Surprisingly, ctrl+f &#x27;cubicle&#x27; gives no matches on NYT or here but it seems like an obvious reason. I can&#x27;t speak for most of the rest of the world but today&#x27;s Japanese office for rank and file still tends to look something like [1] - desks pointed inward, arranged so that workers are focused on common areas with low or no partitions.  OTOH in the US the ubiquitous cubicles have high partitions and are often arranged around the walls of the space so people are pointed away from each other.<p>Whether this was done intentionally for some productivity benefits or because workers liked the additional privacy or is just some unintended side effect I have no idea.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;sociorocketnewsen.files.wordpress.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;10&#x2F;gj-3.jpg?w=580&amp;h=435" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;sociorocketnewsen.files.wordpress.com&#x2F;2013&#x2F;10&#x2F;gj-3.j...</a>