When we interact with Japanese people, there are many etiquettes that need to be paid attention to, but many of them are ignored. The following is the etiquette for interacting with Japanese people that I have compiled for you. I hope it can help you. Oh!

Etiquette for interacting with Japanese people

When meeting

The traditional Japanese etiquette for meeting people is to bow (?ojigi?), which is a gesture of respect. However, most Japanese want to shake hands with Westerners. Many Japanese shake hands and bow. Your actions will be based on how the Japanese behave towards you. When bowing, place your palms on your legs and keep your knees together. The degree and duration of bowing are the same as others, but the waist cannot be bent lower (which means humbleness).

Whenever you meet an acquaintance, whether on the street or at home, bow. Be especially careful when bowing to your boss. If you meet an acquaintance on the street or in a hallway, a nod is a simple bow. Japanese people do not like to hold arms, kiss, pat on the back or any other physical contact when meeting. Shaking hands is the best they can do, and many Japanese don't even like this Western-style gesture, giving them a limp handshake.

Generally speaking, Japanese people don’t like to introduce themselves. When you make introductions, introduce low-status people first and then introduce high-status people. Don’t forget to introduce each person’s relationship to you as well as their title and company. If you introduce two strangers to each other, you are actually responsible for their future relationship. If one person is being unfair to the other, that may require you to change the situation. When you are introduced, the introducer should say your name and express how honored you are to meet you. Names and titles: In Japan, the first name in people's names is their surname, and the second one is their given name.

When Japanese people write their names in English, they change their names to be consistent with Western tradition, that is, they put their first name first and their last name last. When you greet a Japanese person (regardless of male or female), use your last name or title, followed by the honorific suffix -san. For example, if someone's name tag says Akira Takasaka in English, you would call them Takasaka-san. Don't put san after your name, it becomes self-praising. You can also address most Japanese people using the Western form (Mr., Mrs., or Miss).

Japanese people do not call each other by their first names even if they have known each other for many years (especially women). The only exception is young people, who in informal situations sometimes use first names among good friends. When you are talking to someone of high status, use a title without a surname (for example, Shacho-san is Mr. Chairman, Bucho-san is Mr. General Manager). Correspondence: To write a business or formal letter in Japanese style, write the date in the upper right corner of the paper and the address in the lower left corner. Below the address, write the recipient's full name and add the word Sama (for example, Takasaka-Akira-Sama).

The Japanese often use the first paragraph of a letter (except strictly business letters) to comment on the season. There's often more to these comments than meets the eye, so if you give it a try, be careful to include a few concise, positive comments (although it's best if you write them in a Western format).

Greet first and then say something later

Traditionally, when Japanese people meet and greet each other, they do not touch each other's bodies and do not have the habit of shaking hands. Instead, they mostly express greetings in the form of a bow, that is, "greet first" Postscript?. The "body language" action of bowing seems simple, but in fact it has many "unspoken rules" that are accepted by people.

When bowing, men’s hands are usually placed on the trouser lines on both sides or in front of the thighs. Women's hands must be placed in front of their thighs. In Japan, bowing one's head has the meaning of "minimizing" oneself and admiring and respecting the other person. Generally speaking, when facing elders or superiors, you should take the initiative to bow, while bowing slightly to family members or friends is enough.

The duration of the bow is also important. Generally, younger people, people with lower status and women should bow to elders, people with higher status and men first.

At the same time, the duration of bowing is longer than that of elders, people with higher status and men. Sometimes both parties in communication want to bow longer than the other party to show respect. In order not to be rude when the identity of the other party is not clear, the best way is to bow, which can make you appear more humble.

The Japanese are very particular about the angle of bowing, which is related to the age, identity, gender and respect of the other person. Generally speaking, young people should bow deeply to older people, people of lower status to people of higher status, women to men, shop assistants to customers, hosts to guests and other people who are very respectful. The angle of the body when bowing is generally about 10 to 15 degrees, with the deepest being 90 degrees.

