Tatamae

First off, I just want to say that Like Father, Like Son is probably my favorite movie from this semester that I hadn't seen already (Yojimbo is still number one, but I had seen it before...). It was so great. I loved every part of it.
I had the extreme pleasure of having my parents come and watch this film with us. They really liked it too, but my mom was really confused by one thing - "None of the kids ever cried. If I was being taken away and told I couldn't call my parents and I was never coming back, I would cry and throw a fit".
I found this question surprising, but then again, my parents don't know much about Japanese culture. And I realized some of you might not either. Of course, one explanation might be that the kids just did not understand what was happening, which I think is partly true, but in the instance of Keita, I believe Japanese traditional values were at play. In Japan there are concepts known as Honne and Tatamae. Honne is sort of like your true feelings, and you are to keep those private, only maybe to those closest to you. Tatamae is a polite face you put up to hide what you are really feeling. Keita was obviously raised in a fairly rigid and traditional Japanese home - he was pushed to excellence, expected to succeed, heck he even went to CRAM SCHOOL as a six-year-old (which...cram school in and of itself is an interesting topic. You all should go look it up). His parents seemed to exemplify Tatamae in their interactions with other people (his father especially, though his mother definitely held herself up in public more than most would, though she had her moments), while his biological parents were more open to express themselves.
I think both their confusion at the situation and the idea of Tatamae came into play here, and its definitely a very Japanese look at the subject rather than a western one. If this was a western film undoubtedly the kids would have been crying a lot.