WASHINGTON, D.C.: The topic was the safety woes of Toyota, but the hearing at the US Congress could also have been a study in cross-cultural communication as Japanese formality met American bluntness.

Waving papers, pointing fingers and occasionally raising their voices, US House members spent three hours grilling executives of the iconic Japanese company over auto defects blamed for more than 30 deaths in the US. In scenes barely imaginable in Japan, Republican Representative John Mica thundered that Toyota had been “absolutely appalling” while Democrat Dennis Kucinich accused the executives of not giving him the “courtesy of a response.”

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