Japan loses for antibiotics use

I have been sharing my observations of things that Japan 'wins' and 'loses' for, as I spend an extended period of time outside of Japan. This extended period of time abroad has been a real eye opener. Having recently had a bad respiratory infection, one of my suspicions about Japanese medical practises has been confirmed.

I have long felt, after 20 years in Japan, that doctors in Japan over prescribe antibiotics. Almost every time I go to the Doctor in Japan, either for myself or for my children, they will prescribe antibiotics. I have tried many doctors over the years, and they are all the same. When I had my tooth issue for two years (root canal gone wrong), every time the dentist worked on the tooth he would prescribe an antibiotic. I said to him once, 'is it alright that I am taking antibiotics so often'. Despite being a very stoic man, he looked at me like I had two heads. 

For the current respiratory infection I have, a doctor in Europe would not prescribe an antibiotic until I had the infection seven days. I talked to family and friends and asked them their experiences with antibiotics. The general consensus is you have to be sick at least a week before they will even think of prescribing an antibiotic and sometimes even then you have to beg for one!

It turns out the infection I have is bacterial, which more often than not does need an antibiotic to clear. My respiratory infection ended up being quite nasty as, in the end, it was day ten before I started the first antibiotic and the first antibiotic didn't work. However, despite that, I much prefer the European approach and would really like to see doctors in Japan being more cautious about when and why they give out antibiotics. 

Do you think doctors in Japan give out antibiotics too often? What about in your home country?