Like a number of other FReepers, I have lived in Japan, studied Japanese culture ("chajin" means someone who studies tea ceremony), have been fascinated with Japan for over half a century--and it was my father, who fought the Japanese and hated them for decades, who moved us to Japan and learned to work alongside them defending America against communism. But I would never want to actually BE a Japanese. It is the greatest winning-the-lottery of my life to have been born American, and I have lived my life in gratitude and service to her, not as a soldier but as a professor who taught his students to love their country--which is why I would never be hired today, but as long as I keep getting online classes I will teach my love of America to my online students.
Great post, thank you.