Japanese Daily Etiquette

Dress etiquette: Japanese people pay a lot of attention to their clothing in both formal and informal settings. On formal occasions, men and most young and middle-aged women wear suits. Men usually wear ties with their suits. The kimono is a traditional Japanese garment characterized by the fact that it is usually sewn from a single piece of fabric. Nowadays, men seldom wear kimonos in public **** places, except for some special professions. Japanese women like to draw eyebrows, they generally love to draw a slightly curved thin eyebrows, that is considered to be the most modern feminine temperament.

Basic etiquette

1. Japanese is the common language in Japan, while English is spoken in hotels and large department stores.

2. It is customary in Japan to take off your shoes when entering a room, so you need to wear clean shoes and socks in a Japanese hotel or restaurant.

3. Smoking is generally prohibited in public places, so please smoke in designated smoking areas with ashtrays or in places labeled as "Smoke Shops". Do not walk and smoke, as you will be fined if you do so in some places.

4. In Japan, it is customary to use common greetings, so please learn simple greetings for drivers and other people.

5. It is prohibited to wear a bathing suit in public baths in all hot spring hotels. Before entering the public bath, you should undress in the rest room, put your clothes in a basket, and put on a spare towel to enter the bath. To enter the bath, sit on a stool in front of the shower and wash your body, or if there is no shower, use a small tub to wash your body with water and then enter the bath.

6, with the Japanese date to arrive 5 ~ 10 minutes in advance, can not miss the appointment. If you want to visit a Japanese person, you should notify them in advance, and it is considered rude to come to their door without permission.

7. When going up and down steps, especially on escalators, be sure to follow the custom of walking on the left (in Tokyo) or the right (in Osaka).

8. When attending a business event, formal attire is required, and gifts and business cards should be exchanged beforehand.

9. When participating in discussions and exchanges, please ask a lot of questions in order to avoid a cold atmosphere.

10. If you want to exchange business cards, hand out information and take group photos on official occasions, please follow the instructions and do so in order.

Social customs

Japanese social customs can be summed up in a few words: treat people courteously, smile and welcome the spirit of joy; greetings bow bow, humility and politeness and rules; civilized language, talk politely, talk to be happy to speak softly; white, yellow, loved by the intimate, green, purple folk taboo; turtles, cranes, longevity and good luck, foxes and badger The foxes and badgers are disliked by everyone.

In the details of life has the following characteristics:

Japanese people in social activities, love to use the language of self-effacement, and good at self-condemnation. "Please take care of me" and "I'm sorry for not taking good care of you" are the polite words they often use.

They attach great importance to the beauty of clothing and instrumentation, in public occasions, generally have to wear a dress, to suit suit more common. Their favorite clothing is kimono.

They have the custom of worshipping and venerating "7", which is said to be related to the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn bring light, warmth, and life to the earth.

The Japanese have a habit of drinking tea and generally prefer warm tea. When pouring tea, their polite custom is to pour to 80% full as the most respectful guest. When they drink tea, they like to pour tea between the host and the guest, not used to pouring their own drinks, that is, the guest in the master for their tea, immediately took over the bottle to the master of the tea. This mutual pouring of tea can show the equality and friendship between the host and the guest.

The Japanese are not accustomed to treating guests with cigarettes. When they smoke, they generally do not honor their guests. Because smoking is harmful to health, it cannot be used to entertain friends and relatives.

The Japanese have a strong sense of hierarchy, with clear boundaries between superiors and subordinates, and between elders and juniors. Women generally treat men with the utmost respect.

They are best at giving gifts in social interactions, and they pay attention to affordability and the color of the gifts. They often give some small gifts; generally in the case of auspicious events in the gift of yellow and white or red and white, in the case of unfortunate events, the gift of black, white or gray. They have deeper feelings for white, as the color of purity; Japanese people also love yellow, that yellow is the color of sunshine, giving people the joy of survival and security.

They love animals such as turtles and cranes. They believe that these animals give people the impression of good luck and longevity.

The chrysanthemum is the national flower of Japan, but their favorite is the cherry blossom, they love the cherry blossom's pure, elegant and noble style; they love the cherry blossom to bring people a beautiful springtime; they love the cherry blossom's kind of bold character that blossoms and falls without any hesitation. They regard cherry blossom as the pride of Japanese nation, and take cherry blossom as the symbol of hard-working, brave and wise Japanese people.

