Searching in Tokyo's mammoth Tower Records for Japanese "eleki" ('60s instrumental rock n' roll) and contemporary Japanese surf bands, I discovered that CDs were organized alphabetically by band name, as usual, but alphabetically according to the Japanese alphabet. Bands whose names are in English beginning with R (e.g. the Royal Fingers) were shelved together bands whose names are in English begin with L. Apparently the same Japanese character is used for both R and L. That may explain the stereotypical conflation of the two sounds in English spoken by native Japanese speakers. (If I'm way off on this, please let me know.)