tense preservation in reported speech

Japanese preserves the original tense of an embedded clause in reported speech, regardless of the matrix verb's tense. 翌日私に会うと彼はいった ('he said he would meet me the next day' — embedded 会う stays present), 幸福だったと言った ('said that she was happy' — embedded 幸福だった stays past). Contrasts with English back-shifting in indirect speech.