I've heard this argument often before, but I just don't see a lack of creativity in Japanese culture. After all, their culture has come up with Anime, and having seen Akira, Dragonball Z, and some other examples, I find them wildly imaginative. Take also for example the games available for the PS2 in Japan, as well as all the little electronic gadgets they play with. Having 3 Asian and 5 Caucasian students of my own of similar age, I can't tell a difference in imagination at all. However, all 3 of my Asians prepare well for lessons, while only 3 of my Caucasians do.
Of course, for any pianist, you have to have both a solid work ethic (which tends to breed technical excellence) and imagination. People with great technique and no imagination tend to get weeded out in the college years - often switching majors going to grad school, or landing completely unrelated jobs. People with great imagination and bad technique get weeded out much earlier, simply because it's hard to detect imagination in someone's playing when they can't even hit the right notes at the right time. I also think that bad imagination/good technique players tend to stick with lessons longer than bad technique/good imagination players.
Of course a lot of the problem lies in parenting styles, and I'm not prepared to say that one is better than the other. Part of the problem, however, lies in some of the teaching. Too many teachers choose one over the other. They don't know how to develop both.
Most of these teachers don't realize it, though. Some teachers think that simply assigning pages out of a "technique" book will help their student's technique. They think being in book 4 of some technique series means a student has good technique. Not true. Others think that having their students compose their own piece, invent stories, and draw pictures will help foster creativity. Wrong again. Technical development is a constant process of learning how to move. It requires that a teacher KNOW what good technique is. Unfortunately, far too many teachers don't even have a strong enough technique to handle Chopin etudes or Beethoven sonatas other than Op. 49 and 14. I'm of the opinion that even teachers of elementary students should have high technical facility.
It goes the other way, too. Imaginative playing means so many different things - quality of sound, degree and manner of phrasing, intensity of articulation, command over tempo. Yet too many teachers teachin phrasing in one way, decide on articulation and tempo based on the markings in the score alone, and don't really work on tone quality with their students.
A case in point: voicing. Why don't teachers teach voicing? I have had SO many transfer and camp students over the years who were very capable of voicing chords in their pieces, yet I can't recall any of them ever knowing what voicing was or having worked on it with their teacher. Yet voicing is one of the most important elements of having a good sound. Probably THE most important. And it's not even hard to teach, I have a grand total of about 5 things I do with students to work on voicing, and it works with students at just about any level.
Hmm...this rant is getting rather long.

Sorry about that, I'll shut up now.

J