he bows because in Japan the service experience is "par-excellence" he bows to them because the customer is king, you'd only realize this if you'd been to Japan and seen how well the customer is treated there. Its like royalty I've never seen service as good across the world like there.
What a useless job, is his job to say "Thank you" to people who don't even acknowledge his existence? Didn't see anyone bowing back or nodding with the head. I guess in a country that is that populated, useless jobs appear. Same with the elevator ladies, people could just press the button themself.
bowing in japan is like shaking hands or hand waving in europe or america and it's not even considered to be the act of good manner to the japanese people in japan. (i live in japan for 4 years)
Japan is a country of appearances. The train station official may eems so polite, or pathetic depending on your viewpoint, behaving like a feeding flamingo, but he is having very rude thoughts simultaneously. The Chinese say and do one thing, but think another. So, to what extent, are they really polite?
Japan and France are about as opposite as you can get with regards to mentality in serivices. In France, especially Paris, the attitude is that the staff is your equal and you have to treat the staff in an indentical manner to how they treat you. In Japan, the person offering the services often demeans themself to the customer. (Yes bowing is polite but ultimately the meaning behind bowing is some form of submission.)
But let me correct your misunderstanding that The Japanese often show disrespect to an "outgroup" if they are considered inferior. Its not true. Japanese dont often change the attitude to foreigners based on whether they are inferior or not. If youve felt being treated like that by stupid Japanese before, please ignore them. Theyre few and very poor Japanese who cant live without doing so.
Thanks kensan. I know there is an ignorant minority in any country who treat foreigners badly.. but it DOES happen, even if it is a minority.
I love living in Japan but many westerners think Japan is perfectly harmonious. They imagine samurai & geisha walking around bowing to each other & uttering mysterious Buddhist proverbs.. and sometimes even when they live there they still have these idealistic rose-tinted glasses on.
Japan is a real place, & there are polite people & rude people, simple.
Wah~The train guard completely said Ohayou Gozaimasu and Arigatou Gozaimasu to the people taking the train~not just dat..even all Japanese bowed with respect to each other~
I dont think that we should label any country as one grouping. We cant say that japan is polite after seeing what appears to be a train guard greeting people at a train station. Im sure there are polite and not so polite people everywhere.
Although in some aspects, I see their point of view. I'm a Polish girl, and I sometimes shop at Polish stores. However, I don't speak Polish to the employees because I am more comfortable with English.
When I spoke English, they treated me 100% differently. It was VERY rude. VERY. :( I was heartbroken because now I knew how it was.
But they were that way because THEY were uncomfortable speaking English!
I know both rude and polite Japanese. Rudeness is like a teenager trend that may extend well over puberty in some cases. I think this trend started in the early 80's you can see this behaviour being critisized in mangas such as "Yu Yu Hakusho". Today it has gotten worse. Some Japanese Highschool teachers live in fear of being stabbed every day by their pupils who have no respect whatsoever for their teachers. I think the youth doesn't want to be trapped behind the false curtain of politeness...
It's not just a teenagers' problem. It's a problem that permeates every aspect of Japanese society that is not a service situation. The Japanese often show disrespect to an "outgroup" if they are considered inferior. They will treat a visiting American businessman with utmost respect, but a foreign person who has taken up residence will often be disrespected on a daily basis.
I'm Japanese. We might show impolite attitude to others who don't belong to own group on a daily life here. However as long as you are a guest, you should be treated politely as VIP. I think the same thing can be said in other countries more or less. (to be continued,)
Yes you are right, it is the same in any other country... but we're not talking about this in order to criticise Japan itself, but to criticise the idea of a "Japanese Dream" where life is always harmonious.
I don't think Japan is specially more polite than other countries *in general*.
However, Japanese people are probably among the MOST polite people in the world in shops, stations and other places where they are working and offering a service.
He/she always has a great pressure like I have to behave politely to any customers as the face of companies which hired him/her on duty. The relationship b/w a company and the employee resembles a relationship b/w a clan and the retainer in the Edo era. Therefore, he/she is forced to be very polite to any customers not to disgrace the company which hired him/her, its not the only reason , though. So once he/she is off duty, you might see him/her behaving very rudely to others.
