[TKDietz]

To some extent, yes. In Europe drinking ages tend to be much lower than here (16 when I lived in Germany) and they aren't really enforced. You see young teens at bars there drinking. It's accepted, and really kind of encouraged. In fact they think it's healthy to get young people accustomed to drinking earlier. They think of themselves as being much better able to handle booze than Americans because of it too, because of the way they do things and the way they view drinking. That's not allowed here. Adults get in big trouble here for providing teens alcohol or for even letting them drink.

As for Japs drinking sake, so what.

[robertpaulsen]

Sounds like a cultural thing.