale Carnegie admired Alfred Adler, the Austrian psychologist; Adler said “the solution to the world’s present problems lies in social interest: concerned relationships between people and groups”.
Adler never rose to fame (in the west) - but he also didn't care about it. the book "The Courage to Be Disliked" is about Alfred Adler.
Dale Carnegie and Steven Covey have both been heavily influenced by Alfred Adler, the Austrian psychotherapist and founder of individual psychology.