A Bow Is Not A ‘Grovel’

I know taking shots at The Mail is like shooting fish in a barrel, but this one got my ire up in its pure ignorance.

For a start let’s take ‘BOW’ in capitals. Why?  is it  ‘Look at the freakish Orientals, they still ‘BOW’ OMG! ‘

Bowing in Japan is traditional, it is the equivalent (and a bit more) of shaking hands,  you cannot get through the day without bowing,  you even find yourself doing it when talking on the phone. For instance, you know when a car stops at a zebra crossing to let you cross, halfway across you give a little wave to acknowledge the driver to say ‘thanks for stopping’* In Japan, you do a little semi-turn towards the driver and a little bow, in fact I had to train myself out of it when I returned, in case people thought I was being rude and ignoring them. The waitress bows when giving you the bill, you bow when giving her the money, it is politeness and Japan is all about being polite.

The etiquette of bowing is complex, there’s no way a Westerner such as I could understand all the degrees / nuances  involved, it can range from about 5 degrees  to the full 90 degrees as shown in the picture [more later] and also the length of the bow. A junior will give a deeper, longer bow  to a manager when they meet, out of respect for his seniority (but the manager will still bow in response).

At Mitsukoshi in Tokyo (Think Selfridges + Harrods pre-Fayed, but posher) They have two girls in each lift, as you are entering and leaving the lift, one gives a standard bow, the other a deeper bow reserved for high status individuals, that way no-one is unknowingly offended.

Not a ‘Grovel’

How does the dictionary define ‘grovel’

Grovel (third-person singular simple present)

1. To be prone on the ground.
2. To crawl
3. To abase oneself before another person.
4. To be nice to someone or apologize in the hope of securing something.
5. To take pleasure in mundane activities.

Is that what they did? I don’t think so

The bow of apology is a big thing in Japan. It is an admittance of ‘I /We fucked up and I/we am/are sorry’ and yet I have seen it given for something's that was beyond that individuals control, we were once delayed on a train for 30 mins due a a landslide caused by a Tremor. When we arrived at our destination the entire staff were out front, ticket staff up to senior management all trying to help us get to our onward destinations and up front the Manager of the station doing the big bow, apologising to us for the inconvenience, not his fault, but he still felt he needed as an honourable person to apologise..

Why is it a big deal? Well look at it, you’ve all seen enough Samurai movies

The neck is exposed and the stance says ‘if I have offended you  or failed you, my life is yours to take.’

Yes I know that was years ago and the Meiji reformation ended the Samurai, but the traditions of honour and responsibility still remain.

Not one of those men did not understand what they were doing, this was not some half-hearted insincere apology like our Politicians do.

Is that grovelling, I don’t think so   .So come on Daily Mail do a bit of research for once, or ask someone who has actually been to the country you are reporting on.

Story here

*I still do this, but it appears to be dying out.