Japanese Service

Courtesy is of the utmost importance in Japan. Japanese even uses a special tense to show respect for teachers, bosses, customers, or bosses. When it comes to service all attention must be shown to the customer.

To the Japanese, this is natural, but to a foreigner, entering a store in Japan can be a little intimidating. Most times, a friendly employee will shout out "irasshai" (welcome) and perhaps a whole lot more. In many shops, the staff will sound as if they are doing their best imitation of a recording. Other times it is simply a warm and friendly greeting that politely acknowledges your presence in the store and their interest in helping you. It is rare to find a store where you will be ignored.

Two days ago, I discovered a new and rather hysterical occurrence of being politely recognized in Japan. I was busily running on the treadmill at my gym, when I heard a voice say "konbanwa" a few times. I ignored it at first as it is perfectly natural to say good evening to people as they enter the building. However, after a moment I noticed the voice getting louder, until I saw behind me a young man who quickly konbanwad me! He was a new staff that had to greet all the people in the gym as he came in. I almost burst out laughing at the poor guy, forced to say "good evening" to everyone sweating and working hard in the gym. He didn't notice, and I was shocked to see that no one else found this amusing. I guess for ¥9,000 per month, the gym can afford to have its employees personally welcome us all, and for this I do feel like I owe my gym a certain allegiance.