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Some research on the Japanese approach to dealing with life and death:

Seppuku was a key part of bushido, the code of the samurai warriors; it was used by warriors to avoid falling into enemy hands, and to attenuate shame and avoid possible torture. Samurai could also be ordered by their daimyo (feudal lords) to commit seppuku. Later, disgraced warriors were sometimes allowed to commit seppuku rather than be executed in the normal manner. The most common form of seppuku for men was composed of the cutting of the abdomen, and when the samurai was finished, he stretched out his neck for an assistant to decapitate him. Since the main point of the act was to restore or protect one’s honor as a warrior, those who did not belong to the samurai caste were never ordered or expected to commit seppuku. Samurai generally could only commit the act with permission.

Sometimes a daimyo was called upon to perform seppuku as the basis of a peace agreement.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seppuku

Japanese abroad often complain about the poor service to be found in non-Japanese countries. While Westerners might prize individuality and the right of a serviceperson to be an assertive social equal with opinions, Japanese generally value carrying out one’s work obligations (giri) to the best of this ability, including what might seem to those from less formal social environments like excessive or even hypocritical formality/servility.

Some social historians believe the pervasiveness of this concept in Japanese culture is a reflection of the static feudal order that defined Japanese society for centuries. “Giri books,” or village registers that included all the unpaid obligations of one family or individual to another were a cultural phenomenon that could only exist in a static agricultural culture, as opposed to a migrant or hunter/gatherer tradition. Other historians see more influence from samurai and Rinzai Zen traditions, which included a placid acceptance of death and willingness to commit suicidal actions forbidden in the Western Christian tradition.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giri_(Japanese)

It is characterized by a number of psychiatric symptoms as acute delusional states, hallucinations, feelings of persecution (delusional belief of being a victim of prejudice, aggression, hostility to others), a derealization, a depersonalization, anxiety, and also psychosomatic manifestations such as dizziness, tachycardia, sweating, etc..

In fact, the observed clinical picture is quite variable, but it has the characteristic to occur during a trip that confronts the traveler to things unknown to them, that they did not anticipate. The symptoms did not exist before the trip and they disappear with a return to the familiar surroundings. This distinguishes Pathological Voyage, in which psychiatric disorders are pre-existing.

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# Language barrier – few Japanese speak French and vice versa. This is believed to be the principal difficulty and is thought to engender the remainder. Apart from the obvious differences between French and Japanese many everyday phrases and idioms are shorn of meaning and substance when translated adding to the confusion of some who haven’t previously encountered such.
# Cultural difference – the authors state that the large difference between not only the languages but the manner in which Latin populations communicate on an interpersonal level in comparison to the rigidly formal Japanese culture proves too great a difficulty for some Japanese visitors. It is thought that it is the rapid and frequent fluctuations in mood, tense and attitude especially in the delivery of humour that cause the most difficulty.
# Idealized image of Paris – it is also speculated as manifesting from an individual’s inability to reconcile a disparity between the Japanese popular image and the reality of Paris.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome