Japanese Communication Styles

The Japanese prefer not to directly express their opinions and choose a more vague path when they must express their opinions, especially when an opinion that is a refusal, negative and unwilling to accept.  They do this to avoid confrontation/conflict, not to hurt other's feelings, and not to disrespect other's opinions.

The practice common in Japan is that they often hint/ imply their answers, which may come across an ambiguous and vague or talking around the issue and not getting to the point. Other parties, who understand the Japanese social norms, are supposed to understand what they are trying to say. 

For example, when they are invited to an activity and they cannot accept the invitation, they may avoid giving a straight forward answer and politely tell the other person that they are not available by saying, "Sumimasen ga, chotto...:" to taper off without an explanation (or they may add an explanation/reason why not).    Other times, they might dismiss an invitation by saying "Sumimasen ga, chotto...:", but rather than ending there, they present another time they are available.