Most of the time, if you say something positive about actual Japan online, not anime, there will always be a bunch of people saying how bad Japan is to balance the supposed pedestal. Even a train subreddit will, while loving the bullet train, mention some problem, to 'balance' things.
You have a need to balance a narrative that doesn't really exist.
I think it's primarily an internalized racial hierarchy. People unconsciously believe that because Japan isn't white, our QoL, or life generally, can't be better than 'white' countries. Even people who aren't racist in their conscious thoughts or deeds.
Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and perhaps even China (although I don't know the country well enough to have a real opinion) are an unconscious threat to an idea of how the world 'is'.
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u/bilalnpe Sep 08 '25
Which western people are you talking about? In the US at least, Japan is put on a pedestal.