About "Interviews" Part 1

Japanese magazines often feature interviews. While I generally skim through foreign magazines like Rolling Stone, The New Yorker, Esquire, and Life, I don't recall seeing many interviews in those magazines. There might have been one or two, but they didn't leave much of an impression, so it's as if they didn't exist. So why is it that interviews are not widely used in America, while they have become explosively popular in Japan? This is purely my speculation, but perhaps the reason interviews are not a genre in America is that Americans are more critical when it comes to dialogue. Even if they don't fully understand what the other person is saying, they don't simply say, "Yeah, I kind of get it," without really responding. Instead, they dig deeper and say, "I would appreciate it if you could explain more precisely what you mean, with specific examples." This would lead to a lengthy conversation that wouldn't fit within the pages of a magazine. In that sense, Japanese people are clever; when the casual conversation reaches its end, they often conclude by saying, "Well, should we give some sort of conclusion around here?" and the response would be, "Yes, I suppose so." It's truly a harmonious national characteristic. Another Japanese characteristic is the use of red ink corrections in interview proofs. In other words, after the conversation, both parties would make corrections to their own parts, and then the other person would adjust their lines accordingly. This coordination can be quite challenging, with phrases like, "Oh, you go ahead first," and "Is that so? Well then..." But when you think about it, it's something so delicate and complicated that Americans wouldn't be able to do it. Japanese products are not limited to Toyota and Panasonic.