The costly fallout of tatemae and Japan's culture of deceit By DEBITO ARUDOU There is an axiom in Japanese: uso mo hÅben — "lying is also a means to an end." It sums up the general attitude in Japan of tolerance of — even justification for — not telling the truth. First — defining "telling the truth" as divulging the truth (not a lie), the whole truth (full disclosure) and nothing but the truth (uncompounded with lies) — consider how lies are deployed in everyday personal interactions. Let's start with good old tatemae (charitably translated as "pretense"). By basically saying...