A reporter for the New York Times recently made this statement (see video below):

"I think the Japanese tend to try to maintain a veneer of calm and not breech topics that might be alarming or insulting (emphasis added).  For example, until recently, it was the norm for families not to tell a family member who had cancer (about the cancer) just to save suffering on the part of the family member and we see some of that mentality at play in some of the communications we have seen from Japanese officials who have refused to confirm what turns out now to be a very serious situation at the Fukushima Daiichi plant.  They were very slow in acknowledging some of the dangers."