I'm stationed in Yokosuka, Japan, about 30 minutes south of Yokohama and 60 minutes south of Tokyo by train.
I've never been to a more quiet, civilized, honorable place in my life. A friend of mine got lost and tried to ask a local woman for directions, but she couldn't speak English. She called her daughter at home to come and physically help the guy find his way because she spoke some English. It's not unusual for someone to take you to where you're trying to go. Or to spend a large quantity of time to genuinely try to understand you. Customers are like Gods in any customer service industry. No tips and yet the waiter service is the best in the world.
We had a bus driver calling all of his bus driver friends and actually starting his next scheduled run late (something that doesn't happen in Japanese public transport) in order to try to find a guy's wallet he left on a previous bus.
They don't expect you to speak Japanese. They can tell that you're a foreigner. If you can speak Japanese, they're really surprised. But that can turn bad. If you speak Japanese, suddenly they expect you to also act Japanese and following cultural norms becomes expected. In some ways it's better to play the "I'm just a foreigner that doesn't know anything about Japan" card.
A couple of drunk guys were yelling at each other on the train one day. You never hear that. Everyone else was just looking at the floor while me and the American musician sitting across from me were trying to look over to see what was going on. It's even frowned upon to be on your cell phone (voice-wise) On the train.
The culture difference is startling. Saving face, maintaining honor, apologizing when you commit a wrong and apologizing again when you see the person again is normal. Same for thank yous.
There's an entire language for every type of position someone is to you. Your boss warrants a different language than your mother in law...distal honorific compared to close honorific. While your good friend gets a different language than your equal coworker....direct and distal. While your child gets a different language than your subordinates at work....direct and distal, but tailored as someone speaking to someone below them. Like Sensei to Gakusei.
If a neighbor's dog was shitting in their yard, they would complain about it in closed doors but would never complain to the offending neighbor. That would upset the balance of the neighborhood. Sense of community, something that America used to have, exists in spades here.
I can see why someone from Japan would experience culture shock in any other country. Having anyone in a customer service position act disrespectful to the customer would be enough to be shocking to the Japanese.
