Geishas and samurais, karate and bonsai -no country in Asia has had a comparable influence on Western culture and global developments as Japan. It is a country full of beauty, exoticism - and contrasts. Dazzling mega-metropolises like Tokyo, Osaka or Yokohama on the one hand, rugged volcanoes, glittering mountain lakes and remote temples on the other. There is no question that Japan exerts a strong fascination on most people. This is also due to the people, for example those bustling suit and costume wearers who squeeze through the subways of the cities early in the morning and in the evening by the millions and who are willing to give up a large part of their annual vacation for the good of the company. Or even the ordinary employees, such as those gardeners in the many public gardens and parks who spend hours crouching with stoic calm, using small scissors to cut a tree into the right shape, leaf by leaf, branch by branch. For the Japanese love perfection, their goal is to bring structure to chaos. This brings disadvantages. A latent austerity pervades society, for whom harmony and politeness are paramount and where every word is weighed in the balance so as not to snub the other person. But anyone who flouts the many unwritten rules will quickly feel the authority of society. "You hit a nail that sticks out," says a well-known Japanese proverb. Harmony here also stands for conformity, and any deviation from the norm runs the risk of disrupting it. Foreigners are allowed, even expected, to make various missteps. Because - this is also a consensus in society - only a Japanese person can really understand the Japanese.