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The Japanese people are usually very prudent, even when they are convinced change is necessary.

I respect the Japanese and especially like their execution and communication styles. Unlike the Koreans, they will not hit you from behind.

The Japanese have a strong tendency to suppress their own feelings. That's the Japanese character. They kill their own emotions.

I often look ridiculous in Japan. There's really no way to eat in Japan, particularly kaiseki in a traditional ryokan, without offending the Japanese horribly. Every gesture, every movement is just so atrociously wrong, and the more I try, the more hilarious it is.

The Japanese seem to be a loyal audience.

The Japanese are great at inventing complex systems of rules, and not so great at explaining those rules to foreign visitors.

We don't put our emotions out there in Japan. I'm Japanese, but I love to be honest.

As far as I have been able to understand, the Japanese seem to keep things close to the vest. Friendly but remote and polite to the point of being invisible. It is in the music, literature, film and art that the Japanese really seem to express themselves.

It is impossible to remain indifferent to Japanese culture. It is a different civilisation where all you have learnt must be forgotten. It is a great intellectual challenge and a gorgeous sensual experience.

I know just enough Japanese to get by if I get lost and greet an audience properly, just from having a lot of Japanese friends and being there over the years.