I have been in Japan for four months now, but I continue to learn new things every day. One of the first things I observed in Japan was how often people bow. It happens every time you say hello and goodbye to someone. It happens every time you thank someone or when you meet or make eye contact with a stranger. It happens when you enter or exit a temple. It happens when you enter or exit the office of a superior, like a boss or teacher. It also happens hen you inconvenience someone by, for example, walking between then when they are taking a picture. It is simultaneously a way of saying “I’m sorry” and of showing the other person respect. In my opinion, it is a social lubricant, which makes everything in society run smoothly.
Does America have something similar? After thinking about it for a while, I realized that a similar thing in America is the smile and wave. We smile or wave at people all the time. If we make eye contact with a stranger in a train or bus, we will smile. If a car stops to let us cross the road, we will wave. A smile and wave is a way of showing people that you are nice and that you think they are nice as well. It is not used for everything a bow is used for, such as an apology. But in Japan, the smile and wave is rarely used at all.
