The Shimano Arabesque group seem to be an attempt to "Europeanize" their product. which is at first strange to think about, being that most Shimano groups were usually deviod of such decoration and almost sterile looking (ie....DA7400) after the Arabesque.
The Japanese culture seems to llike to embrace the Baroque cultures from Europe a lot. From their almost addiction to classical music from Europe to even trying to dress the part (Ever watch the old Iron Chef episodes from Japan?). It looks kinda silly to us in the West, but seems to be quite respectable fashion in Japan. What is interesting is, if you look closely at the decorations on an Arabesque shift levers as pictured in this thread, there is a definite Japanese flavor to the details on it. An almost heavy handedness that differs from what an Italian or French designer trying to maintain a classical look to their components might have done(most likely more restrained). The decidedly modern western fonts of the brand/model name on the levers also to clashes with the heavy almost Chinese looking scrollwork so you get a blend that looks something like "Japaglish". It's all kinda "cute" in a way as it looks like Shimano was dipping their toes back then into the classic Euro pool of components and came up with this mishmash of East/West/modern/classic style for the "Arabesque" line. I'm actually quite glad that the Arabesque line eventually went away and Shimano seems to have gotten the courage after that to just stick to their own new designs and have a more unique, modern Japanese approach to their component lines that they can call their own. and not try to openly emulate someting Euro.
JMOs

Chombi