The Culture
Now let's learn about how people in Japan greet each other.
How do you generally greet your friends? Do you shake hands? Do you simply wave? High five them? Do you hug them? Do you just say "hi"? For the most part, in the United States, we say "hi" and sometimes wave when we greet our friends.
In Japan, we seldom shake hands, hug each other, nor kiss each other. Instead, we bow to each other. For example, when we meet someone for the first time, we bow, saying "Hajimemashite. Doozo yoroshiku." We bow to each other while saying "Ohayoo (Good morning)," "Kon'nichiwa (Good afternoon)," "Sayoonara (Good bye), or "Arigatoo (Thank you)," and so forth.
Learn how to bow through "japan-guide.com." Click here.
Culture Focus
Yukichi Fukuzawa (1835-1901) was a representative enlightenment thinker in the Meiji Era. He was a member of the first ever Japanese delegation to the United States in 1860 and learned Western political theory. Fukuzawa advocated "equality of opportunities" in his most well-known book, Gakumon no Susume (An Encouragement of Learning). He also founded Keio University, one of the most prestigious universities in Japan. Now his figure appears in the 10,000-yen bill (worth about 100 US dollars).
Graded Assignments
Please return to the Section 1 Tasks & Assignments folder to complete the graded assignments for Section 1, Part C.
