Cultural bias is the essence of the movie.

Rating: 4/10 (30 May 2005)

People debate whether the possibly "deep" portrayal of both main characters and the contrasting "superficial" and distorted view Japanese culture constitutes some type of cultural bias or even racism. I can not see why this is a question, as this film is heavily culturally biased. In essence, that is how this film works, but cultural bias is not the focus of this movie. To blame this movie of it's most important tool would be missing the point.
We are presented this movie through the eyes of the main characters Bob and Charlotte. Both are white American citizens who seem to share views on what one would like to achieve in life.
Their real problem is their inability to connect to other people on a larger scale. Their marriages suffer from their inability to connect to their spouses. Their own soul suffers from their inability to even connect to themselves. They lack interest in current affairs of other people who are different - and at present, Japanese people, which they perceive exactly as they are portrayed in this movie: loud and unsophisticated. So, Bob and Charlotte regard Japanese people in a loud and unsophisticated way, which is why they are portrayed that way. All of these clues show that Bob and Charlotte suffer from some human and cultural inability that spells out as "un-able".
The movie does not say that all Japanese people behave superficial, loud and grotesque, and the movie does not say that all Americans are culturally unable - all the movie says is that Bob and Charlotte are two Americans in Tokyo, and they have a lot of problems.
Yet, these two un-able people connect through being as unevolved as they are, because through their clumsiness, similar problems occur to them, similar life experiences form, and that is how they find out that they "share" things. They don't set out to learn Japanese. They don't attempt to meet Japanese people who are normal (instead of being superficially loud and grotesque). They don't do anything to leave the beaten path of their white American average culture. And see what missing out on all this does to them! One can not describe their personal situation as 'suffering', as they are not truly 'suffering'. They live in a 'self-made hell', or rather, a hell that comes about by not doing anything oneself. Both Bob and Charlotte suffer from a high degree of lethargy; no wonder, cynicism and an enhanced longing for passive understanding are consequences. They find that in sharing all of this, they "belong" together and since they lack any positive common definition of fun, they go through "deep" moments.
Both Bob and Charlotte would lose their common ground if they went ahead to be more active. Charlotte could start playing a more active role in her husband's life. Bob could hang out with some Japanese friends on the weekend, maybe invite them to the USA for a hiking trip later. Both could start trying out whatever there is in Tokyo to do - and it is hard to imagine that such could not fill at least two movies. But by doing that, they would find out differences between each other, and they would have to bridge interpersonal gaps they already had problems to bridge with other people beforehand.
It does not surprise that legions of people that share such difficulties think that this is a great, and "deep" movie. Many Americans and Europeans define themselves as "not this" and "not that", but negative cultural definitions never bring about much common ground, and that can truly be felt.
Now, this is 2005, and life should have much more to offer than sharing cultural inabilities. Bob and Charlotte should be investigating museums, shows, food, culture, people, language, scenery, agriculture - whatever. Yet they don't do that.
Indirectly - without direct translation, if you remember the title - we perceive in this movie that ultimately, the beauty of this piece lies in the weight that this "belonging together" ends up being attributed: it is only a weak tie that forms between the two protagonists. They obviously define themselves - and each other - over what they can not do, and that does not suffice to make them, or for that part anyone else, a couple that can face challenges and venture out into the unknown of different cultures. Too weak to handle life, too weak to go together, drowning in passivism, unable for anything else but distorted cartoonish views on other cultures. Any other director would have had Bob and Charlotte have a most dirty affair with each other - but not so Ms. Coppola. And that is the true beauty of this movie.