Japan is famous for its incredibly complicated laws on etiquette. Making simple acts into rituals may seem excessive, but this definitely does not offend anyone in Japan.
11. Addressing people
In Japan, calling people by name is not enough. And the iceberg’s respectful name”-san” is just the tip. In addition, there are more honorary suffixes to address or refer to people:
- “-Kun” — a less formal honorific than the neutral “-san.” General use of “-Kun” approximately means “friend.”
- “-chan” — a diminutive suffix, primarily used for children, female family members, lovers, and close friends.
- “-Sama” — the most respectful version (“lord,” “honorable”). It was used to refer to lords and deities. Nowadays, it’s sometimes used to express sarcasm.
- “-senpai” — for addressing one’s elder colleagues or schoolmates.
- “-kōhai” — the opposite of “senpai.”
- “-sensei” — for addressing teachers, doctors, scientists, politicians, and other authority figures.
- “-shi” — for formal writing.
10. Exchanging business cards
It’s a whole ritual. Here’s what you need to do:
- Make sure your card’s front side is facing your counterpart.
- Offer it with both hands.
- If your rank is lower than your partner’s, hold the card lower than they do.
- If you were given a business card, put it on a cardholder, and take a few seconds to look at it.
- Don’t forget to bow.
- If you haven’t got a cardholder, it’s a disaster.
It’s a far cry from what we have — just putting business cards in our pocket!
9. In an elevator
It turns out there are informal but clear rules even here. If you’re the first to enter an empty elevator, you’re the captain of the elevator and you’re supposed to stand near the control panel. You will have to keep the door open until everyone gets into the elevator. Repeat this for every floor the elevator stops at. You also have to be the last one to leave, and you have to do it all very quickly.
If you’re a Japanese tourist, we recommend that you’re not the first to reach an elevator!
8. Subways
There are some stringent laws on the subway that the Japanese are expected to follow: talking is not allowed (also on the phone) and staring at others is unpolitical.
It’s not uncommon for old people to give up their seats, even if they can barely walk. For them as well as for disabled people and pregnant women, there are special seats marked with a sign. If you do not belong to these categories, these seats will not be occupied.
7. Touching
In Japan, looking in the eyes of people, let alone touching them, is disrespectful. This country is not very large, so every Japanese person respects other people’s personal space. If you are visiting Japan, don’t touch people.
There’s also a ban on kissing in public. It was deemed to be a breach of public order prior to 1945.
6. Alcoholic drinks
The social hierarchy breaks down entirely when the Japanese drinks. And they’re drinking heavily. With his students, a local professor will drink, and then they’ll drag him home. In a karaoke bar, an admirable clerk who bows to his business partner during the day can get drunk and vomit on his suit. And that’s okay.
Surprisingly enough, they’ll act as if nothing happened when they’re all sober up. What’s going on in a boozy session in Japan stays in a boozy session.
5. Money
The Japanese have an odd attitude towards money: they are embarrassed to show it in public for some reason. Money envelopes are therefore very common here, decorated in a traditional way. And if you don’t have such an envelope, before you send it to anyone, you’ll have to bundle the money in a piece of paper.
You don’t need to do that in supermarkets, of course, but you still have to consider this rule: you can’t give the cashier your money, just put it in the cash tray. And it’s all for the sake of personal space protection.
4. The art of sitting properly
A sit under one’s knees by folding one’s legs is called “seiza,” and only in this manner the Japanese sit on the floor. We feel comfortable seiza-style sitting as if they were in an armchair. But as Europeans are not used to it, within a few minutes their feet become numb.
If you’re a tourist or senior and spread your legs, you’re sure to get away with it, and nobody’s going to say anything. But for a Japanese person to sit like that would be unimaginably inappropriate.
3. Gifts
In Japan, the gift culture is very strong, and every year there are two special gift-giving seasons: o-chugen (in summer) and o-seibo (in winter).
In many nations, opening a gift at once is customary. It is a symbol of covetousness and impatience in Japan. What if the gift giver is humiliated by their humble gift and feels a shade of disappointment running over your face, like a breeze in the reeds?
2. Bowing
In this country, the art of bowing is so important that kids learn it at an early age. In Japan, there are many different ways to bow: standing, sitting, and variants for women and men. Some of them are here:
- The greeting bow (“eshaku”) of 15° is for people of equal business or social rank.
- The respectful bow (“keirei”) of 30° is a bow for a teacher or a boss.
- The deeply reverent bow (“saikeirei”) of 45° should be used if you apologize or see the emperor.
- The “begging for your life” bow is probably only used nowadays if you have done something really terrible.
Of course, foreigners are not expected to bow, but the Japanese will be pleased if you return a bow.
1. Taking leave
A client or business partner in Japan is practically a god and treated with immense respect. The entire company follows them to the door or elevator as they exit and proceed to bow until the doors are closed.
If this occurs in a business center with several such delegations crowding simultaneously at elevators, it is very inconvenient. It can also be humiliating to foreign customers. The new generation’s Japanese feel this is a little too much and sometimes neglect this practice. We wonder what fate will await in the coming centuries the traditional Japanese etiquette.
Preview photo credit gl0ck/depositphotos, jsks/pixaba