@wabawoba well.... i know many South Korean people like you try to say bad about Japanese on the internet. I know you hate us. I think You showed your "hate" feeling to Japanese so that you might have gotten some "disrespected" behaviors. If you act normally, there are no reasons that you get horrible attitude.
@ayu0509 I'm very sorry for the confusion ayu. You didn't understand me correctly. I'm not South Korean, I'm English and I lived in your wonderful counrtry for 5 years. I have lived in South Korea for 2 years now and I love both countries. I lvoe Japan with all my heart and I did not wish to be hurtful.
However, I just wanted to point out that the 100% perfect image of Japan is not realistic.
I'm very proud of how Japanese people react to the horrible accusations by Korean and Chinese people
@ayu0509 When you criticise something it doesn't mean that you hate it. There is nothing in this world which is perfect, and it's not good to pretend that it is.
I have never shown any hate feeling to Japanese. I have always respected the culture of any country I visit. In fact when I went there for the first time I was like a child. I thought Japan was perfect until I was treated badly. In my 5 years there, I even had an adult ask me why my skin was so dark & did I not wash my skin everyday?
I was SO surprised... but I just made an excuse for the person. "Maybe they've never seen a black person before in real life", "maybe they're from a small town", "maybe... maybe... maybe"...
If I was in England that would be EXTREMELY rude, but I never wanted to disturb the peace, I just answered as if it was a normal question. That's the kind of person I am.
If I could speek their langueage, I'd go there. I just love how polite they are I mean look at that video. The whole politness would bright up my day it's simply awesome. If you try beeing that polite in other big countrys I think you just get laughed at :/
Im British & live in Japan. I've found that Japanese people are extremely polite. It stems from their ideology of in-group equality.
If you VISIT Japan you'll see the polite face of Japan. If you LIVE here though, you'll be constantly exasperated... for Japanese culture is about wearing a mask called the "tatemae" which is the representation of yourself to others.
This ideology has its benefits, but also makes other aspects of life extremely difficult. Lack of real friendship, prejudice etc...
Japanese people are the most polite race in the world. people from other countries( such as European, British, american, Chinese, Korean,etc. )are rude people.
xiaoxiao19: I couldn't agree more. I went to Japan in 2004 and was very delighted at how extremely polite and courteous the Japanese peopel were and how their tidiness keep their country so clean. After that I went back to visit Hong Kong and China and see how loud, rude, dirty, and uncivilized Chinese people are...kinda makes me start to wonder why Japanese look down on Chinese people.
Japanese civilness is situational & conditional. In SERVICE situations bowing & greetings are expected. In DAILY situations though many Japanese people can be extremely rude.
In Nagoya many will rudely stare down foreigners (not mere curiosity, Nagoya has a huge foreign population). If they bump into you on the street 90% of the time they will not say "sorry". They'll push & elbow to get in front or change seats in a train so as not to sit next to you. I rarely see these things in Britain.
You got that right. I have friends who live in Japan who tell me the same. When I was in Japan, I was screamt for being stupid. I happen to know the Japanese word for stupid :) On the whole though, the country seems polite overall, though certainly not "paradise".
These signs are most likely just because Japanese people are afraid of talking to a human that can't talk Japanese, it's not that racist, my proof is that if they were that racist they wouldn't have let foreigners with Japanese friends be welcomed.
poor, no one bows back! I would if I could visit Japan. Well, maybe I won't be welcome without a friend :? I know there are some signs like "Hey foreign piss off".
Most polite? Eh, not ALWAYS the politest. *pokes my name* I do like Japan my name is proof xD But they are sort of a racist country to foreingers sometimes. *note the signs around like: no forigners just Japanese or Foreigners not welcomed but Foreigners with a Japanese friend are welcomed* But overall, yeah they are polite. :)
No freaking way that will happen in the netherlands. Besides everybody would just consider it as something weird.
eowen515 5 months ago
Not only are they super-polite, they are super-helpful. I know from experience!
