The real cultural hurdle isn't the indirectness in Japan, it's the burdening sense of obligation Japanese people who are connected socially feel to one another.

The real cultural hurdle isn't the indirectness in Japan, it's the burdening sense of obligation Japanese people who are connected socially feel to one another. Facebook already feels like a part time job to me, but transplant an urban Japanese's persons relationships as well as their loose ties onto a social networking site...that would be a lot of work for them to maintain that sense of equilibrium in all those relationships. But if they do try, they should totally get Joi Ito's help.