Japanese body language

When we meet each other in America or abroad, Japanese, Koreans, and Chinese people know how to distinguish ourselves from one another. This is not so hard because we know how our body language is different.

First observe this photo. The lady is Ms. Hitomi Soga, a Japanese who was kidnapped by North Korea and recently was able to return to Japan. But her family is still in Korea as of July 2004. Japanese people are hoping she can get reunited with her family soon.

(Incidentally, this news is the equivalent of Iraq war for American people. As American people worry about dying GIs in the field on an everyday basis, Japanese people are worried about when all people North Korea kidnapped can return home.)

The photo shows when Soga-san is receiving encouragement from the prefectural governer, Mr. Hirayama.

NECK, HANDS, BACK, and EYES

What do you read? Analyse the following body parts:

a) neck bone

b) hands

c) back

d) eyes

The neck is slightly forward and not completely straight. This means that you are showing your humbleness. Hands are put together in front of them. This means that you are showing your humbleness. Finally, you are sitting on the chair, but your back is not touching the back of the chair. This means that you are showing your humbleness.

And the eyes, one may avoid constant direct eye contact, which says that you are a humble person.

By denying the confortableness that the chair or sofa provides, you are saying that you don't deserve such a nice treatment, which roughly means "humbleness" in the grammar of Japanese body language.

Furthermore, by not looking at others in a direct way, you are showing that you are humble. I think American people may do this, but perhaps the nuance may be different?

Control of Breathing as a way to show humbleness, AGAIN

Breathing probably is not precisely part of body language, but looking at the photo above, I can hear how these two are breathing and making noise of the air that is coming in and out of their systems. So I have to mention this.

For a man or sometimes for a woman, you will be hearing a noise of air going in and out of the mouth. To be more precise, the air has to go through in between the teeth, so it makes a correct noise. We'd write "su---" in Japanese katakana. In English, maybe something like "ssssssssss"?

The sound is similar to the one you may make when eating Ramen noodles. The sounds means that you are showing that you are being humble. To be more precise, you are warning your audience that you may contradict them. The air sound means this, "I apologize for saying things that may make me sound not humble enough."

Japanese versus American people

Compare above with this photo of American people sitting with one another (one of the persons is President Bush). You notice that the way they sit are more instrumental.

a) The legs are crossed to serve as a table for the documents they are reading.

b) The back of the chair is used to hold the body of a person.

For American people, what is important is to sit confortably. Crossing legs in front of the President does not mean that the person is showing disrespect.

Shocking, Can Americans master all these?

Yes, I met many American people who have mastered all these. I meet them when I go to Japan. In the airplane, I have seen some American people who have obviously mastered all these rather implicit rules of the Japanese language and culture. They apologize when passing by you saying "Sumimasen" with their neck slightly in a forward position, showing many years of controlled training in the Japanese language and accompanying body language. I'd like to give them a big applause for paying so much attention to our cultural codes.