and where it's considered bad form for people to make personal phone calls during the workday. Japanese are good at being physically close to others without being intrusive-keeping their voices down and not being a distraction. In fact, non-Japanese working in Japan often unintentionally create friction with their Japanese colleagues by not being able to fit into the expected norms of Japanese office behavior, and calling too much attention to themselves.For example, in my case, when I was working at a Japanese company in Tokyo there was a notable contretemps over than fact that my shoes were too noisy, which was deemed to show a lack of concern for my colleagues.