Those nations also have a lot to teach the West about social cohesion, humility, patience, attention to detail and respect for, but not blind adherence to, tradition.
Hold up.
Comparing Europe and Japan on "social cohesion" or "humility" is apples and oranges.
Considering the fact that over 98% of Japanese people are ethnically Japanese, it doesn't surprise me that you don't hear about "social friction" in Japan, so it would be wrong to compare the two on issues like "social cohesion" when Europe is much more diverse both racially and religiously, and social friction is an unfortunate part of living in a diverse society.
All societies have their issues, and actually, race is a huge issue in Japan, and racism is quite prevalent there. Perhaps, in part, due to their strict immigration and almost homogeneous racial makeup that makes it quite common for there to be insecurities about "outsiders". I spoke to a person who went on a student exchange there, he loves Japan (still does) and he learned the language there, but he said being the only blond-haired person meant he got some pretty evil stares.
Read:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethnic_issues_in_JapanA handful of apartments, motels, night clubs, brothels, sex parlours and public baths in Japan have put up signs stating that foreigners are not allowed, or that they must be accompanied by a Japanese person to enter. However, these signs are very rare and many Japanese claim that the prohibitions are due to perceived social incompatibility—for example, foreigners may not understand proper bathhouse etiquette—and not racism
In housing there is also discrimination based on ethnicity. In a 2006 survey by the Information Center for Foreigners in Japan, 94% of foreign residents reported being refused by at least one real estate agent.
In fact, there were a substantial number of lawsuits regarding discrimination against foreigners. For example, in 2005, a Korean woman who attempted to rent a room was refused because she was not a Japanese citizen. She filed a discrimination lawsuit, and she won in Japanese court
In 2005, a United Nations special rapporteur on racism and xenophobia expressed concerns about "deep and profound" racism in Japan and insufficient government recognition of the problem.
Doudou Diène (Special Rapporteur of the UN Commission on Human Rights) concluded after an investigation and nine-day tour of Japan that racial discrimination and xenophobia in Japan primarily affects three groups: national minorities, descendants of former Japanese colonies and foreigners from other Asian countries.
So, whilst I think Japan is a Western nation in its ideas and values, to pretend that it somehow does not have the same problems that Europe has is a far-stretch. In fact, I would say that Europe has done more than Japan to tackle the issue of assimilating millions of people from across the world into their societies.
Whilst we should acknowledge that there is social friction in European countries, European countries are also some of the most diverse both racially, religiously and otherwise so you would be foolish not to expect a degree of friction, and I would argue that if Tokyo had the same diversity as London or Paris, with hundreds of thousands of people from Europe, Africa, the Middle East, Australia... with different religions, different values and whatnot, you would have the exact same issues in Tokyo as we have in London.
Billy, I've used "Western values" because secularism, democracy and free speech were the fruits of the enlightenment in Europe... Universalism works too, however.
Topic: 6 May 2011, Oxford Union Debate on multiculturalism, Oxford