It's funny, but so far, I only had this translation problem in English-German translations. With Japanese-German, which has always been far more difficult for me, I could just keep going.

I actually googled the writer and unless there are two people with his name, he's studied English and economics for a teaching degree. I think the article could even have been interesting if it had been critical regarding the fact that these stereotypes are not all there is to it. And a good steampunk novel set in Japan would probably acknowledge that.