These days it's tough to be a journalist. This may sound like a whinge, but whinges may sometimes reflect a real situation. Oh, it's fine if you agree with the line of thought acceptable to governments, religious organizations or interest groups. But if you dare hold up a mirror to them, you may run foul of their charms.

I have always felt Japanese people to be very tolerant of the views of outsiders on their mores and national characteristics -- so tolerant, that at times they seem to encourage criticism from non-natives. Between the end of World War II and, roughly, the end of the last century, foreign opinion on things Japanese, whether in the press or on television, was given wide and generous coverage. In the 1980s, when I was often on TV talk shows, I was urged by my producers to "tell us what you really think of us." When I said that I loved living in Japan, and felt myself a part of it, one producer grimaced, "No, we want you to tell us how awful we are!"

I can think of no other country that would so admirably have tolerated foreigners speaking negatively in public about its national character. Would China or the United States, for instance, give prominence to non-Chinese or non-Americans on TV, welcoming their comments about how those countries must change their fundamental ways of thinking in order to be considered just and democratic. I don't know how to say "butt out, buddy" in Chinese, but I do know that Americans, on their part, generally believe they have little to learn from the outside world about the art of governance.