Rape of Nanking, anyone? Plus the Japanese are unrepentent while the US and Germans have shown apology for their previous evil-ie their imperialist revanchism over Dokdo. Your moral equivalence of the US and Japan is disgusting.
I don’t think the US (or Canada for that matter) has done anything (at least in the last 100 years) as, um, unfortunate as the rape of Nanking, which is controversial to this day in Japan and there is denial in some quarters that it ever happened.
That said, I have a deep respect for the Japanese people, based on the post-war history of that country, and of the Japanese individuals that I know personally and/or work with.
ETA: whoops, I see Qin Shi Huangdi beat me to the punch.
A friend of mine [who is currently living about 300 miles away from the disaster area] explained why- From the time they are in kindergarden, they are assigned little ‘tasks’ as part of school, like wiping the blackboard, putting away art supplies, hall monitor, lunchroom monitor, in small groups. Mainly to teach them responsibility and working together. This basically makes sure that when there are problems, they are able to work together in small groups on assigned projects, and they are used to working with each other. When your training tells you to help others it kicks in during disasters.
They aren’t all saints, and there are always going to be people that are just assholes about things, but in general it works.
Teachers and staff. (Although in third grade the students did clean the blackboards as a reward - for some reason everyone wanted the privilege. And the 6-7th graders did hall monitor duty.)
When I first started school in Korea I was horrified to learn that the students were expected to sweep and mop the floors themselves. In American schools you have janitors for that.