The Japanese art form of extreme politeness

Sanne van Oosten

Strict social norms are a large part of Japanese culture. When visiting this country one cannot help but notice how extremely polite people are towards one another. Any human interaction in public goes hand in hand with bowing and smiles. This is quite different from social norms in China’s public life, as I wrote in the blog the Chinese art form of pushing and shoving. Whereas pushing and shoving is the norm in Chinese public space, extreme politeness is it in Japan. The ways people treat each other in public spaces could not be any more different than the difference between China and Japan.