Gamesmanship - part ５

Sarcastic? Moi?!

Considering their long-lasting love affair with all things American it is rather appropriate that the Japanese do not grasp the concepts of irony and sarcasm. Both being mainstays of British social intercourse in Japan they merely confuse and confound and hence are powerful weapons in the gamesman's arsenal.

When confronted with obvious or rhetorical questions be sure to answer sarcastically or ironically. E.g. if you’ve been to the hairdresser’s and a colleague asks “Oh, you’ve been to the hairdressers” simply answer “no, I haven’t!” Your colleague will be honestly confused with your answer as it is obvious to him you have had your hair cut.
Let the matter rest for a while and bring up the subject a little later. “I read in a magazine, while I was at the hairdresser’s yesterday, that…” Your colleague will probably not take you up on this but you can rest assured you have portrayed yourself as a mysterious and unfathomable foreigner who stands had and shoulders above the cross-cultural incompetence of your target.