Back in 2005, I wrote:

it is hard to compare any aspect of Japanese culture in relation to Western culture. For instance you can not say that Japanese are more or less polite than Americans, because that comparison implies there is an agreed upon universal standard of politeness, which there is not. Some Japanese manners strike Americans as overly polite, others as down right rude.

 This video is a perfect example of that phenomenon.  Despite the myth that Japanese are very polite, and Americans are very rude, there are many examples of Japanese culture that we Americans find rude.



My two cents (as someone who lived in Japan for 8 years)--it's all true.
 (Although I personally don't have any problem with old men at parks--I think it's innocent enough--it is true that they are there.)