@ the interview - shake hands or bow or...

[ultima]

So when you come to the scholarship interview, how do you greet the comitee?
Do you bow in Japanese style, shake hands or just sit on the chair.

And is the interview after the exams or before?

 

[nice gaijin]

Depends on where you are and who you meet. In general, if I'm meeting with a Japanese business man, I'll automatically bow. Almost without fail, they'll automatically shoot out a hand for a handshake. Chances are we are just trying to accommodate each other.

 

[ultima]

ah, yes, but I was asking specifically for the mext interview [undergrad.]

 

[bachir]

hi ultima !

So when you come to the scholarship interview, how do you greet the comitee?
Do you bow in Japanese style, shake hands or just sit on the chair.
And is the interview after the exams or before?

First of all, you should know it might be somewhat different from a country to another .
well in my case, we were five to take part into the interview (which ALWAYS occurs after the written tests: english+japanese ; those with the best scores) and i personnally preferred to bow ( i am a pro japanese ) and you know what ? it was greately appreciated more especially as i tried to put into the conversation what i knew in japanese ( which was not the case of ANY OTHER applicant) .i even got the first place as a grantee partly thanks to this detail (i was told it once i was selected)
But anyway, this was only my case. good luck and all the best

 

[ultima]

Wow, bachir, I am impressed!

Can you elaborate on what you have been talking about? Have you been speaking almost entirely in Japanese or just throwing bits in? Have you been learning Japanese before and was very familiar with it?

 

[akita]

In my case I didn't bow because I adapt to the style of the committee. they were behind a table and they told me to sit after we greet each other in a western style. Then the interview began. I thing you must adapt to the situation. You just need to pay attention to what the other do. In every Embassy things occur in a different way although the procedures are the same.
Remember that you will find at the interview not only Japaneses.