@hikufalafel sadly thats really how it is, another example of how things are over there is gyaru culture, uniqueness is deemed as bad, so women that wanted to rebel againts this started deviating from the rule of how a proper girl should be, the classic ''Yamato Nadeshiko'' look or perfect japanese woman is a slim humble woman with long black hair and pale skin, that puts her husband needs above everything, so the gyaru look went the other way, tanned skin, blond hair, thick make up, flashyness, etc. Loli culture also was a way to break up form the standart.
Note: this also is the reason that everyone treats gyarus as sluts without knowing them, since they believe them to be ''wild'', coz in their minds anyone that goes against the rule can do pretty much anything without a care.
tl;dr: yep japan has some serious problems with uniqueness in general, and anyone thats goes against the flow is deemed as bad