Greeting

Japanese Greeting
Thirty years ago, the Japanese greeting was a bow, and the American greeting was a handshake, a hug, or a kiss. When you bow, you must bow as low and as long as the other person, and both must come up together. If you come up too soon, you bow again until both rise up in unison. Today, the traditional greetings are still the same in both countries but I see some changes. The Japanese have been trying to be westernized ever since they opened the country in late 1800s, and they are experts at importing western customs and turning them into their own. Their greeting is one of many examples. It is difficult today to ignore the rest of the world and cling to their traditional bow, for example, imagine the scene when athletes score high marks in gymnastics during Olympics or figure skating contests while TV cameras are right on their faces. A deep bow to the coach to show gratitude for the hard training does not seem to appear international in the 21st century. The Japanese feel that they should join in the rest of the world and demonstrate their feelings in a more outgoing and passionate manner. They shyly started employing western greetings such as handshaking and hugging, though public physical touching is still uncomfortable and unnatural for them. Japanese men often handshake with a simultaneous bow. Just the other day, I saw several Japanese engineers visiting China on a TV program. A dozen men from both countries were handshaking and bowing like crazy. No matter how hard they try, they can never abandon their good old bow.

American Greeting
In America, people still handshake, hug, or kiss. My husband’s family hugs each member at the beginning and at the end of a get-together. His grandmother and great aunts used to kiss right on the lips. I sometimes saw some food particles left on the corner of their mouths from the previous meal and did not appreciate tasting them. Now, fifteen of us line up and hug each other. It is quite a ceremony and requires patience and order. No more kisses, thank goodness.

In recent years, American people seem to hug and kiss on the cheek more and more than handshake. Even men are hugging almost to the point of it is too much. Young and cool people are bumping fists and exchanging high fives. Someone pointed out that handshaking is unsanitary and should be abandoned because you do not know where the other person’s hand has been. I agree. After shaking many hands at a party, you should never eat finger food without washing your hands first.