Bowing

Etiquette manuals and company training usually distinguish three standing bows by the angle of the upper body. The figures are conventions taught in business etiquette, not rules anyone measures, but they give a useful sense of scale.

In everyday life the lightest form dominates. The deepest bow is reserved for moments of real weight – a formal apology, deep gratitude, or at shrines and memorials.

A bow is made from the waist with a straight back, not by curving the spine or only dropping the head. Men usually keep their hands at their sides; women often place their hands together in front of the thighs. The eyes follow the movement down rather than staying fixed on the other person's face.

The rhythm matters as much as the angle: lower smoothly, pause briefly at the bottom and rise a little more slowly than you went down. A quick bob looks casual; a longer pause looks more sincere. When two people bow to each other, the one of lower status or the one expressing greater gratitude tends to bow slightly deeper and rise last.

Bowing developed from court and warrior etiquette; schools of formal manners such as the Ogasawara school, which codified samurai etiquette from the medieval period onwards, shaped the forms still taught today. In the modern period the gesture spread to every level of society and became part of school, company and service-industry training.

The underlying idea is humility: by lowering the head, one shows the other person that one places them above oneself. This is why the depth of a bow tracks the social relationship and the situation, and why an apology is judged partly by the bow that accompanies it.

Shop and restaurant staff bow to customers as they enter and leave; customers typically respond with a nod or not at all, which is not considered rude. Station staff bow when entering or leaving a train carriage, and many people bow when finishing a phone call even though the other side cannot see it.

Apologies carry the heaviest bows. Public apologies by executives, with a long, deep saikeirei in front of cameras, are a recognisable feature of Japanese corporate life.

Visitors are not expected to calculate angles. A modest bow of the head and shoulders when greeting, thanking or apologising is appropriate in almost every situation, and many Japanese people will offer a handshake to foreigners instead. Following the other person's lead – returning a bow with a bow, a handshake with a handshake – is the simplest rule.

Combining a bow and a handshake at the same time is common in international business and is not a mistake, but it is best not to bow while maintaining firm eye contact, which can look like a challenge in martial-arts contexts. Exaggeratedly deep bows by foreigners can come across as parody.

A bow nearly always accompanies a phrase, and the phrase usually comes first or together with the bow.