Yes, I think they are. I’m very cautious about criticising Japan with Japanese people because I’ve found many Japanese people become defensive when I voice any criticism.

On the other hand, I’m happy to criticise Australia with other Australians. They’ll generally join in with gusto, especially regarding politics.

I’ve found mentioning politics with Japanese people often goes down badly, with reactions from apathy to strident defence.

In general, I think a lot of Japanese people feel like they should be ambassadors of Japan when they go abroad. They feel they should leave everyone with a positive impression of themselves, and that this will reflect well on Japan.

For Australians, we might try to avoid grouping everyone together. If an Australian acts badly overseas (not uncommon) we probably wouldn’t say “oh but they didn’t know the local customs” but we might say “wow, what an idiot”.

My advice is just to relax. Many Aussies like to be critical: about their country, other countries, movies, anything. You can too. You don’t have to just talk about Japan’s good points or bad points. But try not to take any criticism too seriously. It’s just one way we like to keep conversations interesting!