----------
Everyone does equally. There aren’t two sides divided on what to display and what no to.
----------
That is the main reason why Japan is probably the only country on this planet that can pass and enforce a blanket civilian gun ban and bans of other weapons without even a peep, and still have almost no crime or political strife at all. This model is a dream for ultra-nationalists of various ethnicities the world over and in the short term, it provides for a single-minded, obedient, and powerful civilization. However, in the long term, this kind of despotism will lead to stagnancy. Creativity, innovation, and individual self determination is discouraged in such a society, and eventually, you will end up with a literal populace of robots who have no other goals in life except commute, work long grueling hours, commute, sleep, and rinse and repeat. Not because they are satisfied with their living situation but because the culture does not encourage individual will. Currently, Japan is suffering from a critical shortage of marriages and childbirths, and their death rate has surpassed their birth rates. Suicide has become the number 1 killer of young people, and the ugly specter of serious mental illness lurks just beneath the facade of orderly and routine daily life. An estimated 600,000 to 3 million young people, mostly males, are believed to be living as recluses in filthy homes devoid of sanitation or basic upkeep, living entirely on canned goods, video games, and Internet porn. It had gotten so bad that the Japanese government had created nationwide programs using young and attractive therapists known as 'sisters/girlfriends for hire' to try to coax these men out of their dark worlds. After 10 years of this experiment, current reports are still grim. The numbers have only risen, not diminished. Alcoholism is another factor that is beginning to take a crippling toll on it's workforce. One of my friends from Arfcom who had taken a trip to Japan not too long ago came back and told of how he had witnessed sidewalks, park benches, and mass transit mezzanines completely occupied by businessmen and white collar workers still in their suits at midnight, stone drunk and passed out. Nihilism seems to be the dominating mindset amongst many over there now. No outlook for the future and no hope in life except grinding the hours away in a box cubicle or an overcrowded Metro train. The coverage of Japan's current social brush fire, which has been burning out of control for a while, already spans volumes of encyclopedia sized texts.
Awesome photos you got there though, and hope you enjoy your trip. There are still museums with a lot of cool samurai and martial arts stuff and I believe the 'ninja expositions' are still being held almost everywhere. If you got a young'un who wants to throw shurikens, climb trees and become a lethal shadow warrior of old for a day, those events are awesome, low priced and unlimited fun.
