The Japanese, School Education, and Creativity

The differences between the American system of school education and that of Japan fascinate me. Not only because of the differences in how they are structured, also because of the differences in 'intellectual output' they produce as a result. As a foreigner living here in Japan, we have all heard Japanese people mention that they struggle with efforts of creative thinking. I think we have all heard the stories of how the new CEO of Sony (and a few other prominent Japanese companies) have in recent years, become foreigners, and how this was due to a lack of confidence in the current administration to successfully lead these companies in 'new directions'. Although, as with any social issue, I'm sure this 'lack of creativity', comes about as a function of a multitude of different factors, I personally believe that it stems mostly from the educational system that's in place, and it's emphasis on multiple choice answers. This is NOT to say that in the west we don't use our fair share of multiple choice too, (in particular for any and all forms of standardized testing), but only that there are also allowances for creative thinking and expression, and this is what I think is missing from the Japanese system.
Oftentimes in life, we are faced with multiple choices, but that doesn't however mean that those choices are the only ones available. When faced with a selection of A, B, and C, it is only the creative thinker who can imagine the D, E, or in some cases, even F. Is it these people who generally go on to do great things, and it is in this arena that we, as westerners shine. (One example of this being Einstein, who instead of choosing between multiple theories on the behavior of light, simply said that the whole system of observation was wrong to begin with).
As an English teacher, I also think that this particular issue is in part why Japanese students tend to have a harder time producing in English than many of their other Asian counterparts. Conversation, being the fluid and dynamic process that it is, requires a certain ability to think on one's feet, and improvise. The idea of 'going with the flow' may not particularly come naturally when one is raised in an environment of constant 'multiple choice solutions'.
To be sure however, as aforementioned there are other factors that come into play. Given the fact that the Japanese word for 'different' is also generally used to be 'wrong', and the fact that society revolves around rules of thumb such as “The nail that sticks out is the one that gets hammered into the wall”, one can assume that any situation requiring free and autonomous thought wouldn't be a comfortable one. Particularly when they are dealing with a foreigner- someone else who's thinking is a complete and total unknown. The subsequent shyness that would result can be, (and as many other English teachers will tell you, is) debilitating. On another note, the lack of the latter cultural element-shyness- may explain why Korean students seem to do a little bit better with creative production than their Japanese counterparts. (Particularly given the fact that the school systems are set up in a virtually identical matter).
At the same time however, despite all these factors, all one ever needs to see is a Japanese variety show, improv comedy act, or break dancing competition to know that they're fully capable of being every bit as creative as we individualistic-minded westerners are. Perhaps their creativity simply stems from group efforts, or perhaps, it could be that they're simply not creative around us.