Essential Japanese Manners And Etiquette

Bowing

The art of bowing is so important in this country that children learn it at an early age. There are many different ways to bow in Japan: standing, sitting, and female and male variants. Here are some of them:

• The greeting bow (“eshaku“) of 15° is for people of equal business or social rank.
• The respectful bow (”keirei“) of 30° is a bow for a teacher or a boss.
• The deeply reverent bow (“saikeirei”) of 45° should be used if you apologize or see the emperor.
• The ”begging for your life" bow is probably only used nowadays if you have done something really terrible.

Of course, foreigners are not expected to bow, but the Japanese will be pleased if you return a bow.