Bowing

This is almost another edition of 'You know you've been in Japan too long when...' but today I tackle the complex question of bowing.

Most westerners know that bowing is something like the 'Japanese handshake'

Well, that is true, although the ACTUAL handshake is increasingly used in typical handshake situations, in keeping with the westernization of Japan. However, bowing has a broader scope than 'How Do You Do?', being employed for various situations not limited to introductions.

We had our opening ceremony for the second school semester yesterday (...there's one for each of the three semesters, as well as closing ceremonies, as well as a graduation ceremony in March and an entrance ceremony for new students in April which PRECEDES the opening ceremony, later in April...), and as usual there were a number of bows.

Kore de nigakki no shigyoushiki wo hajimemasu! Ichido, rei! is how these things start out. To translate, 'Henceforth we begin the opening ceremony. Bow once!' ...everyone bows! Yay! There are about 8-10 bows during this ceremony, including bows to any speaker before and after their speech, and a closing bow.

If you want to imagine a graduation ceremony, take this and multiply it by 60.

Another situation I bow in everyday, although it is somewhat similar to the previous, is Morning Meeting. In the morning at 8:30, the bell goes off and everyone rises to their feet. The leader for the day starts us off and says Ohayo gozaimasu! (Good morning!) and we all in unison say, Ohayo gozaimasu with a bow and then sit back down. It's kind of funny because most people are sitting back down mid-bow, and rarely do people actually stand all the way back up before sitting down. Same at the end, but the greeting is changed to Kyou mo ganbarimasho! (Today also we will do our best), with the response of Ganbarimasho!

Another thing about bows is you almost always return them. One case I can think of where people tend not to though is the service industry. The cashier, the receptionist, the fast food employee, all will do a perfunctory bow after they hand you your change or answer your questions or finish your order. There is also an epidemic of 'phone bowing', similar to the 'phone nod' wherein one bows on the telephone because in a normal situation one would be bowing, but since it is on the telephone it is meaningless except as an indicator of how ingrained ones bow reflex is in.

And I have definitely picked up the reflex. This morning, an old man pulled to the size of the 1-car-sized road that leads to my house to allow me to pass by him. I bowed as I passed by, he bowed back. Common courtesy.