I ain't no racist or nuttin'... BUUUUUT HOW COME THOZE JAPANESE FOLK have a great ability to understand mindfulness, it seems to be ingrained much deeper into the Eastern psyche -- which makes sense as the dichotomy between the "old" and "new" Japan is still visible society today; personally, I think Kurosawa demonstrates this wonderfully in films such as Rashomon and, the famous, Seven Samurai. Now, obviously I cannot speak for all of Asiatic society as it varies considerably regionally let alone on a national/Continental scale, but I think it is wise to observe that works such as Lao Tzu's Tao de Ching, Buddha's Dhammapada, and even the modern day guru's such as George Gurdjieff and Osho all seem connected, not by what they preach per se, but by an aura; or feeling of understanding that has roots much deeper in existence than many of the Western scientific alternatives. And after using meditation as a tool in my daily life, I can now completely empathize with the dilemma facing Japanese society today: the world of material is in a constant state of improvement, there is hardly any time to remain still; the mind is almost conditioned to see this as a type of inertia -- motivation needs reason and when you're, quite literally, sitting doing nothing but watching the breath, one mind becomes mentally drained as it uses most of its energy trying to reinvigorate you into activity. That said, meditation has been proven to greatly benefit your overall well-being and practice in disciplines such as Zen can begin opening doors toward "living in the moment", which isn't really an option in a society geared toward continuous innovation. Yes, a rock in a hard place indeed.