Found out last month I was shaking hands wrong in Japan

I was at a business meeting in Osaka and an older guy gently pulled me aside after I shook hands with everyone. He showed me how I was gripping too hard and making eye contact too long, which is seen as aggressive there. Have you ever learned a basic social habit you had that was actually rude somewhere else?

2 comments

2 Comments

jesse_cooper1mo ago

The eye contact too long thing got me lol. I'm from New York where staring someone down during a handshake is basically a sign of respect, so I'd probably be in the same boat there.

lisa9761mo ago

Oh @jesse_cooper, did the cultural difference give you any awkward moments after the fact? I had a similar issue when I moved from the Midwest to the East Coast and nobody warned me about the handshake stare down situation. What actually worked for me was just matching the other person's energy from the start. Like if they gave me a firm grip and held eye contact for a beat too long, I'd do the same right back. It felt weird at first but people actually responded way better to it. Once I stopped overthinking it and just went with the flow, those handshakes turned into real conversations instead of weird staring contests.