In professional sumo, a wrestler’s rank shows in what he wears. According to Gendai Business, only the sekitori, wrestlers of jūryō rank and above, may wear the ōichō, the large formal topknot.
Below them, the rules continue rank by rank. Wrestlers of jonidan and below wear wooden geta. Setta sandals and tabi socks start at sandanme. The Hakata sash of the sekitori is allowed from makushita. Below makushita, a wrestler may not wear a coat, even in midwinter.
Japan’s system of court ranks began with the kan’i jūnikai, the twelve cap ranks of 603. A Japanese encyclopedia explains that it sought to express the order of officials by the color of the caps they wore.
The twelve ranks were named for six virtues: toku, jin, rei, shin, gi and chi. Virtue, benevolence, propriety, faith, righteousness and wisdom. Each was divided into a greater and a lesser rank.
A set of shogi pieces has two kings. One is marked ōshō (王将), the other gyokushō (玉将).
In official games, the higher-ranked player takes the ōshō, and the lower-ranked player the gyokushō.
Japanese business manners fix who is introduced to whom first. The person closer to oneself comes first: Jisha no hito to okyakusama nara, ika naru toki demo jisha no hito ga saki desu. Between one’s own colleague and a client, one’s own colleague is always introduced first.
Between people of the same closeness, position, title and age decide. The person of lower standing is introduced first.
The ojigi hanko, the bowing seal, is a personal seal stamped at a slant on a document, so that it leans toward the seal of the superior beside it. A business guide by Money Forward calls it one of the business manners that some companies treat as a rule.
Its origin is uncertain. A writer in the magazine President says that, by one account, a department of a major city bank made it a rule, and the rule spread as a rumor. He adds that even this is not certain.
The customer service manuals of the city of Ikoma and of Gifu Prefecture define three bows. Eshaku, the light bow, tilts the upper body about 15 degrees forward from the waist. Keirei, the standard bow, tilts it about 30 degrees. Saikeirei, the deepest bow, tilts it about 45 degrees.
In February 2007, the Council for Cultural Affairs of the Agency for Cultural Affairs issued Keigo no shishin, Guidelines on Honorific Language. It divides keigo into five types: sonkeigo (respectful language), kenjōgo I (humble language), kenjōgo II or teichōgo (courteous language), teineigo (polite language) and bikago (refined language).
The traditional classification had three types: respectful, humble and polite.
The Agency for Cultural Affairs answers a common question about speaking to people outside the company. An employee may refer to a superior simply as Tanaka, or as buchō no Tanaka, the manager, Tanaka. To say Tanaka buchō, Manager Tanaka, is inappropriate, because it does not treat the manager as a member of one’s own side. In a formal setting, the employee can also say heisha no buchō, our company’s manager.
Verbs change in the same way. Inside the company, an employee says that the president osshatte imashita, using a respectful verb for “said.” To people outside, the employee says that the president mōshite orimashita, using a humble verb.
At Muji, the retailer run by Ryohin Keikaku, everyone is called by name with san. This applies to men and women, to subordinates and to superiors alike.
Business magazines report that more and more companies ask employees to address superiors with san instead of their job titles, regardless of position, age or year of entry.
The most senior person is shown to the kamiza, the seat of honor. In a meeting room with chairs on both sides of a central table, it is the seat farthest from the door.
The order applies in a taxi too. The seat of honor is directly behind the driver, followed by the seat behind the front passenger and then the middle of the back seat.