Japanese people are confused. Very confused

Japanese people are confused

Very confused

---

Over the past +30 years
the internal narratives in Japan,

are all negative

What the Japanese people have been hearing about their own county,

are all negative

As in,

"Japan's highest point was 80s"

"After that, it's going down"

"Still going down. And will certainly continue going down"

---

Apparently, it's about an aspect of the economy

Yet, in today's world
economy is tightly, excessively, harmfully tied with our daily life,
with our perceptions towards the world

And it's natural that
opinions towards country's economy look like a reflection of the opinions towards their culture

Or perhaps, just simply
we can't get to know how others see us

---

Some Japanese person said to me;

"While Japan has been falling economically for the past 30 years, culturally Japan is making a great success of 'brainwashing' people outside"

I found this opinion very funny,
yet very right

---

Even I sometimes get surprised
when coming across a non-Japanese person who has an interest, even a slight interest, in the culture of my country

Not to mention, those
who have never been outside Japan
who have never met any non-Japanese person

namely, the vast majority of the Japanese people