tatemae

is taken to be representative of Japanese hiding their true thoughts beneath politeness, but America is the true tatemae society with its puritanism and its myth of a happy ending.

People say we in Japan are the tatemae society, that everything we say and do is merely on the surface and acts as a screen for our real thoughts and desires. But America is the true tatemae society! Puritanism is just tatemae. And,' he adds,'so is the myth of a happy ending.' (Yoshiro Katsuoka, a planning director for Marvelous Entertainment, one of Japan's most active anime and video game producers.)

tatemae, n.All

tatemae