This study investigates how the speech-act ""refusal"" is (or can be) realized in German and Japanese. Every individual's choice of communicative resources (in this case, the linguistic manifestation of refusal) is dependent on his/her perception of the situation, the evaluation of the injunction in terms of this perception, his/her own cognitive assessment of the interpersonal constellation (hierarchy and social distance), and various other factors. Despite a number of similarities in the linguistic conventions operative in German and Japanese, there are differences in terms of directness, the refusal paradigm, and much more.