WABBITS8 8 months ago 5
he bows because in Japan the service experience is "par-excellence" he bows to them because the customer is king, you'd only realize this if you'd been to Japan and seen how well the customer is treated there. Its like royalty I've never seen service as good across the world like there.
seonidh 8 months ago 3
Good men keeping the spirit alive !!
braver than many !!
RobCardIV 9 months ago 3
It's also for security.
a48gno22r 1 year ago
What a useless job, is his job to say "Thank you" to people who don't even acknowledge his existence? Didn't see anyone bowing back or nodding with the head. I guess in a country that is that populated, useless jobs appear. Same with the elevator ladies, people could just press the button themself.
Shainingusutaru 1 year ago
sad.. its like soo quiet.
IGotPaks 1 year ago
he should really make a robot version of himself that does that every xx seconds.. or so
mikeccuk2006 1 year ago
they should bow back. i feel sorry for him.
immagodify 1 year ago 8
So what do you do for a living?
Oh i bow my head, saying "good day" and repeat....
O_O'
smellyface101 1 year ago
seems like a hotel usher got the wrong job.. haha!
FingerstyleTV 1 year ago
bowing in japan is like shaking hands or hand waving in europe or america and it's not even considered to be the act of good manner to the japanese people in japan. (i live in japan for 4 years)
xxxxxUndisputedxxxxx 1 year ago
@xxxxxUndisputedxxxxx Japanes efeel obliged to do it becuz everyone does it.You cant see and read the minds of someone who bows at you.
BafflinBook 1 year ago
Japan is a country of appearances. The train station official may eems so polite, or pathetic depending on your viewpoint, behaving like a feeding flamingo, but he is having very rude thoughts simultaneously. The Chinese say and do one thing, but think another. So, to what extent, are they really polite?
TheEurozhongguo 1 year ago
Japan and France are about as opposite as you can get with regards to mentality in serivices. In France, especially Paris, the attitude is that the staff is your equal and you have to treat the staff in an indentical manner to how they treat you. In Japan, the person offering the services often demeans themself to the customer. (Yes bowing is polite but ultimately the meaning behind bowing is some form of submission.)
ragerancher 2 years ago
that must be very good for his back if he gets paid to do that all day :)
hellohal3 2 years ago
yay lol
actionwork 2 years ago
mate its a good job
hellohal3 2 years ago
thanks
actionwork 2 years ago
Wow I Love that in Japan they have good manners
brodiger 2 years ago 3
@brodiger Don't forget that being overly nice/kind to others can be seen as arrogant in Japan.
Xilosphere 1 year ago
@Xilosphere Yeah I Know but Japans kindness is so sweet And Aggie to what you said
brodiger 1 year ago
But let me correct your misunderstanding that The Japanese often show disrespect to an "outgroup" if they are considered inferior. Its not true. Japanese dont often change the attitude to foreigners based on whether they are inferior or not. If youve felt being treated like that by stupid Japanese before, please ignore them. Theyre few and very poor Japanese who cant live without doing so.
kensan0809 2 years ago 10
Thanks kensan. I know there is an ignorant minority in any country who treat foreigners badly.. but it DOES happen, even if it is a minority.
I love living in Japan but many westerners think Japan is perfectly harmonious. They imagine samurai & geisha walking around bowing to each other & uttering mysterious Buddhist proverbs.. and sometimes even when they live there they still have these idealistic rose-tinted glasses on.
Japan is a real place, & there are polite people & rude people, simple.
wabawoba 2 years ago
There are ALOT of wonderful people in the world, we just unfortunately have the habit to focus on the very FEW bad ones. :)
DrazzanDuo 2 years ago
I concur with you.
kensan0809 2 years ago
He greets the customers because it's his job and he's getting paid for it. Not because he's polite.
You'll see the same in some department store. Female attendants in uniform hired by the store greet you at the bottom of the escalator.
allgoo19 2 years ago
Japan..I Love You!
dandy1854 2 years ago
Comment removed
omsct 3 years ago
Wah~The train guard completely said Ohayou Gozaimasu and Arigatou Gozaimasu to the people taking the train~not just dat..even all Japanese bowed with respect to each other~
WaR1436 3 years ago
I dont think that we should label any country as one grouping. We cant say that japan is polite after seeing what appears to be a train guard greeting people at a train station. Im sure there are polite and not so polite people everywhere.
