Another helpful thing to know when trying to get along with the neighbors is that, in Japan, an apology is an acknowledgement of the other party's pain, NOT an admission of guilt, and as such, unless you are at a distinctly higher social level than the other party, a sumimasen or moshiwake gozaimasen should ALWAYS be used before trying to explain yourself.
This was explicitly explained to me by a kacho in my early days in the company, as people complained that I was too confrontational. I ended up getting much better results professing my sorrow right off the bat, then explaining the course of my actions. I actually won more arguments that way as well, though usually in the course of admitting that there might have been a better way to take others feelings into account and pledging to do so in the future.
Last edited by hailstorm; Dec 3, 2012 at 3:34 pm