Are you ready? .... Long time no see!!!
How I liked it? It felt good.
Hey guys, big hugs out to you. This time we're gonna go and ask Japanese people...
Hug - Shake hands - Kiss - How far can they go when greeting a foreigner who is not from their culture?
Let's find out how far Japanese people will be able to greet you if you come to Japan. Let's ask Japanese.
How would you greet a foreigner? Shake hands, hug or kiss?
You can go as far as a hug?
You can do that?!
only hugs!
So the hugging culture... do you hug your friends in Japan?
I don't...
When I have won a tournament, then we hug.
What type of tournament?
With my sports club. When we win.
What sports did you do? - Basketball.
You see that in soccer and basketball. - Yes it's ok.
Can you hug a foreigner who you have never met before?
Well....
I would be reluctant... but I could do it.
But I would not try to hug the person on my own accounts.
Can you hug a stranger?
That might be difficult for me...
I wouldn't do it but if the person insinuates it... I'd be like oooh.
So if I came up to you to hug you, that would be ok?
Well well... - If you desired it.
Shall we give that a try? - You try it. -Why me?
Give me your honest reaction. Are you ready?
Hey long time no seeee.....
You're ok? How was that?
Yeah... it was ok.
Wasn't that bad right?
It was normal.
Normal?!
Hey long time no seeeeee.... How was that?
Well... hugs do break the ice.
Yeah we feel like we have become closer.
I feel the same. I feel closer to you guys now. Thanks for accepting my hug. Made me happy.
Thank you.
So you can hug? - Hug is my limit. I can't kiss strangers.
Why so?
What? Why? It's....
I can't deal with people's fluids.
When people kiss for greetings, it's generally a peck on the cheek.
I can't have people touch my face in any way.
It's easier to hug a friend. But we would not kiss.
So if it's a person I don't know, a hug is the limit.
Is there not much kissing in Japan then?
We don't kiss people unless they are our partners.
Can you hug your friends, male and female?
That I can do. - Yeah.
Can you hug people you've met for the first time?
I can. - Yeah. - I can.
Do Japanese people hug when they meet? - Generally not.
We also don't shake hands.
Do you hug good friends in Japan? - We totally do.
We do that. - Depends on the friendship.
So a stranger like me, could you hug me? - Totally.
Would that be ok?
Oh what shall I do? What shall I do?
I'm so happy right now.
I am suddenly super happy. Thank you.
How was hugging a foreigner like just now?
How I liked it? It felt good.
- Makes someone feel happy. - Feels like we shared something there.
Can you hug a foreigner? - I can.
You're sure?
I don't really hug people, but if it's on accounts of the foreigner, I might be able to.
Hug a girl? a boy? - I could do both.
Have you hugged a foreigner? - I have not...
One of my friends studied abroad and came back with that culture. So I hugged her when she came.
You say she had brought that culture back. Do you not hug in Japan?
In Japan, when we do formal introductions, we shake hands.
How do you greet your friends?
We don't hug. We just say greetings verbally.
Like "Hello". - Just "Hello."
Why did you not pick the kiss?
It depends on the occasion but I prefer it when only couples do it.
Abroad, the greeting kiss is generally putting your cheeks together and kissing the air behind.
Is that still too much?
In Japan, there is no greeting where we go closer into someone's space.
That's why a kiss would be too much.
If you were suddenly kissed on the cheek by a foreigner, what would you do?
I would back away. - Like this?
You can only shake hands?
I would oppose to anything else. I am shy. I can't deal well with strangers.
Do you shake hands with your Japanese friends?
We don't do that in Japan.
Can you hug your Japanese friends?
Welll... I could.
If you're very close. - Yeah.
But you can actually hug? Why?
Because you can become better friends.
You become closer because of it.
Can you hug them even if they are male or female? - I can.
But?
There might be some people who feel a bit reluctant.
If someone said "Let's hug" They might put their guard up.
Cause they feel they can't run away. - That's it.
Why did you not pick the kiss?
There is a right time and place for that.
But I think that kisses are reserved for the person you're dating.
You can't even kiss them on the cheek?
People would be opposed to kissing others on the cheek.
Can girls kiss girls? - Only if it's just the cheek.
You said you're shy so kissing.... - I could never do.
You could not even kiss a female friend? - Depends on the place.
What place would be ok? - If she is my friend, the cheek would be ok.
Have you ever done that? - Never.
Have you ever kissed a friend on the cheek? - Never.
Do people not kiss much in Japanese culture. - We don't kiss much.
Even couple's don't kiss in public.
You said you can hug a foreigner. Why?
A handshake is too stiff. A hug makes you feel closer to the person.
Can you do that to people you met for the first time? - I think I can.
Girls and boys? - Doesn't matter. I can hug both.
So even a boy you met for the first time? - A brief hug.
You said you can kiss foreigners. Abroad we generally only kiss on the cheek.
Why can you go that far?
The reason? I don't care so much about it.
So it's just ok. - I am ok with it.
Have you ever kissed a foreigner on the cheek? - Never.
Have you ever hugged a foreigner? - Never.
Do you hug or kiss in Japan?
As a greeting? We would only hug.
I don't think we'd kiss.
Do you hug a lot, or only people you are close friends with?
Girls hug each other a lot.
But we don't hug men.
Those were our questions. Thank you.
Shake hands, hug, kiss. How far can a Japanese person go when greeting a foreigner?
Surprisingly, a lot of Japanese people said YES HUGS are OK!
Because Japanese people started hugging their friends. Maybe not as often
but it's accepted that it's part of a different culture that you greet your friends
or people that you feel close to by hugging them.
To be honest, I have a personal experience there. When I went to a Highschool in Japan...
I tried hugging one of my shyest friends in high-school. And he... ran away...
cause he was so surprised. I am sorry.
But then he gradually got used to my culture and he now lets me hug him, which is good.
That's one of the things. When I went to France, same thing the other way around...
One of the friends of my friends came up to me and gave me a kiss on the right and left cheek...
the kind of French greeting kiss and I froze for a moment and I was just like...
"What just happened?"
So it is a cultural difference. How far can you go when you greet a friend or someone
who is new to you? Can you hug people who are totally strangers on the first greeting?
Or can you not do that? How is it for kissing? Do people kiss in your country or not?
Let us know, looking forward to reading your comments!
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in the future. I hope you enjoyed this and I catch you soon for anther video on Ask Japanese. Bye!