Weird Customs in Japan

Belief taboos Most Japanese people believe in Shinto and Buddhism, they do not like purple, that purple is a sad color; the most taboo green, green is considered ominous color. Also taboo 3 people together "photo", they believe that the middle of the left and right two people sandwiched, which is an omen of misfortune. Japanese taboo lotus, that the lotus is funeral flowers. When visiting the sick avoid camellias and yellowish, white flowers, the Japanese are reluctant to accept chrysanthemums or chrysanthemums pattern of things or gifts, because it is the sign of the royal family. Japanese favorite patterns are pine, bamboo, plum, ducks, turtles and so on. Language taboos Japanese people have a lot of language taboos, such as "bitter" and "death", and even some of the harmonic words are also taboos, such as the number of words "4" is pronounced the same as death, "42" is pronounced the same as death, "42" is pronounced the same as death. The pronunciation of "42" is the verb form of death, so hospitals generally do not have 4 and 42 rooms and beds. It is also taboo to use "42" in a user's telephone, and prisons generally do not have cell number 4. 13" is also a taboo number, many hotels do not have "13" floors and "13" rooms, Haneda Airport does not have "13" tarmac. Haneda Airport does not have a "13" apron. On festive occasions such as weddings, it is forbidden to speak of unlucky and bad omens such as going, returning, returning, leaving, breaking, thinning, cold, shallow, extinguishing, and repeating, repeating, breaking, breaking, or cutting off. Store opening and inauguration of the new store, it is taboo to say fireworks, collapse, collapse, tilt, loss, decay and fire associated with the language. Taboos in conversation about people's physical defects, do not say such words as big, short, fat, bald, hemp, blind, deaf, mute, but call the disabled physically challenged, the blind for the eyes are not free, call the deaf for the ears are not free, and so on. Behavioral taboos Japan is known as a disciplined society, and people's behavior is governed by certain norms. On formal social occasions, men and women are required to wear suits and dresses, and it is forbidden to be disheveled, disruptive, or to make a lot of noise. Correspondence, letter folding, postage stamps are posted rules, such as sending condolence letters avoid using double envelopes, double is considered to be bad luck; sent to the lovers of the letter stamps can not be pasted upside down, otherwise it means that no friendship. Japanese people in the diet of taboos are also many: generally do not eat fat meat and pig offal, some people do not eat lamb and duck; entertaining guests taboo will be too full of rice overload, but also not a spoonful of a bowl of good; taboo guests to eat a bowl of food is enough to eat a bowl that is considered to symbolize no edge; taboo in the process of organizing the meal in their own clothes or hand strokes, hair, because it is unhygienic and impolite manners; Japanese people use chopsticks on top of the dishes. In Japan, when greeting a waiter, you have to extend your arm upward, palm down, and wiggle your fingers, and the waiter understands. When negotiating, the Japanese use their thumb and forefinger to form an "O", and if you nod your head in agreement, the Japanese will think you will give him a sum of cash. In Japan, scratching one's scalp with one's hand is a sign of anger and dissatisfaction. Social taboos Japanese gift-giving, send pairs of gifts, such as a pair of pens, two bottles of wine is very popular, but send the newlyweds red packets, taboo to send 20,000 yen and multiples of 2, the Japanese folk believe that "2" this number is likely to lead to the breakup of marital relations, generally send 30,000, 50,000 or 70,000 yen. Gift wrapping paper color also has to pay attention to, black and white on behalf of the funeral, green is ominous, should not use red wrapping paper, it is best to use fancy paper wrapping gifts. Japanese people receive guests not in the office, but in the conference room, reception room, they will not easily lead people into the office machine department. Banquets are not popular in Japan, and business people do not have the habit of bringing their wives to banquets. Banquets in the business world are cocktail parties held in large hotels. The Japanese do not have the habit of offering cigarettes to each other. Shoes must be taken off when entering a Japanese house. In Japan, it is impolite to peek into the kitchen of the host's house when visiting the host's house. It is not customary in Japan to invite coworkers to your home to socialize with the whole family. Japanese people never bring their work to their homes, and wives make a virtue of not getting involved in their husband's business. Introduction to Japanese etiquette Japanese people meet each other by bowing. Generally, people bow to each other at 30 degrees and 45 degrees, and the depth of the bow is different, indicating different meanings, and the lowest and most polite bow is called "the most respectful bow". Men bow, both hands naturally down on both sides of the pants; to show respect to each other, more often than not, the left hand on the right hand, placed in front of the body to bow, especially women. In international exchanges, the Japanese are also accustomed to shaking hands, especially young people or more contact with Europeans and Americans, also began to meet the habit of shaking hands. Business cards are widely used in Japan, especially by businessmen, and it is customary to exchange business cards with each other when meeting for the first time. The business card is exchanged with the one with the lower or younger status giving it to the other first, and this practice is considered a form of etiquette. When handing over a business card, it is important to hold the card facing the other person. A business card is called a "nametoki" in Japanese, and most women use smaller business cards than men. Japanese people are very particular about how they sit. At work, Japanese people sit in chairs, but at home, they still have the traditional habit of sitting on tatami mats. The correct way to sit on a tatami mat is called "Shoza," which means kneeling with your knees together and your buttocks on your heels. There are two easy ways to sit on a tatami mat, "cross-legged" and "cross-legged": "cross-legged" is to cross your feet in front of you and place your buttocks on the ground, which is the male way of sitting; "cross-legged" is to sit with your legs slightly crossed, and "cross-legged" is to sit with your buttocks on the ground. Sit" is a little lateral side of the legs, the body does not press the feet, which is often the way women sit. Now, do not sit "tatami" of the younger generation is gradually increasing.