Maido: A Gaijin’s Guide to Japanese Gestures and Culture
by Christy Colon Hasegawa
Schiffer
ISBN-13: 978-0764352676
$12.99
This is the perfect gift for that person on your list who is obsessed with Japanese culture. With the rise of Anime, Manga and Kawai, lots of people are falling in love with the ways of the Nipponese people. Maido: A Gaijin’s Guide to Japanese Gestures and Culture is a great way to further break down the cultural barriers.
Maido (my-dough, not to be confused with that childhood favorite, Play-Doh) describes the most common Japanese gestures and defines their meanings and the cultural contexts that surround them. Japanese gestures are a world of their own, much the way the language and country are. In the Kansai region of Japan, people often use the term Maido as a greeting in business and sales, and as a send-off to a business’s best customers as if to say, “come again” or “thank you.”
In this case, Maido is welcoming you to a world in which you don’t offend every Japanese person you meet. By learning a few simple gestures you can avoid making intercultural slip-ups and win the respect of locals. And who knows―maybe the next time you walk into the local izakaya (watering hole), you may be lucky enough to hear someone saying, “Maido! Maido!” to you.
Maido: A Gaijin’s Guide to Japanese Gestures and Culture can be ordered from Amazon, or from any local bookstore by using the ISBN code above.
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