Out on the straight freeways of higher enlightenment, many an astute Japan watcher has tied the cautious, noncommittal qualities of Japanese personality to various cultural and linguistic features, such as tightknit group society and ambiguous language structure.
Yet I think there may be a far more physical reason behind traditional Japanese elusiveness. That being .EE the nation's squiggly, wriggly roadways.
For in this country there is no easy answer to the direct question of how to get from here to there. Such inquiries usually demand that the listener pause, ponder .EE and then choose from only two workable options:
They can either smile wryly and wag their head. Or they can make something up.