Okay, time to throw my two Pfenig in.

Do Japanese say "r" or "l"? In a word: No.

What the Japanese actually say (transcribed as "r" in romanji) is a liquid
consonant that is pronunced in the front of the mouth (like "l"), but presents
more surface to the roof and never quite touches it (like "r").

Why we hear that consonant as either "r" or "l" has to do with the fact that
we simply don't have that phone in our grammar. When the consonant ("%" to give
it a symbol) is spoken, we percieve it as either "r" or "l", depending on its
environment. This is not our fault; we are simply not trained to recognize % as
a meaningful consonant, so our grammars interpret it as a mispronounciation and
compensate. We simply don't percieve % as %.

As to why we percieve % as "r" in some cases and "l" in another has to do with
coarticulation. %a, %i, %e, %u, and %o are often heard as "la", "ri", "re",
"lu", "lo". When going from % to a, u and o, the tongue is pulled back, which
isn't done when English people say "ra", "ru", "ro". Being back vowels, a, u,
and o require this. We therfore precieve the % as "l" in this case, because 
pulling back the tongue is a characteristic of "l" and not "r" in these cases.
Thesame goes with %i and %e, because i and e are front vowels, causing the
tongue to be pulled forward.

I hope this clears things up. I should know this stuff; I just completed a 
course in Linguistics.

-wyrm (AKA Tom Jefferys, Time Lord for hire. "Have TARDIS; will travel!")
Member of the Apathy for Shampoo Society (AFSS)
* JEFFERYSTR@rascal.guilford.edu
* wyrm@mail.utexas.edu 
"I just want you to know that I have the utmost respect for the law."
*SOCK*
-William Riker