In the heart of Japanese culture, bow (ojigi) is a symbol that goes well beyond the gesture itself: it tells a civilization. It is an act that embodies respect, humility and a profound awareness of social dynamics, important in this land; It is symbolic gesture that has Buddhist and Samural roots. THE’ojigi It has different forms depending on the context and is used for different situations of everyday life, from thanks to the apologies to greetings.
The origin of Ojigi brings the sign of two influences: the religious one of Buddhism and that of the class of samurai. Introduced in Japan between the fifth and eighth centuries, through Korea and China, Buddhism brought religious rituals with it that provided for prostration and bow as forms of respect Towards the divinities and spiritual masters, with significant influences in Japanese religious and social practices. The meaning is not only physical, but symbolic: to recognize one’s smallness in the face of the principle of absolute truth and accept the spiritual teaching of those in front of us.
During the Kamakura period (1185–1333), the rise of the class of samurai He codified the bow as an integral part of the martial label. The school Ogasawarafounded about 800 years ago, has arranged the rules of the samuraic label, including the art of the bow. As a whole, they served to transmit respect to the superiors, for the hierarchical order, and self -control. For knowledge of how deeply this practice was, just think that even before Seppukuthe ritual suicide, the warrior bowed with solemnity towards the comrades and the opponent.
Each of the forms in which Ojigi manifests itself brings a specific meaning and a different degree of formality:
- Eshaku (会釈): incinery of about 15 °, used for informal greetings peers or acquaintances.
- Keirei (敬礼): incinery of about 30 °, employed in formal contextssuch as working meetings or greetings to superiors.
- Seiza (正座): seated incenta which provides for Place the floor first with the left knee, then with the right onemoving the torso forward until you touch the floor with the head and holding the palms of the hands resting on the legs.
- Saikeirei (最敬礼): deep bow, between 45 ° and 70 °, reserved for situations of maximum respect or deep excuses.
- Dogeza (土下座): prostrate completely on the ground, rarely used to express extreme or supplication repentance.
In contemporary Japan, bow is still a pillar of social relationships. You learn from childhood, it is practiced at school, in the offices, in the shops, in the sports field. The employees of the railways bow to the passage of passengers, after following special courses, as well as the waiters in restaurants and sellers in the department stores. Even in schools, students bow at the beginning and end of lessons, as a form of respect for teachers.
A substantial difference in this gesture concerns men And women: the first when they do it in a formal context remain with the arms along the body; Women instead hold their hands crossed on the wombwith the palm of one placed on the back of the other.
