A friend I see for coffee most mornings, Liu, was in Japan in the 1970’s when I was also there.
Liu is gay and dated many Americans when he lived there and went to University.
The thing Liu remembers most is that the Americans working in Japan then, were well educated, ambitious and highly competent.
There are two reasons this particular group of Americans were there at that time. Japan was a new frontier of intellectual, business and artistic ferment. The innovative class of young Americans had to go their to see for themselves. That is one reason I was there. Everyone Liu knew came back to become successful and often prosperous.
That matches my experience.
The second reason is that curiosity and adventure are characteristics of the meritocratic elite in our society. These are the kind of people who learn by experience and then make major contributions to our society.
The other Americans there were the hippies. Many many. Many of them came back to be great successes having brought Japanese uniqueness back with them ranging from Zen and tofu to computer games and esthetics.
Japan in the 1970's: a magnet for the meritocratic.