Title: A Guide to Using Important Japanese Gestures Properly
Headings: Important Japanese Gestures and How to Do Them Properly
Important Japanese Gestures and How to Do Them Properly
The Right Way to Sit on a Tatami Mat and Other Tips
The Proper Way to Sit on Tatami
The Right Way to Beckon in Japan
How to Indicate Yourself ("Who, Me?")
Banzai

Content: This can be a difficult posture to maintain if you are not used to it. This sitting posture requires practice, preferably from an early age. It is considered polite to sit seiza-style on formal occasions. Another more relaxed way of sitting on tatami is cross-legged (agura). Starting with legs out straight and folding them in like triangles. This posture is usually for men. Women would usually go from the formal to an informal sitting posture by shifting their feet just off to the side (iyokozuwari). Though most Japanese do not concern themselves with it, it is proper to walk without stepping in the edge of the tatami. The Right Way to Beckon in Japan
The Japanese beckon with a waving motion with the palm down and the hand flapping up and down at the wrist. Westerners may confuse this with a wave and not realize they are being beckoned.