The Extras - Moron Bowing Guy

The Fellow Foreigner Who Bows......

.....like a Moron

*For more posts similar to this one, see The People in Japan

Mo F. Ron
"The Bow Master"

Perhaps one of the more annoying extras that you will come across in Japan is the moron who bows for everything and to anyone. For the most part, a foreigner has absolutely NO idea of what the nuances of bowing are and really should not attempt it under any circumstances. A simple gratuitous nod using the upper body is sufficient.

However, do not nod by just bending your neck. Keep your spine straight and just give a bit of a lean forward. As shown below.

Here's a good article on bowing in Japan.

I ran across this picture in an email sent to me awhile ago. This absolutely sums up what I'm trying to convey in this post. I can't stress it enough: Do not attempt to bow under any circumstance. The Emperor of Japan isn't even bowing for #@%$'s sake!!! Pathetic. 

If you want to learn how to bow properly, ask a Japanese person. But unless you've grown up in Japan or have spent more than 50% of your life there, forget about it.

The best case (or worst depending on your perspective) is when a 'fellow extra' bows to you. Give me a break!! I had one guy bow at me till his head practically hit his feet. An amazing display of flexibility, but an equivalently amazing display of someone who is entering the realm of becoming a full blown pod person -the term I use to describe a gaijin-san who believes he or she is Japanese - more on them in a future post.

It can be kind of fun to try your hand at 'immersing' yourself in Japanese culture while you are there. However, foreigners have to keep in mind that Japan's culture is 100% real. Sometimes it seems like you are in a living movie, but these are real live people folks! And they are fully aware of how different their society is compared to the rest of the world. 

When foreigners take the piss on Japanese cultural peculiarities, which happens a lot (by playing bowing games such as seeing how many people they can get to bow, or how many times they can get someone to bow, how low they can get them to go, etc.), all it does is fortify the Japanese view that most foreigners are a bunch of ............ rude Mo F. Rons. And I agree with this view a lot of times.

Moral of the story........don't bow unless you really mean it and you know what the heck you are doing.

Do you have a question about Japan or a topic that you are interested in that you haven't found on this blog? If so, please tell me about it in a comment. I will get a post up about it as soon as possible. Thanks for reading!!