The Definitive Book of Body Language

Cultural Differences

In Japan, make sure your shoes are spotlessly clean and in

good condition. Every time a Japanese bows, he inspects them.

The Japanese way of listening to someone involves a repertoire

of smiley nods and polite noises, which have no direct equiva-

lent in other languages. The idea is to encourage you to keep

on talking but this is often misinterpreted by Westerners and

Europeans as agreement. The Head Nod is an almost univer-

sal sign for 'yes', except for the Bulgarians who use the gesture

to signify 'no', and the Japanese who use it for politeness. If

you say something a Japanese doesn't agree with, he'll still say

'yes' - or Hai in Japanese - to keep you talking. A Japanese

'yes' usually means, 'yes, I heard you' and not 'yes, I agree'. For

example, if you say to a Japanese person 'you don't agree, do

you?' he will nod his head and say 'yes' even though he may

not agree. In the Japanese context, it means 'Yes, you are

correct - I don't agree.'

The Japanese are concerned with saving face and have devel-

oped a set of rules to prevent things going wrong so try to

avoid saying no or asking questions when the answer might be

no. The closest a Japanese will get to saying the word no is, 'It

is very difficult,' or 'We will give this positive study' when they

really mean, 'Let's forget the whole thing and go home.'

'You Dirty, Disgusting Pig!' - Nose Blowing

Europeans and Westerners blow their noses into a handkerchief
or tissue while Asians and Japanese spit or snort. Each is
appalled by what they see as the other's 'disgusting' behaviour.
This dramatic cultural difference is the direct result of the
spead of tuberculosis in past centuries. In Europe, tuberculosis
was the AIDS of the era - a disease from which there was little
hope of survival so governments instructed people to blow their
nose to avoid further spreading the disease. This is why West-
erners react so strongly to spitting - a spitting person could