Bowing in Japan

Bowing in Japan (お辞儀, Ojigi) is the act of lowering one's head or the upper part of the torso, commonly used as a sign of salutation, reverence, apology or gratitude in social or religious situations.^[1]

Historically, ojigi was closely affiliated with the samurai. The rise of the warrior class in the Kamakura period (1185–1333) led to the formations of many well-disciplined manuals on warrior etiquette, which contained instructions on proper ways to bow for the samurai.^[2] The Japanese word お辞儀 (ojigi) was derived from the homophone お時宜, which originally meant "the opportune timing to do something". It did not start to denote specifically the act of bowing in the contemporary sense until late Edo period (1603–1868), when samurai bowing etiquette had spread to the common populace.^[2][3] Nowadays, the ojigi customs based on the doctrines of the Ogasawara School of warrior etiquette—which was founded some 800 years ago— are the most prevalent in society.^[2]

In modern-day Japan, bowing is a fundamental part of social etiquette which is both derivative and representative of Japanese culture, emphasizing respect and social ranks. From everyday greetings to business meetings to funerals, ojigi is ubiquitous in Japanese society and the ability to bow correctly and elegantly is widely considered to be one of the defining qualities of adulthood.^[4] Therefore, even though most Japanese people start bowing at a very young age, many companies in Japan will take the extra effort to specially train their employees on how to bow in business meetings.^[5][6]

Generally speaking, ojigi in Japan can be coarsely divided into two categories: zarei (座礼), bowing while kneeling, and ritsurei (立礼), bowing while standing. In either case, it is considered essential to bend one's body only at the waist and keep one's back completely straight during the bowing gesture. Failure to do so is often thought of as an indication of lethargy, insincerity and even disrespect. Different sub-categories of ojigi vary mainly in the angles of inclination of one's body and the positions of one's hands, which are determined both by the status of the person one is bowing to and the scenario or context of gesture.^[4]