Nonverbal

Communication
in Japan and China
Group 2
Oculesic
China

• Frowning when someone is speaking is a sign of disagreement

• It is disrespectful to stare into another person’s eyes

• Direct and prolonged eye contact is avoided

• An extended eye contact may be made as a challenge to authority or an insult.

Oculesic
Japan

• Direct, sustained eye contact is avoided in Japan, unless a superior wants to admonish a

subordinate.

• Prolonged eye contact is considered rude, threatening, and disrespectful.

• Audience eye contact indicates attention to, and possibly agreement with the speaker.
Kinesis
Japan

• Nodding is important in listening. Nodding shows the speaker that you are listening, and more

importantly paying attention to whoever is speaking.

• Awkward silences are common in Japanese culture. Japanese, do not feel the need to chatter or

keep noise in the room. Rather silence is used as a time to think about what is.
 Kinesis
Japan

• • There is very little physical contact in this culture, and standing too close to someone is

considered inappropriate. And if you use prolonged eye contact with someone it is considered rude

and as a challenge rather than confidence.

• Sitting with your legs crossed ankle over knee, or slouched is considered unsuitable. The

appropriate way to sit is erect with both feet on the floor.

Kinesis
• China

• Polite nods is common when greeting someone

• Their gestures are not frequent

Haptics
•
China

• Hold hands and walk arm in arm - gestures of friendship.

 Haptics
Japan

• Handshake which is appropriate upon meeting.

• The Japanese handshake is limp and with a little or no eye contact

Posture
•
China

• Unidentified because no data was found during research. Perhaps it is the same with other

Asian countries.
 Posture
Japan

• The Japanese always have good posture. • They stand up straight, hands at their sides or
folded neatly in front of them, and wait at
attention for the pedestrian light to change.
• They do not lean on walls, buildings nor lamp
posts and they do not rest on one leg while
• Japanese culture highlight: “seiza” –
waiting for the light to change at the cross
Traditional Japanese sitting posture
walk.
Chronemics
•
China

• As punctuality is very important in Chinese culture, timing is pretty important in the Chinese

culture.
Chronemics
Japan

• Japan is a monochronic culture, for example if a meeting is set to start at 1:00 pm, it will start

at 1:00 pm; punctuality is expected.

•
Proxemics
China

• Chinese personal space and touching are keenly observed and there should be less physical

contact and touch even among the same sex.

• Chinese people don’t like contact with someone who isn’t their family or intimate friends.

• People should also stand in a line close together. Leaving gaps will invite people to cut the line
Proxemics
Japan

• Privacy is important in Japan.

• You can expect a Japanese person to immediately apologise if they bump into or brush against
you by accident.
• In Japan it is also common when three people meet, and though two don’t know each other, there
is often no effort by the third individual to introduce the others, nor divulge any personal
information about them to the other.
Facial
Expression
China

• Chinese people have poker-face and people can never tell their feelings from their faces.

• Chinese traditional culture considers that people who want to be noble men should not show their

joy nor anger.

• Chinese express emitions primarily through eyes

Facial
Expression
China

• Chinese are more reserve and calm when excited or disappointed. They used the eyes to express

emotions

• Chinese use to frown when someone is speaking can be viewed as a way of disagreement

• • Chinese people would just "nod" in someone's opinion even if they don't agree with what you are

saying.
Facial
Expression
Japan

• Japanese do not evince a great deal of emotions through facial displays.

• The most commonly expressed emotions are either placid,unrevealing countenance or nondescript
smile.
• Smiling is simply a part if etiquette, designed, to help sustain situational harmony. Emotions like
disgust and frustration are more likely to be expressed in words rather than a furrow of the brow
or an up-turned lip.
Physical
Appearance
Japan

• Japanese are Mongols, that is, they are distinguished by a yellowish skin, straight black hair, scanty
beard, almost total absence of hair on the arms, legs, and chest, broadish prominent cheek-bones, and
more or less obliquely set eyes.
• The average Japanese has a long body and short legs, a large skull with a tendency to prognathism
(projecting jaws), a flat nose, coarse hair, scanty eye-lashes, puffy eyelids, a sallow complexion, and a
low stature.
Physical
Appearance Japan

• The average stature of Japanese men is about the same as the average stature of European

women.The women are proportionately smaller.

• The lower classes are mostly strong, with well-developed arms, legs, and chests. The upper classes

are too often weakly.

• Japanese tends to have more rounded off chins

Physical
Appearance
China

• Chinese is similar to Japanese but with lips that curve more toward the cheeks.

• Northern Chinese look closer to Mongolians and Koreans.

• Southern Chinese look closer to Southeast Asians and Japanese.

• Chinese minorities look distinctly closer to their original ethnic features