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leoboiko
4th December 2002, 21:23
Being a country guy and a computer geek, I'm not exactly a good exemple of civilized manners. I plan to someday try a Masters and a Doctorate degree in Japan, so I guess I should worry about this. What books and websites about Japanese etiquette would you recommend?

(Of course, <a href="http://www.google.com">Google</a> is my friend, but I'm wanting some human advice :) ).

leoboiko
6th December 2002, 13:49
By the way, just in the case you are someone searching the forums, the most useful page I found was <a href="http://www.ogasawara-ryu.com/en/indexe.html">Ogasawara-ryu</a> . <a href="http://www.furyu.com/archives/issue6/Seiza.html">This article</a>. at Furyu answered all my doubts about seiza... except wich foot should be on top of wich :karatekid

Joseph Svinth
7th December 2002, 01:56
Check the business section of a bookstore having a large selection of books on Asia, and usually you'll find various books on good manners in Japan.

For lists of such stores around the world, try http://sun3.lib.uci.edu/~ltanji/asianv.htm and http://iias.leidenuniv.nl/gateway/institutional/booksell.html

Daniel Lee
7th December 2002, 02:20
Leo,

I've found universities in Japan, while being about as international as any university I've visited, appreciate your efforts to respect and learn about local cultural traditions - go with Joe's advice about day-to-day business/daily life ettiquette.

There are several martial arts ettiquette (reigi saho for budo) related books - detailing a lot of information such as the correct way to enter a home, bowing, handling weapons etc.. A good resource for those of us that don't have the time to focus on tea ceremony (another excellent source for studying courtesy in Japan). Ettiquette does differ from school to school as well though.

Best,

rebelfilms
21st January 2003, 17:15
Okay, i have a few links, they are on an old website that i made ages ago. http://www.angelfire.com/zine2/samuraiworld/samlinks.html but most of them still work, and its the info i learnt from originally. Also may i reccomend the books by Stephen Turnbull?
Take care

Jeff Hamacher
21st January 2003, 23:41
Leonardo,

don't worry yourself too much about learning and following "proper Japanese etiquette". i think that the suggestions from Mr. Svinth (i.e. books on etiquette for travellers or businesspeople) are probably all you really need, at least until you decide to get involved in more traditional pursuits such as martial arts, tea ceremony, and so forth. learn the more important "rules", especially the ones for first meeting Japanese employers or teachers, new neighbours, etc., and then keep picking up knowledge while you're actually living here.

bear in mind that if you try to behave exactly as traditionally-minded Japanese do, you will get some negative reactions. not all Japanese behave like actors in jidai-geki, and they get annoyed at people who do act like that. you can earn a reputation for being kuso-majime, literally "sh*t-serious", if you're not careful.