2017-10-15 03:30 The greeting that is misunderstood
Y (Kuma's owner)
I have been having a strange feeling for a long time about greetings that foreigners (except Asian) do to Japanese. What I'm writing is the greeting of putting hands together in front of your chest and making a bow. I don't know why but so many foreigners do this greeting to Japanese and I'm sure that almost every Japanese has a very strange feeling. Please remember Japanese don't do that greeting.
Tonight, I saw a TV program of introducing one of the famous historical places, Kyoto. The reporter was an Aussie woman, she wore Japanese traditional clothes "Kimono" and looked nice. However, she put her hands together in front of her chest and made a bow several times. I was disappointed to see that.
I think she tried to do the Japanese greeting that she believed. What she did was strange to me but she was in Japan and I know she did it because she tried to show her respect to Japanese customs.
But sorry mate, what you did just made Japanese feel strange and maybe they thought "What is she doing?"
I wonder what made people believe that Japanese greet that way? It's incomprehensible, isn't it?
If you have a chance to go to Japan, please remember that greeting isn't a Japanese custom. The bow is a Japanese custom. If you don't get used to bowing, just smile. Smiling is the universal language.