[Krista Yabe]

In my opinion, it is to show everyone that you were there and you enjoyed yourself. I dont think it is a focus on ‘self’. I also dont think this is a Japanese trait at all. It is really personal preference. I know lots of people of different nationalities who always take pictures that include themselves when on holiday. In fact, I am originally from Ohio, and I cant think of anyone I knew there who wasnt shocked that I didnt take pictures of myself while on vacation.

User Detail :  

Name : Krista Yabe, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 23, City : Nagoya, State : NA, Country : Japan, Occupation : Housewife, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Krista Yabe]

There was actually a program about this on TV in Japan a while ago. They compared people and their living environments. People who tend to live in huge wide open spaces had MUCH better eyesight than those who lived in small spaces. In other words, people who live in the country, with large open spaces that they look at every day had much better eyesight than people who lived in cities. Anyone who lives in a crowded city has a much higher chance of needing glasses than someone who lives in the country. It has nothing to do with race. I think the stereotype comes into play because more Asians tend to live in big cities without a lot of space than their counterparts of other races. Eyes are like muscles. If you are accustomed to only looking at things close to you, then your eyes will have a lot of trouble focusing on something in the distance. Reading and studying alone will not cause your eyesight to deteriorate. Not using your eyes for anything other than reading and studying will.

User Detail :  

Name : Krista Yabe, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 23, City : Nagoya, State : NA, Country : Japan, Occupation : Housewife, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

[Krista Yabe]

In my opinion, language plays a greater factor than anything else. In most cases, Japanese who seek penpals are looking for English practice with native speakers. Although their English may look wonderful in the first few messages it doesn`t really mean that they are competent speakers/readers. In my experience, most messages from English speakers are read with dictionary in hand – usually taking about an hour to comprehend. Then comes writing a reply. Even if the comprehension level is high, I don`t know many Japanese people who have enough confidence in their English to actually write off a reply without double checking every word. No one wants to make mistakes. All in all, it usually ends up taking a huge amount of time and effort to keep replying. It`s easier just to stop writing than to explain the reasons.

User Detail :  

Name : Krista Yabe, Gender : F, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 23, City : Nagoya, State : NA, Country : Japan, Occupation : Housewife, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

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