To Bow

Angelika Trying to delve into the higher art of bowing as a Westerner is not an easy task. The status of the person you are interacting with dictates the depth of the bow and the order in which the two people bow to each other. No Japanese person expects a tourist to know how to bow. However, bowing can be contagious. In any case, I always automatically started to lower my head and perform a kind of bobbing motion, which regularly caused Michael to burst into laughter. Bows are more associated with formal situations, meaning that friends, for example, do not bow to each other.

Immediately after our arrival, we had our first experiences with bowing. We took the so-called limousine bus, which is actually a regular coach, from the airport to the city of Tokyo. Before we set off, the attendant, who had previously taken care of tearing the tickets, entered the bus, unleashed a torrent of Japanese words on the passengers, and bowed deeply. It was amusing because he was a very young guy with dyed red hair and a slightly punk hairstyle. We also experienced bowing when traveling by train, where the conductor would stand at the front of the carriage before checking tickets and bow. How about that for the German Federal Railway? I particularly liked it when a construction worker, who stopped us pedestrians for a moment to allow a truck to enter the construction site, bowed deeply and murmured an apology. By the way, he was wearing white gloves.