I am highly intrigued by the entire concept of "saving face", of
protecting one's honor in front of others. Specificly, I am looking
for examples, or andectdotes that illustrate this behavior. It can be
from other culture, ie Japan, or even from Western culture, provided
it illustrates this trait. I am on a tight deadline, I need something
by about 3:00 PM Wednesday.

Duels were very popular at one time.

Can't think why they have gone out of fashion.

They sound great fun.

Could I suggest that you also look at the concept of other people saving your face.

The classic example was Queen Victoria, when at a banquet a guest
mistakenly drank the contents of his finger bowl, she promptly did the
same.

A sort of face saving exercize was Winston Churchill, who when told
'but you said xxx before', he replied:
'Madam, when I find I am wrong, I change my mind. What do you do ?'

You may find Ruth Benedict's 'The Chrysanthemum and the Sword' useful.
This is a study of Japanese culture. Ruth Benedict points out that
there is a difference between a guilt society (like ours) and a shame
society (like the Japanese and the ancient Greeks). One feels ashamed
when other people catch one doing something shameful. But with guilt
one does not need an onlooker because the feeling is internalised.
Some  theorists suppose that Christianity was responsible for guilt
rather than shame.

I've got a good source for you, but you'll have to wait a few hours
till tomorrow (tuesday) morning when the library is open.