"My own progress was similar to that of many expatriates. Before I came to Japan, I had a tremendous respect for the Japanese, but I didn't really like them very much. Now, after five years in this aggravating, eccentric nation; having traveled it end to end; having worked and lived and played with the Japanese; having seen beyond the stereotypes; having come up against their obsessions and fears, their insecurities and their arrogance, their kindness and their foibles; having experienced firsthand all the many contradictions that are Japan, I found I did not respect the Japanese as much as I used to, but I liked them a whole lot more."
--from Hokkaido Highway Blues by Will Ferguson
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