Before someone sends the yakuza after me I'd like to apologise in advance if I am going to offend some people.
I want to know why are Japanese people so darn vague? I've noticed how whenever a person "tries" to start a conversation with both Japanese men and women, you seldomly get a straight answer from them.

I'm not quite sure what you're getting at mate but you need to bear in mind culture.

What seems typical in the West is not so in other cultures.

I actually do know what you are talking about, and it is a cultural thing. I'm not a direct part of it, so I can't explain it in any depth, but in a general way, I think at least part of it is that they consider it rude to be too direct. Especially if there is something negative involved.

An example I ran across in business years ago now, back when I was working for a famous international business machine company...

the department heads were negotiating with a Japanese company to take a printer engine (the part that moves the paper and puts ink on it) of theirs, and set it up to fit a particular market niche they wanted to target. They'd been making requests for changes and adjustments for several weeks, before noticing that the tests of the engine showed none of the changes they'd asked for. Looking back, they realized that each time they had asked for a change, the Japanese engineer had soberly and carefully bowed and said "mmm. Very difficult." It turned out, that in Japan, that means something more like "no way we're doing that, jack, take it or leave it."

Some specifics would help. Is English the first language of the Japanese you refer to? Also they may not have a solid grasp of American slang.

I agree with Igor also, people from different cultures can have different conversations patterns & styles.


just a few thoughts

Seems answered by the title of your thread:
"Culture and language "

Otherwise, not sure how in depth you want to go.
I mean you could get into racial homogeneity and how that effects indirect body language influencing socialization of social cues.

Most international business courses/programs offer a lot of information from the expatriate experience to negotiating business deals in Japan.
You can do a google search and find all sorts of "experts" and Japanese people discussing/explaining the issue(s) as well.

I'm not sure if it's youth, culture, a general way of the world now..??.

...but recently I've noticed an impatience and lack of tact (some obnoxious, entitled, and demanding...others just desperate)

-I want
-Chat me up
-Where are the real women/men at
-Do you like sex
-etc.

Cultural differences regarding do's and don't's is something you can research via the net and educate yourself...you may be shocked that some things we take for granted are actually insults in other cultures...

my nickel