The Japanese are a warm and welcoming people whose unique culture can be both frustrating and enlightening in its complexity and contradictions. It can take many years to get a good grasp of the Japanese language and psyche. Even then, some say it’s impossible for a non-Japanese to be fully embraced by this homogenous society as one of their own.
Read more: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/japan/travel-tips-and-articles/77764#ixzz3UAyJVX13