I agree with everyone else that extreme Japanophilia can be pretty annoying.

However, manga is only the latest in a long line of interests that have caused Westerners to have silly ideas about Japan. I know plenty of people my parents' age (60-70) who are crazy about Japan because of their interest in ukiyo-e or the tea ceremony or some other aspect of traditional culture. They usually go on and on about Japanese people all being ultra humble and reserved and Japanese aesthetics being 100% about wabi sabi throughout all of Japanese history. (As a fan of Heian period things and an ex-Osaka resident, I beg to differ.) I know visual kei fans who are the worst Japanophiles out there but who look down on manga fans as "crazy otaku".

Japan has been a favorite target of ridiculous orientalism for years. Otakuism is just the most recent expression of that.

The aspect of Japanophilia that particularly bothers me is the delusion a lot of people I know have that Japan is some kind of gay paradise. It may not be the most oppressive country ever, but it's no picnic for someone who self-identifies as gay. (There are plenty of married guys in Japan who have sex with men on the side and don't identify as gay. I'm not talking about them.)

The gropers and the racism and the sexism and all that other stuff are certainly present, but most reporting on them is far too sensationalist to give you an accurate picture of what Japan is actually like.

Quote from Crenshinibon

it's actually that the system hasn't really existed since the economic bubble burst around '96, hence, everyone's trying to figure out what to do as the societal norms of Japanese business (life-long employment, etc.) are slowly disintegrating.

You are so right about that! The view people have of Japan (based on manga or bad reporting outside of Japan or movies or whatever) is usually like 10-20 years out of date at any given point in time (on top of probably being kind of inaccurate in the first place).

More i than choku