Japan appears to be kalyptic because they dont have an army {they rely on the US} , they show very little interest in world affairs . There is tremendous amount of competition in education and jobs.
On the other hand, its hard to call the Japanese culture as very individualist. Everyone in the companies works together. There is high amount of teamwork . thats the reason they were so succesful in dominating the world in Electronics.
Is there any racism in Japan ? Not in Hong Kong where you will find people from several backgrounds working together without conflict. If we compare this to Africa, the people there are highly individualistic. Everyone has high needs and hence there is so much conflict. Hardly any sign of work-culture. Lots of countries in Africa gained independence recently. Lots of indians and pakistanis got kicked out of Uganda because too many Africans felt that these guys were controlling the economy that should be controlled by the natives. To form countries/governments you need to have at least some form of co-operation and less individualism. Africa is slowly moving in the regal direction. Fewer and fewer americans are getting interested in national politics. They are becoming too busy earning their daily bread. If we put all this together it seems to me the whole world is getting less individualistic. | 
What do you think of Africa ? new - vivek - 2002-06-20
What do you think of Africa ? new - vivek - 2002-07-18