Japanese Verbal Signals (2)

Indirect Expression

Even though a Japanese speaker may have a very strong opinion about something, one rarely hears them say "this is what I think" or "this is my opinion." One is more likely to hear a more indirect expression such as "don't you think so?" or "this is how it seems to me, but what do you think?" Tentative, round-about, expressions such as the previous two are considered more polite. By using such expressions it allows the other person room to disagree with a statement without having to disagree with the person. It also allows the speaker room to modify his/her opinion after taking the other person's opinion into consideration.  A foreigner may see this as being phony, but this form of communication promotes cooperation, rather than staunch, inflexible, opinions.

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