You're lucky to have encountered such thoughtful people. Not everyone is like that. I'm not sure what your Japanese level is, but exact examples of what I wrote are a search of "町内会ルール トラブル" etc away.

Who accused Japanese of being cowards? People here are raised to avoid conflict and let things go. It's not cowardly, it's a useful way of keeping a community together. Unfortunately, it also a tool for めんどくさい人 to get their own way.