Mordecai Hunter comments

I wrote about this a while back when we had people saying all the marines were criminals: something like 0.03% of the population of Marines commit crimes in any given year, a few hundred at worst. Over 99% of them obey the law. No one cares about that.

Except Nakai didn't flash anyone. Drunk and disorderly was the charge IIRC.

Cultural conventions here value traits that equate to shyness almost anywhere else. Therefore to follow social conventions here, one must act in a "shy" manner. Seeing as you have stated that shy is the opposite of outgoing, that proves my point. I should amend my statement to Japanese as a CULTURE is shy.

The Japanese are unique, btw. The problem comes when people equate "unique" with "better or worse than".

Japanese ARE shy. Take a look at the mating ritual here and you'll see; It's taboo to speak to someone outside of your friend circle, and flirting with a girl/guy is asking for trouble, as "nanpa" is frowned upon. There's the belief that if you respond favorably to a guy flirting with you, that you must be "easy". Therefore even if she/he wanted to give you his/her number, they'd have to say no to save face. Your only chance is to be a co-worker or a friend of a friend and get them to introduce you properly. Why do you think so many people find their mates at work or school?