Learning to Bow: Inside the Heart of Japan by Bruce S. Feiler

Author:Bruce S. Feiler [Feiler, Bruce S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Etiquette, Japan - Social life and customs - 1945, Social Science, Reference, Educators, Secondary, Travel, Asia, General, Customs & Traditions, Ethnic Studies, Education; Secondary, Feiler; Bruce S, Biography & Autobiography, Japan, Education, Multicultural Education, Education; Secondary - Japan, History
ISBN: 9780060577209
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2004-04-21T23:00:00+00:00

For most of my first days in Sano, I participated in introductions of this kind, known formally as aisatsu. In less than five days I was introduced to all the other government workers in my building, the mayor, the head librarian, the director of the Public Health Department, the manager of the train station, and—to cover all bets—the chief of police. At the end of my first week, Mr. C decided I was ready to meet my most important protector, the principal of my school.

Sano Junior High School occupies a small plot of land on the west side of the city, at the foot of a large span of rice fields leading into the mountains of central Tochigi. Although the school was founded just after the Second World War, the building itself is new, standing three stories tall, with the same whitewashed stucco as the government office building across town. The front of the school faces an open parking lot and a covered courtyard where students leave their bicycles, and the back of the school overlooks an enclosed dirt field, bordered by two soccer goals, a swimming pool, and a gymnasium. With its thick walls, lack of landscaping, and concrete, sterile air, the building looked to me more like a prison than a schoolhouse.

Once we were inside, Mr. C led me into a big, open room where several dozen people were working. Reading the desks, he quickly discerned the most prominent person in the room and asked him if the principal was in his office. Within seconds a large, broad-shouldered man dressed in a light gray suit, white shirt, and dark blue tie shuffled out to meet us. His face was square, with a flat, tense smile and thick black-rimmed glasses. His glistening gray hair had been stretched taut with a comb and matted to his head with a brand of hair tonic that smelled like distilled vinegar. Mr. C apologized for the inconvenience, bowed, and asked for permission to perform an introduction. Without objection, the principal excused himself before his colleagues and announced that a formal greeting was in order. All those at their desks dutifully rose and pulled on their coats from the backs of their chairs.

With everyone in place, the principal addressed the office and introduced the go-between, Mr. C. We bowed. The go-between then introduced the guest of honor. Again a bow. I then introduced myself. Another bow, this time deeper. Finally the principal thanked all of us for our consideration, and life returned to normal. We bowed a final time.

At this point we were shuffled into the host’s receiving room and invited to partake in a customary snack. The principal’s room was spacious and carpeted but had the same gray metal desk and brown vinyl furniture as every other office I had visited.

“Please sit anywhere,” he said to me.

When I first began my round of visits I accepted offers like this at face value and sat in any seat. After a while, however, Mr. C

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