:)
willma88 3 years ago
I can always hear
OHAYOO GOZAIMASU
OHAYOO GOZAIMASU
OHAYOO GOZAIMASU
OHAYOO GOZAIMASU
OHAYOO GOZAIMASU
OHAYOO GOZAIMASU!!!!
many times when i visit Japan.
justinlihai 3 years ago
Wow, that is kind of .. disheartening.
Although in some aspects, I see their point of view. I'm a Polish girl, and I sometimes shop at Polish stores. However, I don't speak Polish to the employees because I am more comfortable with English.
When I spoke English, they treated me 100% differently. It was VERY rude. VERY. :( I was heartbroken because now I knew how it was.
But they were that way because THEY were uncomfortable speaking English!
Sucks. :/
nohsoephe 3 years ago
I know both rude and polite Japanese. Rudeness is like a teenager trend that may extend well over puberty in some cases. I think this trend started in the early 80's you can see this behaviour being critisized in mangas such as "Yu Yu Hakusho". Today it has gotten worse. Some Japanese Highschool teachers live in fear of being stabbed every day by their pupils who have no respect whatsoever for their teachers. I think the youth doesn't want to be trapped behind the false curtain of politeness...
picketf 3 years ago 2
It's not just a teenagers' problem. It's a problem that permeates every aspect of Japanese society that is not a service situation. The Japanese often show disrespect to an "outgroup" if they are considered inferior. They will treat a visiting American businessman with utmost respect, but a foreign person who has taken up residence will often be disrespected on a daily basis.
wabawoba 2 years ago
I'm Japanese. We might show impolite attitude to others who don't belong to own group on a daily life here. However as long as you are a guest, you should be treated politely as VIP. I think the same thing can be said in other countries more or less. (to be continued,)
kensan0809 2 years ago
Yes you are right, it is the same in any other country... but we're not talking about this in order to criticise Japan itself, but to criticise the idea of a "Japanese Dream" where life is always harmonious.
I don't think Japan is specially more polite than other countries *in general*.
However, Japanese people are probably among the MOST polite people in the world in shops, stations and other places where they are working and offering a service.
wabawoba 2 years ago
He/she always has a great pressure like I have to behave politely to any customers as the face of companies which hired him/her on duty. The relationship b/w a company and the employee resembles a relationship b/w a clan and the retainer in the Edo era. Therefore, he/she is forced to be very polite to any customers not to disgrace the company which hired him/her, its not the only reason , though. So once he/she is off duty, you might see him/her behaving very rudely to others.
kensan0809 2 years ago
@wabawoba well.... i know many South Korean people like you try to say bad about Japanese on the internet. I know you hate us. I think You showed your "hate" feeling to Japanese so that you might have gotten some "disrespected" behaviors. If you act normally, there are no reasons that you get horrible attitude.
ayu0509 1 year ago
@ayu0509 There are even more hateful japanese on Youtube insulting peopleon politics.Have you failed to notice a single videos of theme??
BafflinBook 1 year ago
@ayu0509 I'm very sorry for the confusion ayu. You didn't understand me correctly. I'm not South Korean, I'm English and I lived in your wonderful counrtry for 5 years. I have lived in South Korea for 2 years now and I love both countries. I lvoe Japan with all my heart and I did not wish to be hurtful.
However, I just wanted to point out that the 100% perfect image of Japan is not realistic.
I'm very proud of how Japanese people react to the horrible accusations by Korean and Chinese people
wabawoba 1 year ago
@ayu0509 When you criticise something it doesn't mean that you hate it. There is nothing in this world which is perfect, and it's not good to pretend that it is.
