Goat wrote:I heard it's plastic, not fantastic, expensive and socially utterly conservative.
It's far more organic and open here in northern Japan. The plastic you describe is more in the cities. It CAN be expensive, but if you get to know people, and look around and compare, it really isn't that bad. As far as the social thing....it's more formal than "conservative", and much more based on rank than I am used to. But, any counry wherein the people take you to karaoke to get blind drunk so that they can say what they think without fear of reprisal and sell porn and used panties in vending machines and invent "cosplay" merely for the chance to wear as little clothing as possible, (it seems sometimes)...I wouldn't say that they are too conservative. Just...reserved in the company of strangers.
Oh, and driving through Japan at night? Awesome.