I'd say it's more cultural than linguistic.

Pure politeness is as well present in French, but in Japan it's an aversion to openly and directly confront others.

You don't have it in Osaka as much as in Tokyo or Kyoto (that's why I'd think it's not the language), and in Tokyo people are overly stressed by their work, commuting, and overpopulation in general, so they need to compensate it by an impressive spectrum of skills for passive agessivity (which is not really better).

Disclaimer of competing interests: I'm a French guy in Japan.