“We are barbarians…”

Talking with Nathalie, a friend from aikido, during a training this weekend, she told me about her Japanese experience. She spent a month there and that trip is her most memorable.
I’m currently reading a book about Japan and the Japanese people (an online review will appear soon) and I expressed my admiration for what I read on politeness, respect for others, the community and common property, courtesy and punctuality which are among the fundamentals of Japanese life.
Nathalie then told just these words: “You’ll see, by comparison, we are barbarians …”

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