The spatial preferences of Japanese and American closely reflect our preferred working style. Accustomed to individual offices or cubicle, American tend to dislike Japanese styles open offices because there are a lot of visual and audio distractions. There is also a lack of privacy, making confidential discussions or personal phone calls difficult. This reflects our working style of working independently on our own projects, using a lot of concentration in order to be efficient
(This is the same working style that makes telecommuting popular in the U.S., and lead to the plethora of laptop ads in American magazines touting the ability to "work from anywhere." )