People wonder why I am fascinated with the Japanese. Well, to be truthful it's mostly because of the sake and the sushi. But it's also because of their interesting approach to everyday things. It's the quiet polite demeanor. Maybe it's their ability to deal with things that would shock westerners into a coma. Things like violence in the media and video games. Things like "porn" and other expressions of sexuality. It's funny, because America has a higher rate of violent crimes, but less tolerance for talking about it. Don't get me wrong, I don't think that the Japanese are all perverts; I simply believe that they deal with social issues better.
Of course, this is only my perspective; forged primarily through the eyes of American-import Japanese pop culture. Ayumi Hamasaki and Buck Tick, animé and of course the Iron Chef. I've also read a fair bit about Japanese history, and have some americanized experience with the concept of bushido... What it really boils down to is that 90% of what I see is just regurgitated media tripe. So please take what I say with a grain of salt (or a splash of soy, if you will).
So why do I say that the Japanese deal with social issues better? To me, they seem more comfortable with their ability to behave. Americans don't know how to behave. We think we own the atmosphere around us (left over from the frontier days, maybe?). But Japan is a crowded place, and you have to be able to function in a group or you simply won't last. Again, this is just the way that I see it, but I think that they just don't concern themselves overmuch with the same social firewalls that we Americans put up at every opportunity. Americans know perfectly well that we are unable to behave properly, and thus we have a host of rules and laws to limit the ways in which we interact with each other. But why unduly regulate something when people are just going to find a way around it anyway? Heck, just make your social taboos more convenient and the freaks can act as they want without bothering anybody about it. IMHO, that's why you can buy girls' panties from vending machines in Japan. And prostitutes (or so I've heard from some cultural dimwit on TV... it may not be true.) Oh, and the worst of all: Pepsi... you can buy that from machines too.
In America, you can't even buy cigarettes from a vending machine, because it is bad for you and some children might smoke (and die from cancer) and then all of a sudden it's society's fault.
Anyway, I think it's the same reason that Japanese movies often have unhappy endings. It's an acceptance of what is real; the result of a centuries-old culture that has evolved out of its infancy. Don't ignore your problems; learn to live with them. Sometimes, the hero dies. Sometimes, there is no happy ending. Sometimes, when you're out late, you need to buy someone else's panties. But that sure as hell doesn't mean that life isn't grand!
[note: If life isn't grand, maybe you should check out my Inspirational Haiku for a Recessed Economy]