No sarcasm in Japanese culture

Pretty similar to yours. Japanese seem to be very serious people and sarcasm is a form of humour and also a rather good way to get your point across in a passive aggressive manner.

Sarcasm would be too cumbersome for a people who would want to get straight to the point. In the West we are more balanced, laid back when we can be and work hard when we have to.

These are the same people who have some of the most weird porn out there but pixelate the genitals. So I'll be damn if I am about to psycho analyze them!

The word 皮肉 means sarcasm or irony in Japanese.

And a lot of Americans don't get sarcasm.

Sarcasm is subtle. Subtlety doesn't work when you are learning a language. New language learning is like raw code-breaking. Solid definitions. Nuance comes long after fluency.

Some time ago I went to Japan as a tourist, I prepared for the trip as best as I could; read several books, took a round of Berlitz classes, and got to know several Japanese along the way (here in the US, and also in Japan while there). Be warned, that's the extent of my "expertise," which means this is all worth what you're paying for it, which is nothing.

> The answer I came up with is the template they use for masculine behavior...the Samurai.

There might be something to that. But on the whole, it seems to me that attempting to understand modern Japanese by looking to samurai, bushido, et cetera is like trying to understand modern Atlanta by watching Gone With The Wind.

Here's something that occurs to me. An important value in Japanese culture is group harmony, which means more politeness than you'd experience in the USA. With Japan's population density this is a good thing, especially in places like Tokyo where, whenever out in public, a person is constantly surrounded by other people. Far better if everyone gets along, at least at the level of superficial social pleasantries.

The way we do sarcasm is sometimes as a direct personal attack. It might be with full, hostile intent; or as a mild criticism; or just for comic effect. Maybe some Japanese, because of their valuing politeness, are averse to direct confrontation; and in this particular case (the Reds player), where it's done in an unfamiliar culture and language, the player might have trouble discerning the real intent (hostile, kidding, etc) behind the sarcasm.

OTOH, maybe it's just jet lag.

I was in Japan twice in the 80's, it would be interesting to go back and see how things have changed but then I have also changed so how do you judge.

During my visits the men spoke assertively, like they were hammering you with their speech, except the few who had spent time in America who spoke more casually like Americans. The men loved to drink just as much as Americans (or anyone else) and would get silly drunk and laugh uproariously. They loved to have fun, enjoyed getting me to eat things that would get a funny reaction. They taught me Jap drinking games and I taught them how to shotgun beer, they loved it. We cooked out (hibachi) together. I didn't see any women getting drunk. Most women wouldn't speak to a Yankee unless we began the conversation and then they would act all shy and giggly. A few women were progressive and would come up and talk to us. Unfortunately speaking to women was difficult because few women were taught English back then. In bars the men would sit together and the women would sit together, rarely mingling. Dancing was same sex. A guy taught me how to ask a girl to dance, it was involved .. we had to be introduced, there was a verbal exchange, then I could ask her to dance. She always said yes and her friends would get very excited because it was risque. Occasionally groups would follow us around chanting, "Yankee go home!" They would make obscene gestures or say obscene things to try and provoke a reaction. It was a lot of fun and mostly the guys there were just like guys here, we got along fantastically.

Not an answer directed at the OP but more a comment after reading everyone's contributions so far.

Recently I caught myself wanting to be sarcastic somewhere here on MC, like - oh, that's a great idea !
Then I realized I had to indicate some way that I was being sarcastic, and I thought of using quotes or capitalizing or a sarcasm alert. Finally I figured maybe it's better to just say exactly what I meant and forget the sarcasm. It's easier and more to the point and just makes sense.

That's why they lost WW II.

😎