This sense of comfort has a powerful effect on relationships between the Americans and the Japanese. Especially in business. For the Japanese, business is about people and relationships, win-win relationships built on mutual trust. Of course, business involves selling and buying and making money. But for the Japanese, good business follows mutual trust, not vice versa.
Friendship comes before money talk.
And mutual trust usually results from comfort levels they achieve with each other. Politically incorrect or not, let's face it. It's more difficult to feel comfortable with people who don't look like us or talk like us. I'm sure you've heard numerous instances of American and Japanese people having a hard time in understanding each other. They misunderstand, get frustrated, and blame each other for nothing or often for something silly.