Am not surprised Japanese society embraces self-censorship as well.
WOW, your language even has a word for this.
The whole Trump thing and how to deal with him is perhaps a bit of a role play.
Like our ex-Prime Minister and Secretary-General of NATO, Mark Rutte, is role-playing the slimy guy toward Trump, but as I mentioned, this is a role play. Mark's attitude is what Trump likes, so they stay in conversation. At the same time, Mark is working on other plans. I wouldn't be surprised if more leaders in the world did something similar.