Like we've seen from the start of this thread a lot is going to depend on your definition of fluency. Yours seems to be "indistinguishable from a native speaker" which is as strict as the definition gets and certainly much higher than my own definition (smoothly communicating across the entire range of everyday situations).
I guess my own experience in education bubbles has been different than yours, but I tend not to spend a huge amount of time around foreigners. I don't know how to put it nicely, but Japan doesn't exactly attract the best crowd. I have my core circle which, because it includes a bunch of Japanese (and Brazilians, heh) who don't speak any English, tends to be pretty straight forward in talking about ability (with most people self-describing as somewhere between shit and very-shit). Things might be different in other crowds where the Japanese all speak some level of English and the foreigners actually believe said Japanese when they gush over even the most rudimentary of language skills--I don't really know.
Because we've got very different definitions of fluency, I feel no contradiction in saying that I am fluent in Japanese and, at the same time, that I suck at Japanese. Because although I meet the condition of speaking smoothly and confidently across pretty much any given topic, I'm still acutely aware of the gap between my own level and that of the native speakers around me.
I guess my own experience in education bubbles has been different than yours, but I tend not to spend a huge amount of time around foreigners. I don't know how to put it nicely, but Japan doesn't exactly attract the best crowd. I have my core circle which, because it includes a bunch of Japanese (and Brazilians, heh) who don't speak any English, tends to be pretty straight forward in talking about ability (with most people self-describing as somewhere between shit and very-shit). Things might be different in other crowds where the Japanese all speak some level of English and the foreigners actually believe said Japanese when they gush over even the most rudimentary of language skills--I don't really know.
Because we've got very different definitions of fluency, I feel no contradiction in saying that I am fluent in Japanese and, at the same time, that I suck at Japanese. Because although I meet the condition of speaking smoothly and confidently across pretty much any given topic, I'm still acutely aware of the gap between my own level and that of the native speakers around me.