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Joined 3 years ago
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Cake day: August 20th, 2023

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  • Yeah, talking cultures broadly I agree, but the phrasing of how respect permeates “all aspects of daily life” sticks in my craw.

    There is a literal physical language and ettiquette to showing the proper amount of respect: If you do a very deep bow for something that only calls for a minor one, you’re basicslly acting like a kiss-ass, being overly dramatic. If you do a minor bow for a situation that calls for a deep bow, you’re being flippant, insulting, not taking things seriously.

    This isn’t really unique to Japan, except maybe for the fact that it manifests itself as a bow. If you owe someone a really big apology and you say “Yeah, oops” you’ll come off as flippant. If you minorly inconvenience someone and you say “I’m so deeply sorry for the grave harm I’ve done to you!” you sound insincere.


  • You usually get the welcoming phrases, but that’s not unique to Japan. The goodbye phrase is less common I think, to the point where I’m not sure which one you’re talking about–maybe “mata yoroshiku onegaishimasu”? Bows aren’t super common either, or it could be because I live in the countryside. Maybe they’re more polite in Tokyo or something.

    On an overall average I’d agree that society operates on a more considerate level, like you’d never have someone playing music on their phone on the train or something like that. So maybe it’s just the phrasing that bothered me. “Respect (how much?) in ALL aspects of daily (down to the most mundane) life” just makes it sound like “honorable citizens would never dream of showing an ounce of dishonor!”