Here is what an American experienced on his first business trip to Tokyo:
When he first met the Japanese counterpart, a beautiful young lady, out of business etiquette the American initiated a handshake after self introduction. But his gentle manner was turned down by a 90 degree bow made by the Japanese lady. He felt embarrassed being left there standing alone with a hand waving in the air. But quickly he realized that actually the Japanese lady is bowing to show her respect to him. “While in Rome do as Rome does” as he thought, he bowed to the Japanese lady in return. But this time he found himself even weirder: his attempt to keep eye contact with the Japanese lady made him bowing down with his face up. In addition, he was unsure how long he should keep his head down.
Although it was awkward at the start, they got along well on the project. Then went it was time for lunch! He was being brought to a famous ramen restaurant by his Japanese colleagues. He was shocked by the loud noise all the Japanese people were making when eating ramen. Being not used to chopsticks, he used a fork to eat the noodles and tried making some noise.
Then he realized there were people staring at him, which made him felt uncomfortable. “Did I get anything on my face?” he wondered. However, there was nothing on his face just that he was eating too quietly. Although making noise while eating is considered rude in the US. In Japan making loud noise when eating ramen is a way to show their appreciation to the chef and to deliver the message that the noodles are savory. Our American friend’s trying to be polite turned out to be just impolite in this eastern country.
Therefore in order to communicate effectively with people from a different culture. It is necessary to learn each other’s culture norm and etiquette, and follow the local practice.
我的简介
- lovely Lu ^_^
- Final year at Industrial & Systems Engineering, National University of Singapore.
Hi Fenglu,
回复删除You have written a very interesting blog on Japanese culture.While maintaining eye contact with the other party is a form of respect,it must be really straining for the American to bow with his head up.
I just realised that slurping noodles is a form of aprreciation for the savory meal.Even though I eat noodles in Japanese restaurants in Singapore, I never tried slurping the noodles as i am afraid it would irritate others.Perhaps I should try that the next time I enter a Jap restaurant and see what reactions i get.
I am puzzled by the correct angle one needs to make for a taking a bow. Perhaps you can enlighten us during class.
Nice Blog. :)
Hi Feng Lu,
回复删除I must say that you have indeed bring out an interesting scenario. I still remember an incident when I was making very loud noise while eating food that was cooked by mum, she reprimanded me for eating like a pig. Although I wanted to show my appreciation to her too but she did not get the message. Thus I was heart broken at that time. Nevertheless, this lesson that you have taught us is that to merge with one's culture when you are in their environment in order to adapt well.
Ji Fang
Wow, thank you for the culture lesson Feng Lu. At first, I thought that eating noodles quietly would not be cause for staring, but then thought that if someone came to US and ate noodles loudly, it would certainly not escape notice.
回复删除Your story seems to raise the question: without proper training or preparation in a culture's customs, how long would it take someone to learn?
It seems the man in the story was pretty sharp and tried to adapt quickly. There was some awkwardness but good intent shown through in the first instance. Regarding the noodles, I think eating loudly would take some practice after a lifetime of eating quietly. It is probably much more complicated than just that - for example, how loud can I be, and is it ok to risk getting some food on my shirt as a result?
Interesting story.
Best,
Matt