What I read elsewhere says this is vastly over-stated, employment law in Japan enshrines the right to quit with notice, and the culture of unwillingness to perf

What I read elsewhere says this is vastly over-stated, employment law in Japan enshrines the right to quit with notice, and the culture of unwillingness to perform the act is probably dying out. "can't" meaning "are often unwilling to, because of perceived social norms" It's probably a corollary of "lost in translation" that no claim about Japanese culture stands the test of asking 'but is this really true, normal, widespread'. Having said that, I do think the "judge social status relativity from the depth of the bow, modulated through age and context of bowing being needed" is possibly true. And there is a pan-asian reluctance to be made to say "NO" which lingers depending on the situation. Confucianistic-like unwillingness to contradict or confront the senior is also widespread, which might play to this: your manager will often be older than you.