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He sighed. ''The Japanese are masters of indirect action. It's their instinctual way to proceed. If someone in Japan is unhappy with you, they never tell you to your face. They tell your friend, your associate, your boss. In such a way that the word gets back. The Japanese have all these ways of indirect communication. That's why they socialize so much, play so much golf, go drinking in karaoke bars. They need these extra channels of communication because they can't come out and say what's on their minds. It's tremendously inefficient, when you think about it. Wasteful of time and energy and money. But since they cannot confront-because confrontation is almost like death, it makes them sweat and panic-they have no other choice. Japan is the land of the end run. They never go up the middle.'' ''Yeah, but...'' ''So behavior that seems sneaky and cowardly to Americans is just standard operating procedure to Japanese. It doesn't mean anything special. They're just letting you know that powerful people are displeased.'' ''Letting me know? That I could end up in court over my daughter? My relationship with my kid could be ruined? My own reputation could be ruined?'' ''Well, yes. Those are normal penalties.''

Posted Feb 28, 1992 | Published in issue #107 Feb 28, 1992 | Order Article Reprints