Even in 2018 the capacity for Japanese major corporations and politicians to shock us with their obliviousness towards social trends and changing standards is astounding.

The theory is that lies are more acceptable when the person telling them (or someone minding that person) ameliorates the situation afterwards by giving additional context to suggest the lie could have happened if the circumstances were different.

The reality is that there is a worsening shortage of suitable candidates at suitable prices, and so companies are finding it easier to hire from the international marketplace, and use their existing staff to fill the language gaps.

One of the hot beds of Japanese learning and thus Japanese corporate recruiting is Pune. The city is the second largest in the state of Maharashtra and is located about 150km to the south-east of Mumbai.