What impressed you most in Japan?

When I went in the office yesterday morning there sat an unfamiliar guy, apparently Caucasian, three desks away from mine. "Good morning （おはよござぁいむす.)" he darted a cheerful greeting toward me from behind in that intonation particular to Westerners, a moment after I passed him. So started this conversation.
He's from California, Santa Barbara, 27 years old. He has been in Japan for 2 months, long enough, according to him, to know how different Japan is from his country. He knew a lot of things actually before coming out here, but still they surprised him all the same.Among those things, he liked several sort of Japanese customs. They are small things but somehow he was impressed.
"When you let a car in in front of your car, the driver turns on his four-way lights on the back and let them blink a few times to show his thanks to you."
First he saw a car do it, when he was in a taxi, he couldn't figure out the meaning. But after a couple of times of such experience, he got what it means. "This speaks well for Japanese people's mentality to consider others. I like Japanese people even more for this."
This manner is rather new. I told him. Perhaps someone started it and it spread to plenty of drivers without words. In fact I have never asked anyone why drivers are flashing the lights to the driver who gives way, but I immediately got the unspoken message and I started following the manner.
"That's exactly what I like. American people also like this kind of idea.... only in the movie. They never do themselves." he said.
Well, like people who travel to an exotic country for the first time, he is glamorizing the Japanese a bit, I thought. Things are not so much different between the two countries. But I'd rather let him believe in what he wants to believe. It might be better for the relationship between the two countries^^.