This is a pretty informative link to an online Japanese paper that devotes an entire section to language and culture differences in the U.S. and Japan

A recent article, Cultural Conundrums / Careful About Care, deals with expressions ending in "sama", which denotes an emphasis on a word or implies an honorific. The author talks about the difficulty in going from Japanese to American culture and back, and trying to provide the equivalent expression along the way.

On a trivial note, a funny news item has appeared recently where the Australian Tourist Industry made an obvious faux pas when trying to export the idiomatic 'Where the bloody hell are you?' to Japan.

Tags: Japanese | Japan | culture