UNIVERSITATEA CRESTINA DIMITRIE CANTEMIR Facultatea de Management Turistic si Comercial

DISCIPLINA Limba engleza

Tema
- Greetings in Japanese Culture -

Student: CIABUCA NICU Anul I FR

Constanta 2012

Greetings

Almost everyone is aware that the Japanese way of greeting is bowing. Bowing is probably the feature of Japanese etiquette that is best-known outside Japan. Bowing is considered extremely important in Japan, so much so that, although children normally begin learning how to bow from a very young age, companies commonly provide training to their employees in how to execute bows correctly. The reason why bows are so important are because they express reverence for the opposite person. As such, the practice of bowing while greeting should not be taken lightly. Bows are informal and formal. While the general norm for men is to maintain the hands at their sides and bend forward from the waist, for girls it is the same with the hands placed on the lap, with the eyes looking down. Formal bows are deeper than informal bows. A bow is returned with a bow and should normally last only up to 2-3 seconds. Shaking hands, sometimes in combination with a bow, has now become a common practice in Japan, especially with outsiders and tourists. As a tourist, if you are applying this greeting, ensure you bend to the left and not straight, to avoid knocking down the opposite person. Any greeting should portray a dynamism, else it is considered rude. While speaking to superiors and customers, there are very important rules of politeness that are followed. The Japanese are a cooperative lot, and do not believe in individualism, but conformity. They believe in universal good rather than individual gain. They are never forthright about their opinions, and are rather diplomatic in putting forth any point of view.