About Erica Okada: Her ongoing research reflects a combination of her personal interests and research philosophy. Since moving to Tokyo four years ago, she is increasingly intrigued by behavior patterns and practices that are distinctive to Japan: a strong preference for high quality (even at high prices...think ¥20,000 melons), an affinity for things that are kawaii (even the Tokyo Police Department has a cute "pipo-kun" mascot), and a tendency to recount past negatives rather than positives upon achieving success (contrast the interviews of Olympic gold medalists from Japan versus America). In some of her current research, she explores how such distinctive behaviors can be attributed to Japan’s unique characteristics: the Shinto religion, the language that integrates three separate writing systems (katakana, hiragana and kanji), and has not only multiple forms of you (anata, kimi, e.g.) but even more forms of I (watashi, watakushi, uchi, ore, boku). Behavioral differences between/across cultures would be of relevance to individuals with personal experiences in foreign cultures, as well as businesses with multi-national operations.