Diligence, Courteous, Honest and Cooperative: not us Japanese
In the most recent Asahi Shimbun survey, conducted in 2002, respondents were asked for the first time to select adjectives that describe the Japanese character. Characteristics considered by many Japanese to be traditional national traits that have fostered modernization since the Meiji Era (1868-1912) did not score highly.
Only 50 percent of respondents selected ``diligence,'' for example, as a term that aptly describes the Japanese today, and most respondents said the adjectives ``courteous,'' ``honest'' and ``cooperative'' do not apply