There are also relatively strict unwritten rules in terms of degrees and etiquette. For example, a 5-degree bow means "hello" and other simple greetings and greetings, which is roughly equivalent to an eye salute; a 15-degree bow means "good morning", "hello" and other greetings. It is used to say hello and express sympathy, understanding and other cordial meanings to very close people; a 30-degree bow means more formal greetings and greetings to elders, guests, elders, teachers, etc., and its meaning is roughly equivalent to "causing you trouble" , thank you very much, thank you very much, and also have the meaning of asking for something from others; a 45-degree bow means a very formal greeting and a more formal greeting to elders, guests, seniors, teachers, etc., and its meaning is roughly equivalent to ?I'm very sorry for causing you trouble?,?It's my fault that caused such a loss?' etc. express regret for one's fault or admitting mistakes. In a room covered with tatami mats, you must sit down and salute. Bend your upper body in the "upright" position, put your hands on the ground in front of you and lower your head.

Conversation

Good conversation topics are: your impression of Japan and Japanese culture, baseball (very popular in Japan), golf, food and travel. Some of Japan's bestsellers are books about Japanese people written by foreigners. The Japanese believe that their culture is unique and like to use foreigners to reinforce this idea. Taboo topics: family (personal matters), trade friction, World War II, property value and politics. Most Japanese are not religious, so this topic can be avoided. Also to be avoided are Japan's unfortunate minorities (Korean, Ainu, and Untouchable-eta).

Young people may approach you to practice their English. Praise them more. Don't take their efforts for granted, because they are very interested in this practice, and they are often the most accessible people when you need help most. Many Japanese people know written English better than spoken English. If you have trouble talking to them, write down your questions.

Main terms

Japanese is spoken, but its use is mainly limited to the Japanese archipelago. Japanese writing system is probably the most complex in the world. Using Chinese calligraphy symbols (which are pronounced differently in different contexts), there are two different sets of phonetic symbols. A Japanese sentence may be written in 3 different ways. Despite all the difficulties, you should try to learn a few words. It makes you approachable by Japanese people. However, learning too much can make them suspicious - after all, only Japanese can speak Japanese.

Looking apart

The Japanese nation is a nation that is very sensitive to the eyes of others. Therefore, in etiquette education, they will try to avoid eye contact with each other, especially between men and women. In Japanese, the eyes are called the mirror of the soul. They also say that the eyes can speak like the mouth. "You don't kill with your mouth, but with your eyes." The Japanese's avoidance of gaze coincides with their typical euphemistic and implicit language expression style.

In order to achieve the purpose of avoiding direct eye contact and achieving communication, the Japanese have come up with many methods, such as: Japanese-style rooms, that is, Japanese-style rooms, are equipped with niches where hangings Seasonal landscape paintings or calligraphy works are placed in front of them with unique flower arrangements, so that people's eyes are focused on these paintings and calligraphy works, and people can chat while admiring them without making eye contact at all, which solves the headache Line of sight issues.

The unique scenery of "Sanduo" on Japan's subways and electric buses also reflects the cultural characteristics of Japanese people who avoid looking away. The so-called "three excesses" means that there are many hanging advertisements of all kinds, many people read books and newspapers, and many people send text messages, take naps, and sleep. This does not rule out the commercial promotion aspect, but the more important thing is to provide a safe and comfortable "footholding point" for people's eyes and sights to continue to choose. It is very rude to look at the other person's eyes on a particularly crowded train or elevator.

Most of the endings of Japanese movies and TV series are when the heroine turns around and looks at the night sky or the flowers, birds, wind and moon. The hero slowly approaches the heroine, enjoys the same scenery side by side, and then confesses his love for the other party. love, thus bringing the movie or TV series to a climax and ending. This ending method has also generally become a fixed pattern recognized and accepted by Japanese people, in which the hero and heroine avoid eye contact and recognize each other.

Heart to heart