One thing you absolutely must give the Japanese credit for is service. This is a service oriented country, if ever there was one. Upon entering almost any store, you'll be greeted by a usually-hearty "Irasshaimase!" While you're walking around, employee after employee will quietly say it to you in passing. If it's a restaraunt, the whole crew (everybody) will shout it in a short chain reaction as word gets around that someone has entered. When you leave, they'll all shout, "Arigatou Gozaimasu (Thank you)!"
And they bow. Always. For everything. Everywhere. I don't just mean at a nice store or restaurant, I mean at the local fast-food burger joint and Hyaku-en Shop (basically a dollar store). When I buy a train ticket from the automated machine, a little animated girl politely bows to me when the transaction has finished. And it doesn't end there. The best so far: at the bank I was given a bunch of paperwork after opening my account. Several of them had a simplistic cartoon drawing on them that I couldn't figure out for a while, until I realized it was a person bowing to me (what threw me off was that I was looking at the top of someone's head, but I couldn't figure it out at first). Yes, I had a piece of paper bowing to me. Twice.
For a long time, I was vexed by the warm greetings when I entered stores. My problem was, I want to respond, especially when I go to check out at the grocery store or something and it is said to me in a close proximity and with a personal smile. In America, when someone greets me, I usually say hello or something back, and ask them how they are. But "irasshaimase" isn't really a hello, and it doesn't really translate to anything in English, to my knowledge. It's just said, and nothing is expected of you except maybe to smile and nod to them (ah, the old smile-and-nod). That was a bother to me at first because when greeted, I want to respond. However, I'm getting used to it, and it's not so bad.
All in all though, it's pretty cool how kind they are to customers here. At every level of service, you will be treated as an honored guest. Not in a ridiculous way though, somehow they manage to make it feel normal.