Even Greener Pastures

 Japanese words originally are related to Chinese and the word of freedom didn't exist until 1862. It was imported and translated into Japanese. It has a positive meaning. Before the positive word, freedom, people in the old time seemed to use another word to mean "being selfish" as freedom.
Freedom, liberty, right, these words are just 100- 150 years old in Japan. All Japanese know the meaning of them, but they didn't feel they were things to cherish and keep an important philosophy and idea. Because we didn't fight to acquire them, unlike France. We ourselves didn't change the country to the democratic. Those ideas were given and taught by the westerners.
Of course, we discuss and fight for that, for example, to establish women's right or freedom. Then we always have to quote Europe and US way to prove how the women's right is admitted by the laws. Japanese can't do anything without good examples from westerners. We are behind as a civilized country from the advanced world, but interestingly Japan is known to the world as one of the safest countries. The freedom country, the US is known as a dangerous society where citizens have rights to hold the guns to protect themselves. It is a sad contradictory.