Vats was collected by questionnaire from Japanese and U.K. college students in order to compare self-reports of the physiological/behavioural response associated with embarrassment, coping attempts and observer reactions to the actor's embarrassment in the two cultures. Blushing/increased temperature, increased heart rate and smiling/grinning characterised embarrassment in both cultures, although blushing was referred to with twice the frequency by the U.K. sample; gage aversion was a response specific to the U.K. sample. Smiling/grinning as a method of coping with embarrassment and as a reported .reaction from an observer was reported with greater frequency by the U. K. sample. More intense experiences of embarrassment of longer duration were reported by the Japanese sample although for the U.K. sample it was more embarrassing to be embarrassed. The results are discussed in relation to national stereotypes.