... Body Language in Your Pocket

Take a trip to the far corners of the globe with Mr. World Traveler and discover particularities in gestures, clothing, food, greetings. All the same? Far from it!

Whether for work or for play, this book helps you to better understand the people of Japan. Enjoy!

Contents

Inhalt

General

Greeting

Personal space

Clothing

Gestures

Bowing

Smiling

On the telephone

Sitting

At the office or restaurant

Gestures made with the fingers

Pointing and beckoning

Swearing in Japanese

Refusals and regrets

Typical feminine gestures

Numbers

Colours

Bibliography

Acknowledgements

A dear friend of mine was acting as an intermediary during negotiations with people from Russia, France and business partners from Dubai: a typical scene for our times. Intercultural encounters that are the stuff of everyday life across all media.

He turned to me with the following questions: What should he pay attention to during this intercultural meeting in terms of body language? What should he categorically avoid?

I started to research this topic, referring to appropriate literature, and discovered very few existing texts. It is time, I thought, to deal with this topic in a more detailed manner.

Along with literary and web-based research, I also took the time to talk to as many people as possible from the countries in question. With all those to whom I spoke I encountered enthusiasm and delight that someone was addressing this topic. It reinforced in me the idea of how important body language is to interpersonal communication and how often we intuitively feel or anticipate what is correct and thus understand, despite not being able to speak a word of the language.

Using a fun approach this book familiarizes the reader with the gestures and particularities of foreign countries, thus encouraging a respectful interaction between cultures.

In order to illustrate the gestures, Alfredo Cassono designed the character, “Mr. World Traveler”.

The handy guidebooks in this series show a collection of gestures unique to different countries. Knowledge of these gestures can prevent certain misunderstandings and shall lead to an improved intercultural and interreligious understanding. The collection is to be understood as a compendium that can be consistently supplemented.

Further volumes are currently being prepared.

General

Japan is a country full of living traditions and religious laws. The dominant religions are Buddhism and Shintoism.

In the “Land of the Rising Sun” it is generally applicable to be sparing with body language. Laughter, eye contact, body contact as well as speaking speed and volume should be used prudently.

Due to the history of the country in which it was deemed circumspect not to stand out in the crowd or to disrupt the general harmony, a unique form of non-verbal communication was developed. Correspondingly, a name evolved for this particular form of non-verbal communication: “haragei” – the so-called stomach art. In order to decode this language, experience and practice is required. Most often one is reliant on the abilities of good middlemen or interpreters in order to understand that which remains unsaid.

The proverbial “saving face” and living in harmony with others have more significance than telling the truth. In this manner, a differentiation takes place in Japan between inner truth, “honne” –

Greeting

Personal space

Clothing

Gestures

Bowing

Smiling

On the telephone

Sitting

At the office or restaurant

Gestures made with the fingers

Pointing and beckoning

Swearing in Japanese

Refusals and regrets

Typical feminine gestures

Numbers

Colours

Bibliography

Acknowledgements