The Smiling Culture

People in NY are friendly. They tend to smile at strangers and strike up a conversation even with people they meet in an elevator for the first time. I wouldn’t say this would never happen in Japan but it is a little less usual.

Is smiling a part of American culture — or should I say western culture? I am not sure, as Japanese people do smile a lot. But do we readily smile to strangers? I doubt it. If we did, we would be considered a bit odd in our country, especially when it comes to the opposite sex. (Yes, I have made that mistake when I came back to Japan after spending 8 years abroad.)

Does that mean Japanese people don’t smile? On the contrary, we always put a smile on our face when we talk to friends or acquaintances. I suppose this is because Japanese are always conscious of trying to please others.

I had a French friend, Helene, who lived in Japan for couple of years, learned Japanese and adapted to our habit of smiling while talking to people. However, as the French generally keep a straight face while talking, she had been criticized by her follow countrymen when she was interpreting for them. They asked her what she found funny as there was nothing amusing in the conversation

I have also been asked by my French friends that there was a Japanese tourist group who were dining in a restaurant in Paris and why everyone was smiling when they talked to each other. So I had to explain to them it is part of our culture to be courteous to be pleasant. Then I thought there is a contradiction in that because we never smile to strangers.