"Why is this Japanese engineer writing vague, false but polite instructions.
vague, false but polite
Japanese cell phone manual I've working on reads as follows:
"When you has ended with your video-phone, an image does appear depending."That's it!
The above sentence is just floating alone in the the middle of the page like a turd in a Baptismal Font.
No explaination. No reference. Nothing.
Not unusual. Most Japanese written documents are the same: Instructions as Haiku without direct meaning. Sheesh.
The standard rationalization/apologia goes this this (which in itself is false and vague).
Aimai - ambiguity and the Japanese
Chinmoku - silence in Japanese communication
Haragei - an implicit way of communicating in Japan
Honne to tatemae - private vs. public stance in Japan
Uchi to soto - dual meanings in Japanese human relations
----"The Japanese Mind: Understanding Contemporary Japanese Culture" (Tuttle Publishing 2002, ed. by Roger J. Davies and Osamu Ikeno) essays about Japanese culture and communication.