Bowing etiquette

Japanese people meet each other to bow as a gift. People who are more familiar with each other bow to each other to meet two or three seconds appropriate; if you meet a close friend, the time to bend the waist to be a little longer; in the meeting of the social status of the higher people and elders, to wait for the other side to look up after the head up, and sometimes even to bow several times.

They also give handshakes on social occasions.

Japan's village etiquette etiquette is also more, women in sending friends and relatives to say goodbye, generally more kneeling (that is, kneeling on bended knees); men's goodbye ceremony is the clogs shaking ceremony (that is, clogs in the air in the hands of shaking). The Japanese Ezo (Ainu) people meet by joining hands, then slowly raising them to their foreheads, palms facing outward, men patting their beards, women patting their upper lips, and then shaking hands with each other.

Bowing is a traditional Japanese greeting, which has been gradually replaced by shaking hands. When traveling in Japan, if the host extends his hand to shake hands, if the host bows, it is best to bow back to the bowing ceremony, bowing with both hands hanging down, and bending the body to the level of the waist. If a Japanese person goes home, the person who opens the door usually bows first, and the person who comes back bows back. Not necessarily, for example, in Japan there is a clear distinction between men and women, and women generally bow to men first.

In Japan, bowing is also divided into standing bowing and kneeling bowing:

Standing bowing: "true ritual" to stand for the preparatory, and then will be gradually separated from the two hands, against the two thighs down, fingertips to the upper edge of the knee until the fingertips touched, and at the same time, the upper body tilted by the waist, the head, back and legs were nearly 90 degrees of the bow (do not just bow your head without bending down). Do not just bow your head without bending your back, or only bend your back without bowing your head), a slight pause to show sincere respect for each other, and then, slowly straighten your upper body to show continuous respect for each other, while lifting your hands along your feet to restore the original standing posture. Bowing should be coordinated with breathing, exhaling when bending down and inhaling when straightening up, so that the dorsal midline of the human body and the Ren vein in the midline of the brain carry out a small circumferential circulation. The speed of the salute should be as consistent as possible with that of others to avoid embarrassment. The main points of the "salute" are the same as those of the "real salute", with only the hands reaching the middle of the thighs, and with the head, back and legs in the shape of a 120-degree bow. The "grass salute" requires only a slight tilt of the body forward, with both hands resting on the roots of the thighs, and the head, back and legs in a bow shape of about 150 degrees, and the rest of the same as the "real salute".

If the host is standing and the guest is sitting on a chair or stool, the guest will answer the salute in a sitting position. The "real salute" is prepared in a sitting position, when performing the salute, move both hands along the thighs to the knees, lean forward at the waist, bow the head, but the head, neck and back in a flat arc, a short pause, slowly straighten the upper body and return to the sitting position. "When performing the salute, move both hands along the thighs to the center of the body, and the rest of the salute is the same as the "True Salute". For the "Kusarigi", simply place your hands at the base of your thighs and slightly lower your body.

Kneeling bow: "true salute" to kneel and sit ready, back, neck straight, upper body tilted forward, while the hands gradually slide down from the knee, the whole palm of the hand on the ground, the tips of the two fingers diagonally opposite, the body tilted to the chest and the knee between the only remaining a fist gap (do not just bow your head and not bending over, or bending over and not lowering your head), the body was Lean forward at 45 degrees, pause for a moment, and slowly straighten your upper body. The same salute action should be matched with the breath, bending the waist to exhale, straighten the body when the inhalation, the speed and others to maintain consistency. The "salute" method is similar to the "true salute", but only the first half of both hands on the ground (the second hand above the knuckles on the ground can be), the body was about 55 degrees forward leaning; perform the "grass salute" when only two hands fingers on the ground, and the body is tilted forward at about 65 degrees.

Greetings

The usual etiquette is to bow y without shaking hands. Be prepared to exchange business cards. Never address Japanese people by their first names. Only family members and very close friends should be addressed by their first names. When addressing someone as "Mr. So-and-So," add "San" to their last name.

Note;

The topic of taboo conversation in Japan is the Second World War.

Hospitality Gifts

Japanese businessmen often invite their business associates to banquets, which are almost always set up in Japanese restaurants or nightclubs and are so sumptuous that they often last for hours. Entertaining guests in a private home is a rare event. If you do go to a Japanese home as a guest, take off your hat and gloves and then your shoes as soon as you step in the door. It is customary to bring the hostess a box of pastries or sweets, not flowers.

