そこが良いのだ。日本人の場合は、相手を怒らせたくない、と言う気持ちから忖度が生まれる。

忖度をアメリカ人に説明するとこうなる。「誰かが思うかもしれないことを、事前に察知して、それを避けるための行動をすること」「えっ！その人は、そう思ったのか確認したのか？」「いや、確認はしていない。そう考えるだろうと推測して…」「なぜ確認しないんだ」と言う会話になる。なるよね。

また、アンジェリーナは、純粋に人を褒める。私が30年くらい前に初めて英語でプレゼンテーションした時は、同僚のみんなが手放して褒めてくれ、本当に嬉しかった。笑ったり、怒ったりと言う感情がわかりやすい社会というのは日本人も見習っていいと思う。

There are good and bad points in many countries. What I like about Los Angeles is the cheerfulness of the people there. There are cheerful people all over the world, but Angelina (L.A. people) is not “read between the lines”（Sontaku） like Japanese people. The absence of discovery means that there is no “other person” component in you. emotions, such as anger and laughter, are directly expressed on their face.

That is wonderful. In the case of Japanese people, discovery is based on the feeling of not wanting to offend the other person.

The way to explain “Sontaku” to Americans is as follows.

– It means to sense in advance what someone might think and to take action to avoid it.

– Did you confirm that the person thought that?

– No, I did not confirm it. I guessed he/she would think so…

The conversation becomes, “Why didn’t you confirm it?” It would be.

Also, Angelina is genuinely complimentary of people. When I gave my first presentation in English about 30 years ago, all of my colleagues let go and praised me, which made me really happy. I think Japanese people can learn from a society where emotions such as laughter and anger are easily understood.