5/7/2016 A Japanese Life: Importance of Politeness and Discipline in Japanese society

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A Japanese Life
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Tuesday, December 28, 2010

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Importance of Politeness and Discipline in Japanese
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Japan is a country of polite people; at least a majority of people are polite. Very rarely
we encounter rude people.
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There are many mannerisms which are defined as polite, rude and impolite and people Select Language
behave accordingly. Even the Japanese language has words which are polite or not so Powered by  Translate
polite, formal and informal. Formal behavior is expected and informal behavior is
acceptable only among close friends and family. Age and seniority also define the kind of
behavior and mannerisms. For instance not using certain polite speech is considered
rude when speaking to older people or workplace superiors. People hardly raise their
voice (at least in public) and are not shy of apologizing to others.  We are by now used
to so much of politeness around that slight rudeness surprises us.

We hardly see any person breaking a queue or doing something which is of inconvenience
to others. Also arrogance and carelessness is rarely seen. Most often we are greeted with
smiling faces even from strangers.
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What amazes me the most is the way most Japanese people react to a situation or the
way they behave. There is a kind of alignment in the way they react and behave. Even 199,319
body language appears to be similar. 

Also there is an amazing discipline among the people. A lot of stress is given to discipline
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and they are taught to be disciplined from a very young age. I say this from personal
experience. My three year old daughter attends a Japanese kindergarten. We have seen
a tremendous change in her mannerisms from the time she started attending the
kindergarten. The same child who previously never bothered to gather her toys after
playing has now learnt to keep all her things in place. On a visit to her kindergarten we
did get to see how they are taught to do their things with discipline and also at the same
time being considerate to others. The children are taught to help her other children in
doing their work – even simple tasks like helping them with their clothes or putting
things back. Children also sometimes help the teachers with cleaning up and other such
chores. I really appreciate this because it teaches the children at such a young age to be
independent and disciplined at the same time teaching them an important lesson about
cleanliness. Even at home parents teach the children to help in the daily chores such as
laying the table, wiping the cleaned dishes or making beds. This is something to learn
from the Japanese.

Perhaps this is why the “5S” process was invented by the Japanese. As most people are
aware of 5S is a systematic program which is designed to achieve total standardization,
cleanliness and being organized. This in turn provides a safe, efficient and productive
work environment while making people more disciplined and responsible.

The 5 “S’s” stand for 5 Japanese words beginning with the alphabet S:

1.      Seiri – This means Tidiness as in throwing away all unwanted things and rubbish
from workplace

2.      Seiton: This means Orderliness as in each thing should have a defined place  and
should be kept in its place. By doing so it is easier to retrieve things and also

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