I have never shown any hate feeling to Japanese. I have always respected the culture of any country I visit. In fact when I went there for the first time I was like a child. I thought Japan was perfect until I was treated badly. In my 5 years there, I even had an adult ask me why my skin was so dark & did I not wash my skin everyday?
wabawoba 1 year ago
I was SO surprised... but I just made an excuse for the person. "Maybe they've never seen a black person before in real life", "maybe they're from a small town", "maybe... maybe... maybe"...
If I was in England that would be EXTREMELY rude, but I never wanted to disturb the peace, I just answered as if it was a normal question. That's the kind of person I am.
wabawoba 1 year ago
If I could speek their langueage, I'd go there. I just love how polite they are I mean look at that video. The whole politness would bright up my day it's simply awesome. If you try beeing that polite in other big countrys I think you just get laughed at :/
Nikeyshoedude 3 years ago
Im British & live in Japan. I've found that Japanese people are extremely polite. It stems from their ideology of in-group equality.
If you VISIT Japan you'll see the polite face of Japan. If you LIVE here though, you'll be constantly exasperated... for Japanese culture is about wearing a mask called the "tatemae" which is the representation of yourself to others.
This ideology has its benefits, but also makes other aspects of life extremely difficult. Lack of real friendship, prejudice etc...
wabawoba 3 years ago
Japanese people are the most polite race in the world. people from other countries( such as European, British, american, Chinese, Korean,etc. )are rude people.
So Japanese people= polite people
non- japanese people= rude people
xiaoxiao19 3 years ago
xiaoxiao19: I couldn't agree more. I went to Japan in 2004 and was very delighted at how extremely polite and courteous the Japanese peopel were and how their tidiness keep their country so clean. After that I went back to visit Hong Kong and China and see how loud, rude, dirty, and uncivilized Chinese people are...kinda makes me start to wonder why Japanese look down on Chinese people.
socalazn168 3 years ago
Japanese civilness is situational & conditional. In SERVICE situations bowing & greetings are expected. In DAILY situations though many Japanese people can be extremely rude.
In Nagoya many will rudely stare down foreigners (not mere curiosity, Nagoya has a huge foreign population). If they bump into you on the street 90% of the time they will not say "sorry". They'll push & elbow to get in front or change seats in a train so as not to sit next to you. I rarely see these things in Britain.
wabawoba 3 years ago
I love living in Japan but it's not the paradise it's made out to be.
I get shouted & sworn at almost weekly on the street for accidentally bumping into someone's shoulder.
Yesterday I saw a man knock down a row of 10 bicycles because they were in his way.
You hear "Uyoku dantai" nationalist vans screeching abuse at the Chinese.
YET when you go into a shop everyone is extremely polite. "Irrashaimaseeee!", "omatase shimashita".
People in Osaka are generally much more friendly & polite.
wabawoba 3 years ago
You got that right. I have friends who live in Japan who tell me the same. When I was in Japan, I was screamt for being stupid. I happen to know the Japanese word for stupid :) On the whole though, the country seems polite overall, though certainly not "paradise".
thibaulthalpern 2 years ago
wadawoba: "I love living in Japan but..."
Very true.
But more friendly & polite in Osaka? I'm not so sure.
allgoo19 2 years ago
@xiaoxiao19 wtf are you talking about? all asians are usually considered polite in america. rude people are like moroccans, french, etc
rocky666555 1 year ago
These signs are most likely just because Japanese people are afraid of talking to a human that can't talk Japanese, it's not that racist, my proof is that if they were that racist they wouldn't have let foreigners with Japanese friends be welcomed.
UNaruto1990 4 years ago 13
neat
Prezsama 4 years ago
poor, no one bows back! I would if I could visit Japan. Well, maybe I won't be welcome without a friend :? I know there are some signs like "Hey foreign piss off".
p4lestina 4 years ago
SORRY! I was on my sister's account she never logged off. This is my account heh.
EpicJapan 4 years ago
Most polite? Eh, not ALWAYS the politest. *pokes my name* I do like Japan my name is proof xD But they are sort of a racist country to foreingers sometimes. *note the signs around like: no forigners just Japanese or Foreigners not welcomed but Foreigners with a Japanese friend are welcomed* But overall, yeah they are polite. :)
Kashster 4 years ago