Does the nail that sticks out the most get hit the hardest?

Question:

Are there such things as individuals?

Answer:

the nail that sticks up gets hammered down - very true in Japan. if you speak up, you will get hammered down. there is a famous poem written hundreds of years ago which goes like: though I am sick and tired of the society, I cannot fly away because I am not a bird.

if you are a foreigner, you will be excused because you are not and will never and ever be "in" the society.