Remember, the entirety of the Japanese mentality is not to disturb the status quo, which means you don't want to potentially harm a work relationship. Because of that, almost everything becomes a "don't fight battles you can't win" mentality. There's minimal risk involved in relationships because everyone is socially withdrawn by cultural mandate, and those that aren't get ostracized by the community at large.
It's not "dragging it out". Just because Americans will screw each other at the drop of a hat doesn't mean the rest of the world does it that way.