Last I knew, "crazy" wasn't a regional thing
Some things are cultural things. When the Japanese "latch onto" something, they don't stop, but will work VERY hard to improve it. This is why the cars and cameras are so good (nearly wiping out US car co.s and really giving the Germans a run). Some swords are considered national treasures.
I recently discovered Japanese ratchets and sockets to feed my car hobby - as good or better than any other brand in any country.
Then there is a long line of companies at various price points: Accuphase, yamaha, Sony, etc.
Plus... the food. They are smaller than france but have 3x the number of eateries listed in the French Guide Michelin (tho what I know of their cuisine seems less diverse than all the regions of France put together).
These guys are more hardcore than most of us here lol.
Everyone has rooms filled with records and equipment but why never any room treatment?
I worked as a "Assembler" for years in a manufacturing setting. We took bare trucks with flanges showing and made water well and oil drilling rigs out of them. We all went through a lot of metal working tools. The bottom line after we where done after years is that Snap-On and Mac where the toughest. I tried the Japanese and French tools but at the end of years of doing it the USA and Canadian tools where the toughest and the rebuildable ones. I had tools that worked nicer and where more snazzy and cute but the American stuff was the best.
I was doing this in the 2004+ range of time. I went through Jet tools like nothing and the high end domestic hardware stuff was lamely chrome plated garbage. I had some SK Fathom France stuff that was pretty sweet for electrical assembly work but when it comes down to stainless steel metal work and T2-3-4 one needs the best of the best and Snap-On and Mac proved to be the longest lasting, most durable and rebuildable tools. It cost and they sometimes seems counterintuitive but they know.Marantz or Onkyo? Hard to go wrong.
That said, I used some Japanese tools back in to 70's/80's that were really, err, not good. Fast forward to today and it's a much different story.
I was doing this in the 2004+ range of time. I went through Jet tools like nothing and the high end domestic hardware stuff was lamely chrome plated garbage. I had some SK Fathom France stuff that was pretty sweet for electrical assembly work but when it comes down to stainless steel metal work and T2-3-4 one needs the best of the best and Snap-On and Mac proved to be the longest lasting, most durable and rebuildable tools. It cost and they sometimes seems counterintuitive but they know.
It's better than gambling, but good whiskey can be a lot cheaper.