Go Tokyo Your Experience
Do you have the habit of greeting people at home, school, or in the workplace? It is said that there has been a trend among young people in Japan in recent years where they dislike greeting each other. Whether it’s good morning, good afternoon, goodbye, or even greeting at the beginning of an email, it makes Japanese young people feel disgusted.
The reasons include that some people feel that greeting seems like a forced etiquette, and whether or not to greet should be a personal freedom; Some people feel that since they are not familiar with each other, there is no need to say hello in the first place. Let’s explore this trend of refusing to say hello together.
Do you say “good morning” to your colleagues at work every day?
AbemaTV, a Japanese online television, has produced a special report on “greeting” that has recently sparked widespread discussion on the Japanese internet. The report points out that more and more young people in Japan are getting tired of greeting, and even advocate that whether or not to greet is a personal freedom and should not be forced to greet everyone.
However, this statement has also caused dissatisfaction among many people. They believe that greeting is the most basic etiquette in society, how can we say ‘no’ and then ‘no’?
Good morning “and” thank you for your hard work “are common greetings in Japanese society, but many Japanese netizens express dissatisfaction with these traditional social etiquette.
Some office workers even intentionally walk with their heads down in the office to avoid being greeted.
Some office workers also express that when they greet a new colleague, they are unexpectedly asked in return, “We are not friends, why should we say hello
The program also interviewed a man in his twenties who insisted that whether or not to say hello should be considered personal freedom, and asked him to share his views.
I think everyone has different standards for whether or not to greet the other person
So people should also have the freedom not to say hello, “said the young man
When the reporter asked him, “Do you think it’s better not to greet someone without sincerity
He replied, “That’s right, that’s it
The young man also said, “Common sense will always change… Since young people nowadays think that it doesn’t matter if they don’t say hello, then we should adjust common sense according to their views, after all, young people are the protagonists of the next generation
His viewpoint is that both sides are willing to greet each other; But if one party is unwilling, they should not force the other party to say hello.
In addition, studies have shown that Japanese people waste a huge amount of time and money every day on writing email opening greetings – wasting 8.1 billion yen in production value in one day!
In this context, greeting behavior is not just a simple etiquette issue, it involves social habits and economic efficiency in different cultural backgrounds. For some people, saying hello can not only enhance relationships but also make the other person happy, making it very cost-effective. But for others, they feel that this is a meaningless formalism.
Anyway, the act of greeting has different interpretations and perspectives across cultures and generations. Respecting each other’s choices may be the attitude we should have in a diverse society.