Japan: The country of the very polite people.

Many people have the impression all Asians are over-friendly and are very distant people where you never know what they really think, always bowing. That might be the result of Japan being the first country to be open to the west, especially for business.

I am impressed by the Japanese politeness, even of the youth hanging around in a punk dress up. You hear the "sumimasen" (meaning "Excuse me") and the "domo arigato gozaimasu" (meaning "thank you very much") everywhere from everybody in sweet high voices. Sure, that is the facade, I never really got to know what is going on behind that.

The Japanese love childishness, so e.g. official signs are illustraded with bunnies or cats. The women that want to be attractive to Japanese men start walking with very small clumsy steps with the toes pointing inward and speaking in extra high voices like little girls.

The bowing is a sign of showing respect to other people. It is highly recommended for non-Japanese not even to start bowing, because you can only master the art of bowing if you are Japanese born and raised in Japan. In business it is recommended to do the handshake, which most Japanese know of as to be the western style. I must admit, everytime I leave Japan I find myself unconsiously bowing for 2 days, which is even more akward in other countries, since they do not do that.

Japanese and fashion is a wierd combination. They try to be very different, but in the end all wear something different, so it then is similar. Most girls wear very very short mini skirts and high heeled boots even in the coldest winter. You definitely get a sense that Japan is a first world country when you see all the youth shopping in designer shops and hanging out all night drinking in bars and clubs.