I recently spent more than two weeks in Japan. I spent my time in Yokohama, Tokyo, Shizuoka, and Kyoto. This article was originally written while I was still abroad.

Although I had worked with Japanese people in Toronto for 8 years, this was actually my first visit to their country. There are many things I could write about, but today I will focus on the politeness that is ubiquitous here.

Some of us may consider ourselves to be very polite and / or very courteous in our work. I used to work in customer service myself, so I understand how to be polite, even when handling disputes.

What I’d like to discuss today is what mandatory courtesy looks like here in Japan. Even if I don’t go into a store, the employees keep greeting people passing by. If you enter the store or restaurant, etc. then, of course, they will welcome you back. And, usually, it is not just one person, but several. When you pay for their food or produce, they are very nice in the way they handle your money or credit card. Very respectful and very gentle. Needless to say, all of this happens with a smile and a soft tone of voice. Finally, when you leave, they thank you for your business.

One of the strangest things I’ve seen here so far was when we passed a toll booth, and both the driver and the worker exchanged ‘good morning’ and ‘thank you’, plus an electronic image of a worker bowing to the man! driver!

I can’t say for sure how much of this society’s courtesy is forced, conditioned, or genuine, but it’s definitely expected, and not acting courteously is a terrible social offense here.

I really like the tranquility of the people and the courtesy of the service industry. It’s certainly better than a lot of customer service in the world, and there are some workers in the past that I’ve dealt with who could use this type of training. Courtesy is standard here too, so you can expect it and count on it. In other countries, we seem to be delighted to get excellent customer service or to have a happy and efficient staff worker. Here it happens 99% of the time. I found myself smiling the whole time after buying something.

The big question that remains is, I suppose, how do the Japanese feel about it and how do they feel about the perception of lack of social and professional courtesy when traveling or emigrating? If you know a Japanese person in your circle, why don’t you ask him?

All the best of the land of the rising sun,