[ViLaLuz]

This is so typically Japanese—to borrow from another culture and then excel.

[Palio di Siena]

Sort of the way American exceptionalism came into being.
Borrow the best from other countries.
Sad to say we are now borrowing the worst from other cultures.
What can possibly go wrong?

[null and void]

This is so typically Japanese—to borrow from another culture and then excel.

Yes.

Not merely make a shoddy copy, like the Chinese, but excel in all senses of the word.

[Steve_Seattle]

"This is so typically Japanese—to borrow from another culture and then excel."

They took Chan (sp?) Buddhism from China and turned it into Zen, with all of its refined - yet minimalist - aesthetics. When I was a kid, "Made in Japan" was a common joke, but while we were laughing, they were getting better, and even surpassing us in some ways.