Maciamo: based on the amount of time you've been in Japan, these statements make you sound very naive.

we all notice these things in the first few months, care to dig a bit deeper and you'll actually find that Japanese people are vastly more interesting that you think. Maybe you just hang out with real idiots and get a bum deal at every turn, but this is not a good image for yourself considering that you moderate on this forum and should be swimming in worldly knowledge and understanding/acceptance of different cultures. Most importantly setting an example for those who visit here after knowledge.

I agree that Japanese are slightly more slow on the uptake when it comes to expressing their knowledge and thoughts, however this is Japan, and in Japan that's the way it's done.