If a Japanese person gives you a gift, thank him or her, but wait until he or she insists on giving it to you. Receive gifts with both hands. Japanese people like to be given gifts. Gifts should be well wrapped in pastel-colored paper, without the use of looped decorative knots. They are particularly fond of brandy wine and frozen steak. Gifts in pairs are considered a sign of good luck, so chain buttons for shirt cuffs and matching pens and pencils in pairs are especially popular. Don't get anything in fours, as the Japanese word for "four" is pronounced the same as the word for "death".

Faith taboos

Most Japanese follow Shinto (the inherently Japanese religion of worshiping the imperial ancestral goddess Amaterasu Omikami) and Mahayana Buddhism; there is a belief that one should never eat after lunch.

They dislike the color purple, which they consider to be a sad shade, and they are most averse to the color green, which they consider to be ominous.

The Japanese taboo "4", mainly "4" and "death" pronunciation is similar, very unlucky; they are especially taboo on gift-giving "9", will mistakenly believe that you see the master as a robber. Also taboo three people together "photo". They believe that the center is sandwiched between the left and right, which is an omen of misfortune.

Japanese people have a lot of taboos on flower delivery: taboo gift or arrangement of lotus; when visiting the sick taboo camellia, cyclamen and yellowish and white-colored flowers. Because the camellia withered when the whole flower head to the ground, inauspicious; cyclamen flowers in Japanese pronounced "Hibiki Ramen", and "Hibiki" with the Japanese pronunciation of "death" similar; yellowish and white-colored flowers, which is a traditional Japanese taboo. White-colored flowers, which are traditionally disliked by the Japanese. They are wary of chrysanthemums or things decorated with floral motifs because it is a symbol of the imperial family, and generally do not dare and can not accept such gifts or courtesies.

The Japanese have an aversion to things decorated with foxes and badgers, believing that foxes are "greedy" and "cunning" and badgers "deceitful".

They also hate cats with gold or silver eyes. They thought that seeing such a cat would be demoralizing.

They abstained from touching someone's body, believing it to be a rude gesture.

They avoid reusing containers that have been given to them; reusing hot water in the wash water; clipping nails at night; drying washed things at night; and sleeping or lying with the head facing north (it is said that the head faces north only when the body is mortgaged).

Japanese people to friends to buy things, generally reluctant to ask how much the price, because it is rude, the same way if you comment on the other side to buy things cheap, but also rude. Because the Japanese people do not want to let the other side think that their economic power is low, only buy cheap goods, etc..

Business etiquette

To Japan to engage in business activities, it is advisable to choose in February-June, September-November, the other time the local people are more vacations or busy with the holiday. Japanese people pay much attention to the role of business cards in business activities, they believe that business cards indicate a person's social status, and therefore always carry with them. Japanese businessmen pay more attention to the establishment of long-term partnership. They pay great attention to maintaining the face of the other party in business negotiations, and at the same time hope that the other party will do the same. When giving gifts, the locals pay a lot of attention to class or rank, so don't give them gifts that are too expensive so that they don't mistakenly think you are higher than them for that reason.

Taking the train

When taking the train, passengers should line up in an orderly fashion at the entrance (marked on the ground), and when the train stops, passengers should split into two lines on both sides of the door and wait for the exiting passengers to finish getting off before boarding the train. Whenever the train arrives at a stop, passengers on the train should be careful not to stand at the door, so as not to prevent other passengers from getting on and off the train. In case of peak congestion, passengers standing in the doorway should get off the train first, and then get on the train after the alighting passengers have finished.

When traveling by bus, you should have your change or ticket ready in advance and put it in the vending machine when you get off the bus. You can also buy a "regular ticket" and show it to the driver when you get off the bus. Most shopping malls sell these tickets. All buses in Japan go in the back door and out the front door.

The way to ride a cab is the same as in China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. The cab door is controlled by the driver, and passengers do not have to close the door themselves.

Taking the elevator

Escalators are very common in Japan, and Japanese people are used to stand on the left side of the escalator (Kanto's Tokyo area and Kansai's Osaka area are used to stand on the right side, and the left side of the escalator is in a hurry), leaving the right side for those who are in a hurry to move forward. If two people stand side by side on an escalator at the same time, it will block the passageway and prevent other people from moving. When you take the escalator, you should keep a certain distance from the person in front of you (especially when there is a woman in front of a man) to avoid unnecessary misunderstanding.