I tried to offer my perspective to some extent in my reply to taurath above (or below). And as for me being a "gaijin"? That's not even relevant, because my ob

I tried to offer my perspective to some extent in my reply to taurath above (or below). And as for me being a "gaijin"? That's not even relevant, because my observations are based not on how people interact with me, but rather how my Japanese coworkers tend to communicate with each other on the numerous (almost exclusively open plan) work floors I have been part of for many years.