This work is a sociolinguistic investigation into the system of the speech act of complimenting among young Japanese. The current study challenges some traditional premises about the nature of this speech act and explores how sociolinguists should go about analysing such variables in the context of a non-Western speech community. In so doing, I highlight that applying localised cultural knowledge plays a crucial role in unfolding the social and linguistic systems of complimenting in a Japanese speech community. To achieve a satisfying sociolinguistic understanding of this speech act, the data...