thats interesting James. Re HUGS-- Yes indeed, certainly my friend disliked displays of affection by HUGS.
although there have been many times when she did actually want a hug from me but always said that "we Japanese do not hug"-- but commented how much the spanish students in her school were very demonstrative and were always hugging one another. When I showed her this video she showed surprise but commented that it was not japanese people who joined in with the hugs.
YouTube - ‪FREE HUGS in JAPAN(Tokyo) part1 フリーハグ‬‏